As the Democratic primary draws to a close, everyone is trying to look around the political corner to see what’s next. To get ahead of the game I began writing this post a couple of weeks ago, but procrastination got in the way. Here is the lede I wrote about Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.) as a potential running mate on the Republican ticket:
“A few years ago if you asked the question of which Virginian might be the first to find his way to the White House, you might have said George Allen (R), Mark Warner (D) or maybe even Jim Gilmore (R). The now-obvious answer is Eric Cantor.”
I can’t write that now as the opening because as I waited theRichmond Times Dispatch ran away with my thesis. Bob Rayner writes that among other attributes, “Cantor would energize economic conservatives in a way that McCain has not, and he possesses the skill and expertise to attack the Democrats’ high-tax, anti-trade, big-government platform as precisely the wrong medicine for a struggling economy.”
Now I find myself in the position of following others’ lead. Welcome to the world of being both a prognosticator and procrastinator. Cantor has been hailed as a conservative hero by movement conservative Hugh Hewitt and from the MSM’s Time magazine as “one of the most popular and hard-working members of the leadership.”
Despite my being late to the party, there are some obvious reasons — and some not so obvious ones — why Cantor would make a wise choice to be Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) veep.
* There is a here-and-now of politics and a future. McCain, 71, is one. Cantor, 44, is the other.
* Pure demographics. Cantor has a political history etched in the political battleground of the suburbs. The conventional wisdom says cities are overwhelmingly Democratic and rural areas are Republican. While that reading of the situation is a little overgeneralized, it basically holds true. The real battleground is in the suburbs and exurbs. Cantor understands and excels in that political environment.
* While Cantor is a serious politician who has been charged with the largely thankless task of passing the Republican agenda in the House, he maintains an optimism, energy and positive demeanor that can only be attributed to someone who has a vision for what he wants to accomplish.
* You don’t have to be Pierce Brosnan, but generally, ugly people are not on the ticket.
* The obvious, and most discussed attribute, is that Cantor is Jewish. The Republicans are not going to win New York anytime soon but given the challenges in Florida, Cantor helps lock down the Sunshine State (and ends any hope by Democrats of capturing Virginia, which has been a little iffy lately for Republicans). His inclusion on the ticket helps sweeten the deal for voters uneasy with Obama’s position on Israel.
To predict and answer those who might say Cantor is too young or inexperienced to be VP, I have three initials to offer up: BHO.
To quote one of the quickest minds in the downtown PR world, Jonathan Grella, “The upside of Obama is that you could make a reasonable argument that Cantor as VP is better prepared to be POTUS than Obama. It completely frees McCain up to pick just about any politician with more than four years of experience.”
In fact, Cantor has been a congressional leader longer than Obama has even been in Washington.