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ERIC CANTOR'S TERRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK.
I'm getting the sense that the Eric Cantor bubble is bursting. The Politico, I guess, presaged it with an article earlier in the week. But their piece lacked actual evidence of mistakes on Cantor's part. Rather, it suggested that he'd snubbed Obama's press conference to attend a fundraiser at a Britney Spears concert (seriously) and had bickered with John Boehner in an effort to keep Republicans from supporting Mike Pence's budget blueprint. One charge was trivial and the other was an example of good judgment. The underlying note, however, was that Cantor was unready for this level of scrutiny and beginning to clash with the rest of the GOP's leadership team.
If it was originally a narrative in search of some evidence, however, today it got its nut graf. Cantor accused Democrats of "overreacting" to the financial crisis. Not having the wrong reaction or trying to import a banking solution from Mao's Little Red Book, but "overreacting."
Yipes. Steve Benen neatly drops the hammer, writing, "It's hard to imagine what Cantor was thinking. Democrats care too much about fixing the economy? That's the pitch from the House Republican leadership?"
It's not, of course, the pitch from the House Republicans Leadership. Rather, they'll sell it as an isolated gaffe from the increasingly troubled Eric Cantor.
COMMENTS (9)
As oft remarked, there's something fascinating about watching a terrible incident happen. Car wreaks, fires, train collisions, ships sinking, planes landing off runways, etc.
The normal human response is excitment and some degree of empathy with the victims.
So, I plead guilty to being a bad human: I'm watching this Republican implosion in the House, Senate, states, and RNC, and I'm laughing my ass off.
Bad Jim, Bad!
hehehehe
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | April 2, 2009 12:14 PM
I forgot to say why this GOP thingy is an implosion rather than an explosion:
When the core of something is vaccuum, implosion is the usual result.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | April 2, 2009 12:18 PM
Huge news! Krugman's changed his mind and now supports the Geithner plan! He thinks nationalization would be too difficult!
Posted by: Christian Weston Chandler | April 2, 2009 12:41 PM
Follow this link for the Krugman story!
Posted by: Christian Weston Chandler | April 2, 2009 12:43 PM
Liberals (or as they now must style themselves, "progressives" having crapped up the liberal word) fear Eric Cantor because he's rather glamorous looking. Very sleek. That matters in all politicians except Barney Frank and Barbara Mikulski. Their minority status puts their poor appearance beyond attack. Have you noticed that the incidence of baldness in the senate is far less than you would expect, given its presence in the overall population?
Posted by: Anonymous | April 2, 2009 12:54 PM
> Cantor accused Democrats of "overreacting" to the financial crisis.
Let's just hope someone has this comment on videotape.
Posted by: Andy | April 2, 2009 1:16 PM
"...Mike Pence's budget blueprint".
There must be a better word than "blueprint", which suggests an actual plan. Rice paper edible menu? Eat-before-reading spygram? Sacrificial pro-forma?
Posted by: James Wimberley | April 2, 2009 3:20 PM
1994 is mostly remembered - in political terms - for how the GOP upended post-Depression politics and captured the House away from the Dems. But, as all the Newt-is-back stories ought to remind us, that was also the year that divisions within the GOP began to matter. Mike Pence, though ideologically a natural ally of Cantor and Ryan, opted to advance himself by joining his old guard opponent, Boehner.
Which is all by way of saying that the GOP is operating with both the factionalism of a longstanding majority party and the policy seriousness of a party long bereft of power. So, despite the attempts of sourgrapes Evan Bayh and his ilk, Democrats aren't likely to stumble enough for these clowns to get back into the driver's seat.
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