Shock Waves Still Amplifying from Stunning Defeat of GOP House Heavyweight Eric Cantor in Virginia Primary

By Norvell Rose
11:25 pm June 10, 2014

It was the race that couldn’t be lost. But it was lost, by a wide margin, lost to a come-from-nowhere political novice, an economics professor who was massively outspent but obviously not outmaneuvered.
A political stunner for sure — quite possibly the biggest upset of the decade — and a wake up call for the GOP Establishment.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has gone down in flames, shot out of the political stratosphere by a fellow who was given no chance to win by all the pundits and prognosticators. It was only yesterday that some pollsters put Cantor up by secure double digits. He lost by 11%.
In his primary in the 7th Congressional District of Virginia, Cantor was stomped. It was a clear repudiation by fed-up voters who told the congressman to take a hike. The new sheriff in town is Dave Brat.
How could all the smart guys in the room be so wrong? So off the mark about the outcome of the race? Pollsters who called it early for Cantor have enough egg on their faces to make a double omelet.
From the Richmond Times Dispatch, in the heart of “Cantor country”, a post-race analysis from noted political analyst, Larry Sabato, a professor at the University of Virginia, just down the road from Richmond:
“I’m as stunned as anybody,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “I’ve yet to find one person nationally or in the state outside the Brat circle who thought Cantor would be beaten.”
“This is one of the most stunning upsets in modern American political history,” Sabato said. “This is the base rebelling against the GOP leadership in Washington as represented by Eric Cantor.”

“Everybody agrees that if immigration reform was on life support before, they’re pulling out the plugs,” because no other House Republican will want to end up like Cantor, Sabato said.
You can tell that all sorts of know-it-alls in the political world are stuttering and stammering over this one. A Tea Party resurrection. The winner, Brat, was supported by a fired-up Virginia Tea Party caucus.
From Politico, an analysis that will have the D.C. elite both running in circles and running scared.
Interesting takeaways from the stunning Cantor loss, writes the Politico scribe:
IMMIGRATION REFORM IS DEAD (Cantor was a backer)
THE TEA PARTY IS ALIVE (and ready to claim more scalps)
Now, what kind of leadership icture will emerge in the GOP-controlled House?
And…WILL THIS SET THE STAGE FOR SOUTH CAROLINA’S FEISTY TREY GOWDY TO MOVE UP INTO A POWERFUL LEADERSHIP POSITION?

http://www.libertynews.com/2014/06/s...ginia-primary/