There were a variety of reasons he lost. Immigration is just another on the list. He's a bad "conservative" in nearly every sense of the word.

 

And Clyde, did that poll say 70% of Republicans were fine with HIS stance, or they were in favor of getting immigration reform passed?

 

I believe I read the same poll earlier on POLITICO, it defined Immigration Refrom as "reform that would secure the borders, block employers from hiring those here illegally, and allow undocumented residents without criminal backgrounds to gain legal status."

 

Are there many Republicans in your opinion that would disagree with that description?

 

Again, I don't believe Immigration Reform was the end-all-be-all of the campaign, but a good %% of voters strongly care about the issue.

 

Those voters, and perhaps a bigger percentage than you would think, most likely believe Eric Cantor is weak-kneed and would eventually cave on amnesty -- another term alongside Immigration Reform that takes very different meanings with different people.

Edited June 12, 201412 yr by marvel

I don't have any great insight into why Cantor lost. I imagine it was a combination of things.

 

But, I think you would be hard pressed to find a more conservative member of Congress than Cantor, including his instigating the opposition to all of Obama's legislative proposals before he was inaugurated and the various debt ceiling fiascos. If there was a "Tea Party" aspect to him losing, it was his role in the House leadership where he had to occasionally don a diplomatic hat. Lindsey Graham is a far more moderate Republican in a possibly even more conservative state and he didn't have any trouble winning his primary. Which leads me to think there is more to it than Cantor not being conservative enough or his flirting with some kind of immigration compromise, which again was part of his leadership role. I think that's been a major tension in the House.

Is there a poll that shows that conservatives were against Mr Cantor's support of immigration reform? The one I saw said 70% of Republicans were fine with his stance.

I don't need a poll to tell me that immigration was a key factor in the election result. Cantor's stance on so-called immigration reform was a major issue in the campaign. Bratt forced Cantor to spend a lot of money late in the campaign on ads claiming that he was opposed to "amnesty." That was a key issue that put Cantor on the defensive and turned his very large lead into a 10%+ loss.

 

If a poll's aim is to show support for immigration reform, then my responses might be interpreting as support for reform - and I strongly oppose the kind of changes that Obama and Cantor would like to make to national immigration policy. The efforts by Cantor to minimize conservatives' power in the House through committee assignments also hurt him. Despite the closeness of his district to Washington, DC (northern Richmond suburbs), many of Cantor's constituents believed that he spent too much time in DC and too little time in his district meeting with constituents.

 

Conservative talk radio was also a big factor in the election. Mark Levin has been hammering the Republican establishment for several years. He is well known in Virginia and endorsed Bratt in the campaign.

 

The Republican establishment and the national media underestimate how soft support for incumbents is. Unless something drastic happens between now and November, conservative turnout at the polls will be very heavy for elections where true conservatives on the ballot.

 

Cantor and his campaign staff spent $170,000 of his campaign funds paying for dinners at steakhouses, compared to the total of about $200,000 Bratt spent on his campaign.

Good to know there are more Virginians on here!*

 

 

*KY boy at heart

I live a few hundred feet outside of the beltway. If and when the economy finally recovers, I will be moving away from the DC area.

 

The infamous bank robber Willie Sutton (the original "Slick Willie") is said to have explained why he robbed banks by replying "because that is where the money is."

 

Our federal government sucks up the wealth of Americans far and wide and pumps it into the local economy here. I am here because the thieving politicians have created a booming economy with other people's money. This is where the jobs are. :lol2:

I live a few hundred feet outside of the beltway. If and when the economy finally recovers, I will be moving away from the DC area.

 

The infamous bank robber Willie Sutton (the original "Slick Willie") is said to have explained why he robbed banks by replying "because that is where the money is."

 

Our federal government sucks up the wealth of Americans far and wide and pumps it into the local economy here. I am here because the thieving politicians have created a booming economy with other people's money. This is where the jobs are. :lol2:

 

I take it you work in contracting.

 

I live in Fredericksburg.

I don't have any great insight into why Cantor lost. I imagine it was a combination of things.

 

But, I think you would be hard pressed to find a more conservative member of Congress than Cantor, including his instigating the opposition to all of Obama's legislative proposals before he was inaugurated and the various debt ceiling fiascos. If there was a "Tea Party" aspect to him losing, it was his role in the House leadership where he had to occasionally don a diplomatic hat. Lindsey Graham is a far more moderate Republican in a possibly even more conservative state and he didn't have any trouble winning his primary. Which leads me to think there is more to it than Cantor not being conservative enough or his flirting with some kind of immigration compromise, which again was part of his leadership role. I think that's been a major tension in the House.

 

NSA spying, TARP bailouts, Debt Ceiling, "beefed up background checks. . . the list goes on.

 

Apparently, conservatives in his area didn't want that type of leader.

I take it you work in contracting.

 

I live in Fredericksburg.

Yes, I am a federal contractor. My wife has family in Spotsylvania. I live in the Vienna-Fall Church area. I thought about moving to Fredericksbury and riding the VRE but decided to stay in this area. The cost of living is unbelievably high but I have a reasonable commute to work.

There were a variety of reasons he lost. Immigration is just another on the list. He's a bad "conservative" in nearly every sense of the word.

 

And Clyde, did that poll say 70% of Republicans were fine with HIS stance, or they were in favor of getting immigration reform passed?

 

I believe I read the same poll earlier on POLITICO, it defined Immigration Refrom as "reform that would secure the borders, block employers from hiring those here illegally, and allow undocumented residents without criminal backgrounds to gain legal status."

 

Are there many Republicans in your opinion that would disagree with that description?

 

Again, I don't believe Immigration Reform was the end-all-be-all of the campaign, but a good %% of voters strongly care about the issue.

 

Those voters, and perhaps a bigger percentage than you would think, most likely believe Eric Cantor is weak-kneed and would eventually cave on amnesty -- another term alongside Immigration Reform that takes very different meanings with different people.

 

 

I'll have to look after my game tonight but I found this study done after the election.

 

Immigration was not the primary concern.

 

Americans for A Conservative Direction

 

They do want immigration reform with the 3 parameters you mentioned.

I don't need a poll to tell me that immigration was a key factor in the election result. .

 

Even if it showed it was last on the list of reasons people voted?

Even if it showed it was last on the list of reasons people voted?

That's not what the "study" showed. Read the way that the survey is worded closely. 22% of voters who supported Bratt cited immigration as their top concern.

 

Americans for a Conservative Action is one of those moderate Republican organizations that seeks to nominate moderate non-Tea Party types where ever they can. The group is headed by Haley Barbour and you can bet that he was in Cantor's corner and would like to see an amnesty deal reached with Obama. Push polling is nothing new to politics but it is usually done during the campaign not after the election. I am surprised that you were taken in, Clyde.

I am enjoying watching liberal Democrats and pro-amnesty Republicans scramble to explain that Cantor's loss had nothing to do with his pro-amnesty activities. Democrats want to turn illegal immigrants into Democrat votes and groups like the Americans for Conservative Action want them for cheap labor. Both groups are determined to see "immigration reform" passed by hook or crook.

 

Don't get hooked by these unscrupulous anglers.

 

Americans for Conservative Action Group Mission Statement

 

Our country has a broken immigration system and a broken border, both of which present huge obstacles to the businesses, job creators, and legal immigrants who have played by the rules and will help continue to grow our economy. It’s well past time for Congress to get to work on real solutions to secure our border, hold those who have broken our laws accountable, and improve our legal immigration system to meet our country’s needs and boost America’s competitiveness in a global economy.

 

The group's Board of Directors is filled with Jeb Bush supporters.

 

Haley Barbour

 

Former Governor Haley Barbour served as the 62nd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012 and served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee in the mid '90s.

 

Sally Bradshaw

 

Sally Bradshaw worked as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Chief of Staff from 1999-2001, and served as a Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee’s Growth and Opportunity Project.

 

Joel Kaplan

 

Joel Kaplan is currently Vice President of US Public Policy at Facebook. Joel also served as Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush.

 

Dan Senor

 

Dan Senor is former chief advisor to Representative Paul Ryan on the Romney-Ryan 2012 campaign

Rob Jesmer

 

Rob Jesmer worked as the former Executive Director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2008 – 2012.

 

Good analysis by Krugman on the Cantor ouster, and why it's not good for the GOP.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/opinion/paul-krugman-eric-cantor-and-the-death-of-a-movement.html?_r=0

Good analysis by Krugman on the Cantor ouster, and why it's not good for the GOP.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/opinion/paul-krugman-eric-cantor-and-the-death-of-a-movement.html?_r=0

 

Krugman is a poor economist and an even worse political pundit.

Krugman is a poor economist and an even worse political pundit.

Try reading the piece before commenting.

Try reading the piece before commenting.

 

I did. It reinforced my opinion.