“TOTALLY A ROOM OF LOVE”
When we last checked in on Virginia’s Republican establishment, its luminaries were welcoming establishment diva Nikki Haley to raise money for one of their vulnerable liberal incumbents.
This week, two of the commonwealth’s most infamous status quo politicians were feted by the state party – which seems to believe its path back to statewide relevance is to follow the mushy “middle” Mitt Romney route.
Because that worked out so well for Romney …
Anyway, former U.S. majority leader Eric Cantor and former Virginia Bob McDonnell – two unapologetic fiscal liberals who entered politics together back in 1992 – were among the guests of honor at the Virginia GOP’s annual post-election gathering.
How gushy did things get?
“It was totally a room of love,” one local GOP activist told The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Cantor has been out of politics since 2014 – when he was ousted in a GOP primary election for the state’s seventh congressional district by fiscal conservative Dave Brat. Of course Cantor was immediately rewarded by the special interests whose water he consistently carried in Washington, D.C. – getting a lobbying gig that paid him millions of dollars a year.
Must be nice, right? Spend other people’s money … then make bank for it.
Now Cantor is reportedly eyeing a campaign against U.S. Senator (and former vice presidential nominee) Tim Kaine in 2018. He’ll likely be supported in that effort by former national GOP chairman Ed Gillespie, another establishment icon who fancies himself as a statewide contender in Virginia’s 2017 gubernatorial election.
Seriously … this state’S GOP is nothing but recycled RINO trash, isn’t it?
Would we support Cantor against Kaine? Hell no. Give us the Democrat out in the open versus the Democrat cloaking himself in a Republican label. Same goes for Gillespie’s gubernatorial ambitions.
The GOP establishment in Virginia is basically an arm of the Democratic party – and its leaders worked tirelessly in 2016 against their own presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Which makes it not unlike the GOP establishment on the other side of the Potomac.
Accordingly we have no interest in the contemplated GOP takeover of Virginia – which we’re guessing these liberal GOP luminaries presume to accomplish with the support of Trump voters (good luck with that).
We reached out to one of our Virginia operatives to get their take on this situation, and they responded with the following Star Wars analogy …
Episode XXVI The Establishment Strikes Back
Despite a massive rebel victory with the election of President Trump, the evil ESTABLISHMENT has begun constructing a new superweapon capable of sucking all taxpayer money out of the galaxy. Led by the evil ERIC CANTOR, his new apprentice ED GILLESPIE and a dark army of LOBBYISTS and CRONIES, the ESTABLISHMENT is preparing a counteroffensive to conquer the peaceful state of Virginia and cripple the new Trump Administration …
Sounds about right …
We also reached out to a veteran Washington, D.C. operative who has been battling status quo sellouts like Cantor for years.
“Gut him like a fish,” the operative encouraged us. “The slug took a multi-million dollar, opposed Trump and is still a whore for the open borders crowd.”
Indeed …
If Virginia Republicans ever want to regain relevance – and the trust of voters – then they are going to have to cut the cord on status quo hacks like Cantor, Gillespie and McDonnell.
(Banner via iStock)