OUR VIEW: Opponents lining up to take down Eric Cantor
Published: September 29, 2009
Updated: September 29, 2009
» But if history is any indication, it will be tough to unseat Culpeper’s powerful Republican congressman.
The election for Virginia’s Seventh congressional seat held by Eric Cantor, minority whip in the U.S. House of Representatives, is more than a year away. But already the campaign is heating up.
We’ve seen a lot of activity in the past few weeks that could make this race, unlike years past, a little more interesting — if only for the fact that Cantor already has two outspoken challengers.
On Sept. 15, Richmond-area Democrat Charlie Diradour launched his campaign in dramatic fashion with a stinging YouTube video that attacked Cantor — sometimes inaccurately — for using his BlackBerry during the president’s speech to Congress. A week later, Floyd Bayne, another Richmond-area resident and prolific letter writer, jumped into the fray as an independent with libertarian leanings.
During all of this, the Democrat who lost to Cantor in 2008, Anita Hartke, dropped out of the race, citing a need to care for her ill mother. Hartke, a local real estate agent and chairwoman of the Culpeper County Democratic Committee, registered 37 percent of the vote in November — which doesn’t seem like a lot until you consider it’s the most any opponent has ever earned against the five-term incumbent.
So, Cantor vs. Diradour vs. Bayne: Who will get your vote?
We have a long way to go until the election, and anything can happen. The truth is, however, that it remains Cantor’s race to lose. Diradour and Bayne have their work cut out for them.
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Reader Reactions
So sandalwood, just because Cantor did something for YOU he is doing a good job? How typically “conservative”.
I voted for Cantor every time he ran for this office. I shall not do so, in the next election. Over the years, I have written a number of letters/emails to his office, concerning issues in which I was interested. Most of those times, I received the standard: Thanks for writing, and my outlook is .....“ responses. Sometimes we agreed, and other times we did not, and that is to be expected with any elected official. The problem is that Mr Cantor has become more and more hardened into the Republican Right views, and now is Party Whip. That means it is his job to insure that EACH and EVERY Republican party view is pushed at his parties members. This doesn’t mean he simply is trying to encourage them to vote the “Republican Way” but rather whips them into it - right or wrong. And yes - they have as many stances that are wrong, as they do those which are right, in my view. The present issue of health care has tipped the cart, and his response to my latest letter, on that subject, was 100 percent contrary to how I asked him to vote. He is my representative, but no longer holds the same views as mine, thus my vote will go to someone who better listens to me. I am tired of the same old “Party” system wherein each party decides to be 100 percent against the other, no matter whether it is better for our country or citizens, or not. Our representative can never agree with 100 percent of the voters in his district, but he CAN and SHOULD support and vote the the welfare of us all. I believe he no longer does that. It is truly time for a change to fresh blood, fresh insight and fresh ideas.
Years ago we ran into a situation where we needed information from a branch of the government. Try as we might we could not get any satisfaction from them. Finally my husband went to Eric Cantor. He had his staff write a letter and within a few weeks we received the information we had been seeking. He didn’t ask for a donation at the time. It was purely a public service.
So now and in the future Cantor has our vote.
“Cantor is only interested in voters that make very large donations to his account.“
I disagree. I have never given Cantor a dime, and I am not capable of giving him “very large donations” even if I wanted to. Yet, I have corresponded with him on issues of concern to me and I have received two page letters from him; letters which are obviously NOT “canned responses” or pretty, pandering, platitudes written by some staffer. The letters I have received from him are actually signed by him, nit stamped with his signature.
I had a particularly “nice” exchange with him following his support for the Bush Bailout last Fall. I was so angry when he voted for that, that I wrote in my own name on the ballot rather than vote for him; and while my initial contact with him on the matter was quite hostile, he was gracious and thoughtful in his response and in the subsequent “follow-ups”.
I differ with Mr. Cantor on quite a few things, and I think there is much room for improvement in his representation of our part of the 7th District. However, until someone demonstrably better and more qualified comes along to unseat him, I will probably support him in the next election.
Cantor is only interested in voters that make very large donations to his account.
The votes from this house will be for Cantor.
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