From POLITICO.com 6/12/14:
"Eric Cantor thought he was setting out to nudge the Republican Party gently in a winning direction. Instead, the voters of his home district pushed him over a political cliff.As budding political scientists I'm sure you have all heard the stunning news coming out of Washington in the last several weeks (wink!). Eric Cantor (R-VA), the current Majority Leader in the House of Representatives (not sure what that is? Watch the video below), has been defeated in a primary election by a more conservative Republican. Cantor is the first House Majority Leader in history to lose a primary election, and his loss delivers a significant blow the Republican party's hopes of solidifying their base of support entering the midterm elections in November 2014 and the presidential election in 2016.
The Virginia lawmaker’s surprise defeat in a primary election has already sent a shudder through the party in 2014, rattling lawmakers and delivering an abrupt reality check to politicians who think the GOP rank and file is eager for an ideological reboot."
Cantor's loss is particularly interesting because it comes at the hands of the Tea Party - a conservative wing of the Republican party. The Tea Party has made a name for itself by running more conservative candidates against moderate Republican incumbents and beating them in primary elections. Their goal is to remove moderate Republicans from elected office and replace them with more conservative Congressmen. However, Cantor is no moderate, in fact, he has been one of President Obama's greatest opponents in Congress.
Finally, Cantor's loss is unprecedented in modern politics because he seemingly had everything a candidate would need to win: a strong record of support from his district, a legislative record of success, a leadership position that gave him a national spotlight, and millions of dollars to spend on his campaign. In fact, Cantor spent nearly $2 million while his opponent, Dave Brat, spent only $200,000! Now all we can do is try and figure out what this will mean for the midterm elections coming in November and future of the Republican Party.
Read the Articles Here:
What's a House Majority Leader, Anyway?
Questions for Discussion
What should the Republican party take away from Cantor's loss?
How will Cantor's loss impact Congress?
Is there any legislation that will be impacted by Cantor's loss?
Is there any legislation that will be impacted by Cantor's loss?
Does this have any impact on the congressional midterm elections in 2014? The presidential election in 2016?
Is Cantor's loss good or a bad for President Obama?
Is this a victory for the Democrats or a loss for the Republicans?
Before you comment please read my post on current event comments below!
This is certainly a weird thing to happen, especially considering he lost to his own party and not an opposing Democrat. One would think this would be an obvious lose for the Republicans and a victory for the Democrats, however I think this is just a loss for all of Congress and the country as a whole. With the Republican party in this kind of civil war between the Tea Party and the party leadership Congress hasn't really seemed to be able to get anything done in the past few years. This in addition to the Tea Party's campaign to stop everything that isn't apart of their conservative ideal(trying to repeal the ACA at least 50 times and other such things) as completely halted progress. I don't foresee the Tea Party being able to ever compromise or get anything moderate done as long as they're in office. Trying to oust moderate Republicans is just plain bad for the functioning of our country. Hopefully, the more moderate Republicans along with the leadership will learn to compromise with Democrats to push some legislation through that is decent. I almost feel there is a chance the Tea Party might branch off into a third party just because what they did with Cantor they have done before. That would be crazy, although it might have catastrophic political consequences it would still be interesting. However, better judgment says that won't happen. To sum it all up, the Tea Party needs to come closer to the center of the isle or get out so our country can at least function
ReplyDeleteWhoops, I was supposed to ask a question. Well since I geared my comment towards this idea of the Tea Party competing against incumbents up for reelection, does anyone else have any opinions on the Tea Party's actions?
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ReplyDeleteEthan,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I like how you referenced the article and voiced your own opinions. A quick note, you don't always need to ask questions at the end of your post, but well done. Keep it up!
Well, one thing that's for sure is that Obama definitely benefitted from the loss of Cantor seen as he was a big opponent of the President. As for legislations made in the future, if there continues to be less moderate Republicans in congress due to the Tea Party then, I could be wrong but, doesn't that mean that most of the decisions made will be much more conservative? For example, with gay rights as a previous major conflict will controversies such as that be less likely to be improved or, in other words, updated when it comes to future decisions? What I'm trying to get at is that if the Tea Party is to succeed in removing moderate Republicans from congress then I don't think our country has much room for change from old ways and ideals. Please let me know if I am in the right mindset or if I am thinking about this Tea Party in the wrong way. Also, I would like to relate my comment to Ethan's by saying I completely agree with his observation about the "civil war" within the Republican party. Although he is right it does seem interesting and I would love to see how it turns out, he is also right in saying that it cannot be good for the nation. We will have to watch how it turns out, though I predict that this situation can make the future elections pretty messy.
ReplyDeleteWhat republicans should take from Eric Cantor's loss is that everyone in Congress is replaceable and just because a candidate has the money and reputation to win, doesn't mean he or she will win. In the article "Eric Cantor lesson to GOP: Stray at your own risk." it said that democrats blamed him for being the breakdown of trust between the parties in government. so, maybe with him gone, both parties will form a better relationship. However, that is unlikely to happen. Cantor's loss will be a positive impact because now President Obama wont have as hard of a time going through Congress because Cantor "has been one of President Obama's greatest opponents in Congress."But with the Tea party trying to remove moderate republicans it can serve as a loss the republican party as a whole because not everyone is going to agree with the conservative views of the Tea Party. This making things harder to deal with in congress.
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