Eric Cantor about to lose his primary

[deacphan]

i have yet to read anything there i've found particularly interesting or insightful.

 

[bigdoublezero]

the platform is great from a digital media standpoint, but idk where the money is coming from

i like a few of their writers a lot, andrew flowers in econ especially

Disney? ESPN has gobs of it for R&D. That's why Grantland still exists.

 

[bigdoublezero]

Yeah, they bought him.

I tend to give Silver and Simmons a pass because at least they're trying.

 

[PhDeac]

Yeah, they bought him.

I tend to give Silver and Simmons a pass because at least they're trying.

Same. I think Silver will eventually figure out that oversaturation doesn't work and may actually make it harder for him to draw a steady audience. For every great article, there's 2 or 3 quick read decent enough articles, and 4 or 5 meaningless ones that include poor or incomplete analysis.

I definitely give him a pass on this Cantor stuff because he's in the position where he has to write about how much of an anomaly this is without any real good data on it.

 

[Wakeforest22890]

What percentage would say they're a Tea Partier or what percentage agrees with the Tea Party core values?

Either one, although they are different questions.

I believe self-identification is a hell of a proxy for Tea Party status because if you self-identify as a Tea Partier, even if you are ignorant of the values they espouse or just incorrect on whether or not you are in fact sharing those values, you are still more likely to vote for another self-identified Tea Partier.

 

[dot com]

that silver article is a waste of time.

Though I enjoyed this part:

 

[jimbob]

What percentage of the GOP do you think are Tea Partiers? Had an animated discussion with my dad about it where we completely disagree.

Furthermore, what do you all feel is the best way to identify who is a Tea Partier? We had differing views on that as well. I want to hear some takes before I comment myself and color the discussion a little.

1) The term "Tea Party" is a really nice rhetorical political football but there isn't really a platform for those in the "tea party" which makes estimating their numbers an exercise in approximations. its more of a series of denials of other policies both conservative and liberal. I'd say the percentage is probably around 20 percent of GOP members with a solid additional 30 percent who advocate for "tea party"/negative positions when its expedient or the opportunity presents itself . I'd also say the number may be in the single digits in the Senate which is why you had Cruz exposed when the debt ceiling debate was ongoing. Still feel comfortable saying a solid 20 percent of the GOP House with influence over another 10 - 15 percent. A minority but a vocal minority.

2) A good way to start with identifying a tea party representative is to look and see if they got elected in the 2010 wave. Additionally, they usually give quotes to the press in groups and talk in angry generalities.

2) One way to identify

 

[PhDeac]

Gunning for that #2 spot.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/...ampaign-eric-cantor-107756.html#ixzz34NZjIBPU

I don't think Republicans realize that an anti-government platform makes the Republican incumbents vulnerable from within.

 

[FuckmouthedRube]

The narrative was that the Tea Party was finished only 8 days ago. I don't remember hearing anything about Cantor being in danger.

Political punditry is ridiculously inconsistent. Tea Party isn't dead, but they certainly haven't surged after McConnell, Boehner, Cornyn, and Graham easily won their primary challenges vs Tea Party challengers. Cantor lost and Cochran probably will too, but neither the Tea Party nor the old line GOP is a clear definitive winner thus far in 2014. Mitt Romney's backed more primary winners than Sarah Palin thus far. GOP pollsters are completely incompetent. Romney, Ryan, Rove, George Will, and Peggy Noonan were all utterly convinced that Mitt would win until the bitter end.

 

[WFFaithful]

http://m.nationalreview.com/article/367690/eric-cantors-challenger-right-betsy-woodruff

"Brat] chairs the department of economics and business at Randolph-Macon College and heads its BB&T Moral Foundations of Capitalism program. The funding for the program came from John Allison, the former CEO of BB&T (a financial-services company) who now heads the Cato Institute. The two share an affinity for Ayn Rand: Allison is a major supporter of the Ayn Rand Institute, and Brat co-authored a paper titled "An Analysis of the Moral Foundations in Ayn Rand." Brat says that while he isn't a Randian, he has been influenced by Atlas Shrugged and appreciates Rand's case for human freedom and free markets."

 

[Brangus]

I'm a republican only because I don't want to lose my right to vote in a closed primary state and the Democrats are just too far to the left on too many issues for me. But I HATE the Tea Party and don't give anyone money anymore.

 

[PhDeac]

Apparently, Trammel and Brat are friendly with each other. Should make for an interesting race.

 

[LadyDeac03]

Apparently, Trammel and Brat are friendly with each other. Should make for an interesting race.

I am so intrigued by how this aspect will play out. Randolph-Macon has only around 1300 students and 100 professors (which is basically the same size as my high school). I laughed this morning at a note in the Express about Trammel having much higher scores on Rate My Professor than Brat.

The VA 7th is the district in which I grew up, and where my parents still live. I also happened to work for a summer on the Ben Jones campaign in 2002. Incidentally, this also made me laugh today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/06/ben-cooter-jones_n_5463196.html

 

[FuckmouthedRube]

Gunning for that #2 spot.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/...ampaign-eric-cantor-107756.html#ixzz34NZjIBPU

I don't think Republicans realize that an anti-government platform makes the Republican incumbents vulnerable from within.

When does the quest for ideological purity end? Jim DeMint famously said he's rather have 30 ideologically pure Senators than a majority. The only thing that would ensure is zero ability to pass or block legislation. Cruz wants to be President not Senate Majority Leader. Bachmann barely won her fourth term and is leaving in disgrace. Allen West won only one of his three campaigns for the House. Kevin McCarthy, not Louie Gohmert, will replace Cantor. None of the Tea Party organizations pumped money into Brat's campaign. Fox, political consultants who cater to the Tea Party, and people like Rush and Palin get paid, but ultimately it doesn't get the GOP 270 electoral votes or 60 to 67 Senate seats anytime soon.

 

[OldGoldBeard]

Political punditry is ridiculously inconsistent. Tea Party isn't dead, but they certainly haven't surged after McConnell, Boehner, Cornyn, and Graham easily won their primary challenges vs Tea Party challengers.

Pretty good for a guy who "might not even [have made] it to a run off" if "he had two credible opponents," huh? :thumbsup:

South Carolina is about to have a gay Senator, black Senator, and female Indian governor. Most progressive state in the Union? I think so.

 

[PhDeac]

Interesting article on Brat. He may not be the Tea Party darling you think he is.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/dave-brat-eric-cantor-virginia-107804.html?hp=f2

He may be the new tea party hero, but Brat really isn’t a tea party guy. His writings show that he’s closer to Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand than tea party talking points. Indeed, he fits the ivory tower mold – the kind of academic who makes small talk with his colleagues at the campus gym by chatting about how to create the perfect ethical system. He savors the role of an anti-politician, but this is not another Joe the Plumber. This is Dave the Professor.

...

His writings include plenty of tributes to free-market conservatism, and in one paper, he lays out Ayn Rand’s “case for liberty from the ground up.” But there are also some surprising departures — like one paper that suggests that states can prime their economies by investing in education and research. Another endorses the No Child Left Behind law and suggests mandatory teaching seminars so teachers don’t take black students less seriously than white students.
That background paints a different picture of Brat than one might expect from all the tea party support he won. As a candidate, Brat has talked about opposing “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, term limits for members of Congress, gun owners’ rights and returning power to the states through the 10th amendment. Brat’s hardline focus on opposing immigration reform has surprised some of his colleagues, who say he never talked about it that much on campus.
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But even the way Brat talks about his solution to illegal immigration is straight from conservative theory: encourage free markets and private property rights around the world.
“I teach third world economic development, and you know, my intent — I mean, if you really want to help these folks — everyone wants to come to this country because we’re rich, and the reason we’re rich is because we have a very firm rule of law and protection of property rights,” Brat said in the Hannity interview. “So if you really want to help the rest of the world, what you’ve got to do is encourage free markets, private property rights and the strong rule of law and get rid of the dictators in a lot of these countries.”


Very interesting piece.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

Ph-

That article shows that he doesn't fit into whatever existing mold Politico thinks a Tea Party guy should fit. They can't exactly say the Koch brothers won this election for him. I like the part where they act surprised that he thinks black students should be treated like white students, as if that's some flaming liberal ideal. Gee, he can't be very Tea Party because he isn't a total racist. Nice bit of patronizing on the part of the authors there.

I consider myself more aligned with whatever the Tea Party is (I consider it a reactionary movement fed up with too much spending and most politicians in DC) than I do the Republicans. Some individuals labeled Tea Partiers still spout the same religious crap as their primary go-to in talking points. That to me isn't very Tea Party, but it shows a different focus from a different element that, like me, is fed up with Republicans. The problem with the GOP is they give lip service to all kinds of things from religion to immigration to taxes to spending to whatever...and that's all it is. People who are more focused on religion or immigration or taxes or spending recognize that and they've broken off and are focusing on whatever they're pissed off about. The Tea Party label seems to be slapped on all pissed off Republicans, and that's a pretty diverse group of people with different priorities. The only commonality appears to be a desire to get spending under control.

You see many who have been in the GOP fold a long time trying to cater the Tea Party movement and thereby trim its rough edges, but that's not going to happen any time soon. And that's a good thing. Maybe bad for the GOP, but good for the country. If it sustains, it will breed a similar movement within the Dems, who are more fractured now than is commonly acknowledged.

 

[ONW]

Cantor is a d-bag. Guess he'll have to settle for the mil/yr consulting gig next year and remove himself from the "Young Guns" commercials.

 

[WFFaithful]

Ph-

That article shows that he doesn't fit into whatever existing mold Politico thinks a Tea Party guy should fit. They can't exactly say the Koch brothers won this election for him. I like the part where they act surprised that he thinks black students should be treated like white students, as if that's some flaming liberal ideal. Gee, he can't be very Tea Party because he isn't a total racist. Nice bit of patronizing on the part of the authors there.

I consider myself more aligned with whatever the Tea Party is (I consider it a reactionary movement fed up with too much spending and most politicians in DC) than I do the Republicans. Some individuals labeled Tea Partiers still spout the same religious crap as their primary go-to in talking points. That to me isn't very Tea Party, but it shows a different focus from a different element that, like me, is fed up with Republicans. The problem with the GOP is they give lip service to all kinds of things from religion to immigration to taxes to spending to whatever...and that's all it is. People who are more focused on religion or immigration or taxes or spending recognize that and they've broken off and are focusing on whatever they're pissed off about. The Tea Party label seems to be slapped on all pissed off Republicans, and that's a pretty diverse group of people with different priorities. The only commonality appears to be a desire to get spending under control.

You see many who have been in the GOP fold a long time trying to cater the Tea Party movement and thereby trim its rough edges, but that's not going to happen any time soon. And that's a good thing. Maybe bad for the GOP, but good for the country. If it sustains, it will breed a similar movement within the Dems, who are more fractured now than is commonly acknowledged.

The Tea Party good for the country---lol

 

[PhDeac]

I don't know many Tea Party folks who have said we need to get rid of dictators in a lot of countries.