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BINGO - "people are FED up" and they are angry that nobody appears to be listening to them. The "Tea Party" is nothing more than groups of people that get together and try to come up with answers - there have been complaints for years that polling shows that citizens are not happy with their CongressCritter and yet they continue to vote for them. This is what the "Tea Party" is doing - they are trying to mobilize behind somebody "new' to get rid of the incumbent. In a few cases, a "Tea Party" group has tried to field a candidate, but in most cases - they choose the candidate they will support and then they campaign for them.
The Media, GOP & Democrats have decided that ANY campaign against an incumbent is suddenly (gasp!) "Tea Party" ..... not the case. It was never the case before those first meetings in 2009 after the Bank Bailouts and the phony "Stimulus Bill". This is total Grass-Roots from the "I'm not going to take it any more" crowd. It's scares the hell out of all the Political Elite, especially when a Professor from a small University decides to run against the #2 GOP CongressCritter in a race that NOBODY thought he could win. Brat only raised $200,000 and only spent $128,000 out of that - against Cantor's power and over $5 Million dollars that he spent. That's a very SCARY thing for any of the Political Elite to see happen.
Eric Cantor didn't pay enough attention to his constituents (according to them), his Staff is reported to be rude. Citizens don't really understand how Washington works - they don't understand why the House of Representatives doesn't DO SOMETHING ..... even when Nancy Pelosi ran the House, she had the same problem with Harry Reid. It's Harry Reid that has shut down Government, it's Obama that has decided to just ignore both Congress and the Law and rule by his "pen & phone". People are Afraid, they don't trust those in Washington.
Cantor got caught up in a Political Storm - as a member of Leadership, he has a lot of Washington duties, he is high profile because of his position. On Tuesday, those who came out to vote (higher turnout much higher than expected), decided to "throw their bum out". That's the Bottom Line. Maybe he spent too much time and effort to become the Speaker of the House and not enough time on the people who actually elected him.
As to the "message to Democrats" -- they heard that message loud and clear in 2010 with a historic "throw the Bums out" wave. You will see it again this year.
Nice thoughts for conservatives, but a dose of reality is in order. Far from this being a triumph of right wing political fervor, it was, in fact, the dull thud of voter apathy. Barely 1 in 10 eligible voters showed up. A little over half of them voted for Brat - about 1 in 20 voters in the district. Brat will probably win, but it is America that is losing with this voter apathy that is helping extremists take over our political processes.
Nice thoughts for conservatives, but a dose of reality is in order. Far from this being a triumph of right wing political fervor, it was, in fact, the dull thud of voter apathy. Barely 1 in 10 eligible voters showed up. A little over half of them voted for Brat - about 1 in 20 voters in the district. Brat will probably win, but it is America that is losing with this voter apathy that is helping extremists take over our political processes.
Per all political observers, including Larry Sabado from the Univ. of VA - the turnout for this primary was better than expected.
So, as primaries go - Kantor did not lose because of poor voter turnout. He lost because he and his crew didn't take care of business in his district (Wash. people call his crew a bunch on arrogant a*[fill in the blanks[, possible crossover vote from some Democrats, people fed up w/immigration issues - although Cantor always straddled the fence on that one.
Apparently, in 2010, he write a very good book - Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders - which no one in his district read - again his people just not taking care of business in his district.
14 years in DC, a major power broker, and its over. What a kick in the head. I'm sure he and his people will be just fine - but, geez..........
A little over half of them voted for Brat - about 1 in 20 voters in the district. Brat will probably win, but it is America that is losing with this voter apathy that is helping extremists take over our political processes.
Who is to say, if more folks voted, Brat might have gotten even more votes
Apathy does not always mean the non voter would vote the status quo.
Quite the contrary.
Obama is not deporting illegals. Recently he reassured them that it's just those stopped at the border that are being counted as deportations. Thousands of Central Americans are coming over every day, and they are not being deported at all.
"seems" is the operative word when dealing with both numbers and media reports.
Per all political observers, including Larry Sabado from the Univ. of VA - the turnout for this primary was better than expected.
So, as primaries go - Kantor did not lose because of poor voter turnout. He lost because he and his crew didn't take care of business in his district (Wash. people call his crew a bunch on arrogant a*[fill in the blanks[, possible crossover vote from some Democrats, people fed up w/immigration issues - although Cantor always straddled the fence on that one.
Apparently, in 2010, he write a very good book - Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders - which no one in his district read - again his people just not taking care of business in his district.
14 years in DC, a major power broker, and its over. What a kick in the head. I'm sure he and his people will be just fine - but, geez..........
Organizing a State wide campaign that was against Grass Roots in the State of Virginia was probably not Cantor's best political move. IF he had not done this one thing - he would probably still be the Majority Leader. When Political Elites decide to actively fight against citizens - it almost never can be a good move. Cantor tried to put his own supporters into Republican leadership positions in Districts all over Virginia - he lost 4 out of 5 Districts and all of them mobilized against him in his own District to un-seat him.
All that said - he gave a very gracious speech this afternoon and declined to "analyze" the results of the election. He was also clear that he (supposedly) supports the "Tea Party".
This is essentially over except to see who takes his place - I'm going out on a limb and saying it will be Jeb Hensarling of Texas. Put it in your Memory Book.
Who is to say, if more folks voted, Brat might have gotten even more votes
Apathy does not always mean the non voter would vote the status quo.
Quite the contrary.
Well you have a point. The turnout was 12% so Brat got 6 1/2 % of the eligible voters. Anyway you look at it, it's not an uprising. In fact, given the tea party has been doing rather poorly this season including a very strong win by Graham just last night, it probably means far less that the right extreme wants to think it does. I'll settle for the all politics is local conclusion for the outcome on this one. Cantor is a butt, he does not appeal to many including Dems who hate his behavior more than the ultra-cons do. It's is premature and, I believe, ultimately wrong to take this election as evidence that the tea party is resurgent. The media, of course, is not going to leave it at that. They have to proclaim the second coming or the end of the world depending on their political persuasion. Let's be smart enough not to go along with that.
Well you have a point. The turnout was 12% so Brat got 6 1/2 % of the eligible voters. Anyway you look at it, it's not an uprising. In fact, given the tea party has been doing rather poorly this season including a very strong win by Graham just last night, it probably means far less that the right extreme wants to think it does. I'll settle for the all politics is local conclusion for the outcome on this one. Cantor is a butt, he does not appeal to many including Dems who hate his behavior more than the ultra-cons do. It's is premature and, I believe, ultimately wrong to take this election as evidence that the tea party is resurgent.
As soon as I saw that Lindsey Graham, a well known RINO, sailed to victory in SC, that's when I knew that the VA-7 primary was just an isolated incident. Also, Graham won with 59% of the vote against 6 other people. That is a landslide, he won with an outright majority, not plurality.
Yes it's big news because Cantor was Majority Whip in line to be Speaker of the House, but it was still just a House district with district-wide consequences; Graham's has statewide implications as he is elected by the people of South Carolina, not the people of some district. The neo-Confederates are dangerously reading into this primary with the wrong lens. I think Cantor's seat went from Safe GOP to leans GOP
Wow, I'm shocked by this. To be honest, I could imagine myself voting for Eric Cantor for president. However, I'm moderate...I actually like establishment republicans...but I guess the point is that were I less moderate and more right I would like this news.
Is Rick Santorum considered establishment? I wanted him to run against Obama and not Romney.
You must mean you're liberal. You voted for Obama right? You thought Obama had a better chance to beat Santorum right? Of course you would like the establishment GOP. You think things are going well. The Tea Party thinks our country is being transformed by left wing radicals, as they promised they would.
What is the Tea Party's function? I really can't see how they are any different from establishment Republicans, except they are more extreme in their views, bordering on fascist, if they aren't already. If Rand Paul was supposed to be the pure standard of what being tea party is all about, then by all counts the tea party just failed, Paul became a war hawk already. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I got fooled once, not gonna happen a second time.
Very simple. The Tea Party is for limited government, ie less spending on government programs except the military. Also less regulation of our personal liberties by the EPA, Obamacare, executive actions, legislating from the bench. We also believe in law and order. If there is a law it should be enforced. If there is no law one needs to be passed through the process outlined in the Constitution. Very radical stuff huh?
As soon as I saw that Lindsey Graham, a well known RINO, sailed to victory in SC, that's when I knew that the VA-7 primary was just an isolated incident. Also, Graham won with 59% of the vote against 6 other people. That is a landslide, he won with an outright majority, not plurality.
Yes it's big news because Cantor was Majority Whip in line to be Speaker of the House, but it was still just a House district with district-wide consequences; Graham's has statewide implications as he is elected by the people of South Carolina, not the people of some district. The neo-Confederates are dangerously reading into this primary with the wrong lens. I think Cantor's seat went from Safe GOP to leans GOP
Graham spent a LOT of time connecting with his constituents - that matters. He didn't try to replace those that he might perceive were "Tea Party", he went and talked to them. Graham also has an advantage that many don't have - he is a former JAG Officer. Nobody doubts that he both knows the Military Law, the Civilian Law, how Congress works and his Patriotism and concern for Veterans.
That's why Graham won his primary ..... it didn't hurt a bit that there was a large, unfocused field against him with only one thing to say ...... RINO!!!!!!!!
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