Brat: Comparing Cantor to Reagan ‘insult’ to Reagan

Brat: Comparing Cantor to Reagan ‘insult’ to Reagan

Just in time for today’s Republican primary in Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch proclaims Rep. Eric Cantor the new Ronald Reagan.

Equally absurd, the newspaper’s editorial board uses Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as benchmarks to prove the congressman’s “conservative” bona fides.

The editorialists positively swoon over Cantor’s climb up the House ladder. The seven-term congressman’s ascension to majority leader proves his “enduring” leadership, they opine.

The fact is that Cantor increasingly rankles his constituents in the 7th Congressional District, arguably the most conservative in Virginia. A Daily Caller poll shows Cantor struggling unexpectedly against challenger Dave Brat.

Voters are restless about Cantor’s zig-zag politics on immigration. They are uneasy about his coziness with Wall Street, and his role in the multibillion-dollar taxpayer bailouts of banks deemed “too big to fail.”

In his latest pivot, Cantor says he’s ready to work with President Barack Obama to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. It’s for “the kids,” he says.

Compared to Pelosi and Reid, Cantor’s brand of pragmatic politics has become indistinguishable, and undistinguished.

The Cantor-as-local-hero storyline is predictable pablum from a newspaper owned by Warren Buffett. Serious discussion of free markets — fully embraced by Brat — is subsumed by statist politics as usual. Cantor’s hometown paper tipped its hand when it touted the House leader’s legislative work with fellow Virginian, Mark Warner. Cue up an even more glowing editorial about the Democratic senator, who also is up for re-election this year.

“They have yet to report on Cantor’s onslaught of negative (and misleading) ads,” notes Brat, who gets his modest financial support on Main Street, not Wall Street.

Read more by Kenric Ward at Watchdog.com.

Kenric Ward

Kenric Ward

Kenric Ward is a national correspondent and writes for the Texas Bureau of Watchdog.org. Formerly a reporter and editor at two Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers, Kenric has won dozens of state and national news awards for investigative articles. His most recent book is “Saints in Babylon: Mormons and Las Vegas.”

Comments

For your convenience, you may leave commments below using Disqus. If Disqus is not appearing for you, please disable AdBlock to leave a comment.