In the aftermath of Eric Cantor’s epic, shocking 11-point primary loss to an underfunded xenophobic college professor, Hillary Clinton bestrides the globe like a colossus. There is literally no hope now that the Republican Party can do one thing to improve their performance with the Asian or Latino communities. In fact, since it is now evident that it is not sufficient to do nothing about immigration reform, but one must spend all day bellowing about the brown hordes crossing our border, Republican politicians are powerfully incentivized to loudly advertise their disgust with the changing demographics of the country. And they will. The GOP is guaranteed to do much worse with Asians and Latinos in 2016 than they did in 2008 or 2012.
Think about this. Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce and Agribusiness and the evangelical community all lobbied the House Republicans to pass immigration reform and they got nowhere. That is how incredibly racist the people are in these gerrymandered districts. When has the Republican Party ever before told those powerful conservative interests to go fuck themselves? Normally, when those groups speak, the GOP jumps to do their bidding.
Eric Cantor didn’t lift a finger to pass a comprehensive immigration bill and he was voted out anyway because he wasn’t enough of a hard-ass on the issue.
The effect of Cantor losing will be more important than the causes of his defeat. Some will argue that immigration wasn’t the only or even primary reason he lost. That won’t matter for presidential politics, because Republicans will behave very counterproductively in response to Cantor’s loss.
But it’s true that these white, rural, conservative Christian voters have no reason to be happy with the Republican Establishment. The Republican Establishment has been a disaster on foreign policy. They have not brought back the lost manufacturing jobs. They have been losing the culture war. They haven’t overturned Roe v. Wade or stopped the march of gay rights. They haven’t stopped the dissolution of the nuclear family. They haven’t prevented a prescription drug epidemic in their communities. They’ve been losing elections.
They have not been delivering in any tangible way.
Except on guns. Guns, guns, guns. Look where that’s getting us by scanning the headlines over the past couple of weeks.
The GOP ramps up the hatred of gays and blacks and Latinos and Muslims and “takers” and liberals and academics and teachers and journalists and scientists and urban-dwellers and secularists and…
…they oversee the biggest growth in wealth disparity in ninety years and offer nothing for jobs but tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy, and…
then they hand these aggrieved people guns, no questions asked.
Is it any wonder that every few days a new rivet pops and someone shoots up a school or a mall or Wal-Mart?
The national Republican Party just lost their only remaining Jewish member because he wasn’t racist enough. I wonder what Jewish Republicans like Bill Kristol and David Frum think about that. I wonder if they still feel at home in a party that is literally foaming at the mouth with xenophobia and is awash with pseudoscientific and anti-intellectual conspiracy theories about climate change and intelligent design and the United Nations and Benghazi!
I wonder if they still feel safe with this band of loons. Eric Cantor wasn’t safe, so why should they be?
Yet, Eric Cantor richly deserves his fate. And he’ll be fine. If he doesn’t become a governor or a senator some day, he’ll still make millions in the private sector. The connections he’s made on the Hill assure him of that.
But the party he helped to create and lead will go on without him, dragging us straight to hell.
I think Goldie Taylor made this point on MSNBC tonight, but it really needs to be said.
It’s ironic that Cantor slayed by the same forces he aided and abetted in the House. The beast he birth and created and nurtured turn back and bit him…HARD!
If Cantor ain’t pure enough, then who is?
Reply censored by Godwin’s Law
○ Meet David Brat, the man who brought down House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
And they are shook Booman…
So Peter King says: “I’m very concerned that we may go all the way to the right”
…because that very last millimeter is incredibly dangerous, I guess.
If he doesn’t become a governor or a senator some day, he’ll still make millions in the private sector.
My guess is AEI or Heritage.
I’m not as much a Weigel fan as some here are, but he’s right about this I think…
From the article Weigel tweeted, this really does kinda sum up why Cantor’s defeat really is like David slaying Goliath…
Powerful campaign photo …
○ So much for Eric Cantor’s internal polling
Didn’t Romney’s pollster also have him beating Obama?
Now I don’t mind GOP being stupid with polls, but damn ain’t it about time for GOP candidates to change pollsters, or hell learn real world statistical analysis.
“Skewed polls” strikes again I guess?
How Eric Cantor Lost
I think Saunders nails it. Cantor has been arrogant and his constituent services are poor. (He initially said no to federal relief for his district after the 2011 earthquake.) His opponent was attractive and articulate. Cantor refused to debate Brat and flooded the district with campaign ads. Brat continued talking to the people and it was evident that he was running his campaign on less than a shoestring.
Cantor was as chomping at the bit to become Speaker as Allen was to become President. Maybe VA voters just sort of bristle at being a stepping stone for politicians that don’t care about them first.
I live in his district and you are correct. I knew he was in trouble when he actually attended The Ashland Strawberry Festival last Saturday
Democrats crossed over and voted for Bratt
The problem with crossing over and voting for extremists planning on them losing is that they may win.
Still, in this case it may be a win in that a shark fest will erupt over who gets Cantor’s powerful Majority Leader position.
I’d be interested in Booman’s take on whether this good news for Boehner in that Cantor was nipping at his heels for the Speakership.
I agree there’s a very high risk that Brat will win the general election. However, I’m not too worried about that as a substantive matter. Policy-wise, there’s little difference between Brat and Cantor. They both don’t support immigration reform, they both don’t support gun control, they both want personhood laws, they both oppose pretty much anything President Obama does etc. On any bill that comes up, they would have voted the same way. The only exception is MAYBE the debt ceiling.
So the only real change is that this Virginia district has just lost powerful representation in Congress. They’ve traded in the Majority Leader for a neophyte. The question is whether they understand the consequences.
I don’t understand the consequences either. Apparently, Cantor didn’t take take of the home district. Refusing disaster aid is just stupid. But I’m thinking of the consequences in the House. I truly don’t understand the consequences there. Should I make some popcorn and watch the bullfight?
I’ve met Eric Cantor once in my life when I was applying to the Naval and Air Force Academies. Didn’t get a nomination for Naval but did for Air Force (didn’t go, thank the universe). He came into the hall, gave a swarmy speech about how great the Iraq War was going (this was in 2005), shook my hand, then left.
Digby points out that this may look like a “grassroots” triumph but its 100% astroturf and talk radio:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/limbaugh-was-credited-with-winning-1994.html
It’s becoming difficult to keep track of the various warring factions.
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“Eric Cantor’s loss tonight is an apocalyptic moment for the GOP establishment. The grassroots is in revolt and marching.”
○ Ynet News: Jewish No. 2 Republican loses to Tea Party rival in shocking loss
○ Eric Cantor has pledged his party’s greater allegiance to Netanyahu than Obama
○ Eric Cantor a darling at AIPAC
My earlier diary – ‘Substantive and Rigorous’ Galilee Trip Paid for by AIPAC.
Oui – So who does AIPAC turn to now? Could this loss actually aid the Obama administration’s position with Israel?
There is an interesting dynamic here vis-a-vis the reich wing base the extreme right jewish lobby represented by AIPAC, and the defeat of the only remaining GOP Jew in the house brings this up.
As we all know the GOP has dropped policy, except for meaningless slogans, and is now relying on barely veiled racism to feed their base. The small percentage of American Jews who support the GOP because of Israel probably should realize that if the GOP succeeds with this strategy they themselves will be a future target. Sure, the GOP leadership says all the right things about Israel, and so do the top-funded GOP voices, but the rank-and-file isn’t buying.
You speak a lot of the future, and 2016 and HRC. But I think this could be now, for this year. I for one, do not want to count solely on Obama’s determination to avoid disaster for the next two years.
Indeed. If we lose the Senate, be prepared for the worst legislation ALEC can muster. I do not trust Obamas willingness to fight them.
Seriously? You don’t think President Obama would veto every piece of crap bill they would send to his desk?
Not without the Senate, no. Do I believe he supports that agenda? No. I also don’t believe he supports Guantanamo. But he’s not willing to go to the mat over these issues.
If it’s a funding bill he’d probably be willing to shutdown the government, but not some pieces of terrible legislation.
Republicans in the Congress are sloppy and lazy and remind me of nothing so much as a flock of carrion eaters on the wing. They’ll continue to work the way they have for the last five years and be spewing up tons of legislation at the last moment, because the House and the Senate under these scavengers will not work together.
I suspect that they’ll be learning about pocket vetos in short order as a result. Obama won’t have to actively kill anything. All he’ll need to do is keep his pen capped. At the very least it will slow things down. He’s even got a precedent to use from his predecessor that the current Republicans don’t even acknowledge existed and occupied the Oval Office, Dubya. Good times.
I hope you’re right.
He will also still want desperately to compromise and do things with republicans for… for… well I don’t know why. But we’ve seen it over and over again.
I have no doubt he’d toss his own party over the side to get some sort of bipartisan agreement.
It went from KKK to Guns Greed and Grievance. Let’s hope this is a “last throes” signal.
So now we’ve gone from a 4G network to a 5G network: God, Guns, Gays, Gynecology and Grievance.
Ye gods, it amazes me that your first thoughts on this flow to Hillary – I would think that this would bode well for all Democrats everywhere, now in 2014 as well as in 2016 and beyond, but your first thought is Hillary as the new Caesar.
Fascinating.
All this getting in line for Hillary is evidence that “winning is everything” for ordinary Democrats. And demonstration of a shocking level of ignorance as to the policies and legislation that Bill Clinton advocated for during his Presidency and her support for more neo-liberal and neo-con since then.
It’s not like we are brimming over with alternatives.
Alternatives don’t exist because team Clinton is working to suck up all the political oxygen and they are being aided and abetted by all the leftie punditry, including blogs, that didn’t support her in 2008 getting in line.
Not to mention Obama’s gutting of the Dean-era DNC.
The Emperor is important, for sure.
That said, if Hillary! runs and has massive coattails, it would be foolish to ignore the prospect of putting actual progressives into as many races (local, city,state) as possible.
Why would she have massive coattails?
And with Hill-Bill taking over the Democratic Party, they will make sure that progressives are persona non grata. Look at what Obama did to Howard Dean after he demonstrated his skill in taking back the House and Senate? Look at the suck ass candidates that Hill-Bill have been supporting for the past two decades. Look at all the freaking rightwing public policy they have supported.
…they hand these aggrieved people guns, no questions asked.
NOT TRUE! They ask “..do you want AMMO with that?”
Correction “HOW MUCH Ammo do you want with that?”
I’m still LOL at his loss.
Being Jewish in the South didn’t help. No matter how much he pleased them, suspicion would always rise.
Not exactly ready for the pro-ring:
He appears to be slicker than the average run-of-mill novice politician, but that inexperience will become more evident as the spotlights he steps into get bigger and brighter. There will be gaffes. And the Democratic Party will continue to deny that Dean’s fifty state strategy had nothing to do with taking back in the House and Senate in 2006 and was a stupid idea. So, the neophyte Brat won’t even have to bread a sweat as he romps towards the finish line in November.
Let’s be absolutely clear about the bullshyt meme that the sycophants in the MSM want to push now because of Cantor’s loss.
All that was `lost’ because of Cantor’s loss, i.e. Immigration Reform and the VRA.
NOTHING was stopping Cantor from doing Immigration Reform before his loss, and even if you say that his opponent running on it was the reason he denied a vote in the House, ok. His ass has lost now. He has nothing to lose. Bring the bill up for a vote.
Now, as far as that VRA is concerned, I feel like climbing through the computer screen and bytchslapping you myself.
The reason why they won’t even hold hearings on the VRA IS BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO FIX THE VRA.
They are VERY pleased by what the Supreme Court has done and anyone who wants to write anything other than that can kiss my entire Black ass.
Eric Cantor was part of the GOP cabal that met
ON JANUARY 20, 2009
And chose to commit ECONOMIC TREASON AGAINST THIS COUNTRY.
So, what the fuck do I care if his replacement will also commit economic treason against this country?
See the post Eric Cantor-Another Brick In the PermaGov Wall Goes Down for my initial take on the Cantor loss.
The results of this primary were an anti-PermaGov vote, possibly buttressed by anti-Cantor DemRats crossing over to vote against him. It was a “Kick the bastards out!!!” vote. I see this anti-PermaGov movement getting stronger and stronger in the hinterlands of the country. It is now primarily confined to historically right-wing areas, but I sense a growing disillusionment…a refusal to suspend disbelief and buy into the PermaGov line…from all segments of the society regarding both
supposedparties. People see politicians spending millions on getting re-elected while the general population faces nothing but more and more economic bad news. (The Cantor campaign had a steakhouse bill that was larger than all of the campaign expenditures of his opponent!!! Like dat.) They see the ongoing gridlock in Congress and they are beginning to wonder if it is a purposeful gridlock, one that is being used to excuse the so-called failures of the federal government to get anything done except continue to enrich the .01%. And…they are getting progressively more and more pissed off.The Paulist idea of forging a successful coalition between the pissed-off right and the pissed-off left is beginning to look more and more possible to me. Hell…even pissed-off centrists are beginning to feel the pain.
Watch.
It’s going to be an interesting two years headed to 2016.
Watch.
AG
OT:
Republicans Block Elizabeth Warren’s Student Loan Bill That Would Have Helped 40 Million
By: Jason Easley
Wednesday, June, 11th, 2014, 12:14 pm
Senate Republicans have blocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s student loan refinancing bill that would have helped 40 million borrowers because it would have raised taxes on millionaires.
Warren’s student loan refinancing bill, the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, failed by a vote of 58-38. (Harry Reid changed his vote to a no for procedural reasons.) Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were the only Republicans to vote for the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “In America today, millions of Americans are caught in financial quicksand, and they are looking for a helping hand to pull them to safety. Instead, the Republican leader has reaffirmed his commitment to the status quo. Why reform today, what he and his party say they’ll reform next year?”
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) continued to hide the real reason why he was blocking the bill, “The Senate Democrats’ bill isn’t really about students at all. It’s really all about Senate Democrats Because Senate Democrats don’t actually want a solution for students. They want an issue to campaign on — to save their own hides in November.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/11/republicans-block-elizabeth-warrens-student-loan-bill-helped-
40-million.html
Shorter Republicans: We blocked this bill helping students with student debt because it might help the Democrats in November. Fuck them.