“The GOP establishment’s problem isn’t with the Tea Party. It’s with Republican voters.”
After the GOP got shellacked in 2006 and 2008, they didn't do any soul searching. They didn't try to figure out what had gone wrong. They were rescued by the Tea Party after Obamacare was rammed down this country's throat, and they've spent the following years doing everything they could to destroy the Tea Party.
You cannot win elections by shitting all over the people who you want to vote for you. Witness John McCain.
You cannot win elections by playing kissy-face with the
Eric Cantor was a D.C. Republican, which means he spent way too much time being nice to the
Unfortunately, it's just a primary. He's not out of a job yet. Witness Lisa Murkowski, R (sorta)-AK. Lost the primary, managed to stage a write-in campaign, and won her incumbent seat again. Wait for it......
ReplyDeleteTwo issues with that outcome...
ReplyDeleteFirst, Virginia has a "sore losers" law, which porhibits anyone who loses a primary from having their name appear on the ballot (perhaps under a third party entry), and second, the district is so thoroughly gerrymandered that it would take a MASSIVE campaign to get the awareness of a write-in campaign out to the district. Such a campaign would do more to split the GOP vote, resulting in the first Dem win for that district since it was created. That would eliminate any credibility the GOP has, by showing exactly how desperate they are to have their senior members hold onto their personal power, rather than any kind of party loyalty.
So no worries there, and Cantor has already announced that he will be stepping down from Majority Leader effective July 31.
One issue I remember hearing about is that "it was the crappy weather that kept voters home that allowed the upset". The data that showed that MANY more voters turned out in this district than in any other primary in the State puts the lie to that claim. People just don't like illegal immigration.