|
Cantor |
By Chelyen Davis
RICHMOND--
Like Gov. Tim Kaine before him, Rep. Eric Cantor is mum on weekend rumors that he's being considered for the vice-presidential short list.In a conference call with reporters to discuss Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's energy plan, Cantor was asked if he would like to discuss reports that Republican presidential candidate John McCain is vetting him as a potential vice-presidential candidate.
"No, I wouldn't," Cantor said, steering the questions back toward energy policy.
Over the weekend, news outlets cited sources who said Cantor--a Richmonder whose 7th congressional district includes Caroline, Culpeper, Orange, Louisa and part of Spotsylvania counties--had submitted documents to the McCain campaign as part of the vetting process.
That follows last week's flurry of news stories about how Kaine is being seriously considered by Obama.
Local Republicans think Cantor would add to the Republican ticket.
"I certainly think Eric would be a strong addition to the ticket, but as 7th district chair, I would hate to see him leave the district," said 7th District GOP chairman Linwood Cobb.
Cobb said Cantor is "very up to snuff with terrorism.
"He is one of the rising stars and complements McCain's fiscal conservatism to cut spending and bring some order to the way we spend money up in Washington," Cobb said.
He pointed out that Cantor's name had previously been pushed for the vice-presidential slot by a Web site, ericcantorforvp.com, beginning last month.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in June the ericcantorforvp.com site was created by Washington lobbyist Beau Phillips.
"There's been a strong grass-roots movement that's really pushed Eric's name to the forefront," Cobb said.
Stafford County GOP chairwoman Susan Stimpson also is excited about the possibility of Cantor running for vice president.
"I think Eric Cantor is a solid conservative, and, obviously, the Republicans rely on him to get things done as the deputy whip, so I think he represents leadership at the national level, but also he brings youth," Stimpson said. "Yes, he's conservative, but I like the diversity he brings to it because he's Jewish, and I think it's exciting that McCain is stepping out in that way."
Political analysts say Cantor is an unconventional option for McCain, but that the mere fact his name has been floated indicates Virginia's importance this fall.
"I would say, at a minimum, this demonstrates that the Republicans are taking the Democratic threat to Virginia very seriously," said Stephen Farnsworth, a political analyst at George Mason University. "To name someone from Virginia as one of the top candidates as a running mate indicates that John McCain is going to be spending a lot of time in Virginia, with or without Eric Cantor as a running mate."
Farnsworth said Cantor's advantage as a potential vice-presidential candidate is that as a relative unknown outside Virginia, he would represent a new face for a party that seriously needs one.
"The party needs a new face because the Republican brand is pretty much toxic now in the minds of a lot of voters," Farnsworth said. "The approval of Republicans in Congress is very low, approval of President Bush is very low... in a time like that, new Republicans may be more appealing than old ones."
But that same newness is also Cantor's disadvantage. He has spent years in politics, first in the Virginia House of Delegates and now, for the past eight years, in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is chief deputy whip for the Republicans and has developed a high profile as a rare Jewish Republican in the House.
But that doesn't translate to the kind of experience a vice president necessarily needs, the pundits said.
"[McCain] needs someone who is immediately seen as presidential given McCain's age. People understand the stresses of the presidency," said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato, noting that McCain is almost 72 and has been diagnosed previously with cancer. "With all due respect, I don't think Eric Cantor does. He's a House member, [but] he has almost no foreign policy experience."
Sabato also said McCain needs someone who can help win a key state, and Cantor's name recognition outside his own district is "near zero.
"It wouldn't just be the country asking Eric who, it would be Virginia asking Eric who," Sabato said.
Farnsworth said putting someone of Cantor's inexperience on the ticket would undermine one of the Republicans' best arguments against Obama and Kaine.
"If McCain were to make Cantor his running mate, it will make it hard for the Republicans to talk all that much about inexperience on the Democratic side," Farnsworth said.
That said, Farnsworth takes the Cantor stories seriously.
"I tend to be of the opinion that there are few accidents in politics, that this name was deliberately released, as a trial balloon, to gauge how Republicans around the country feel about Cantor," he said. "At this point in the process, both of these campaigns are getting down to serious shortlists. This is not a throwaway leak, in my opinion."
Sabato was less positive.
"From what I understand, a wide variety of people have been asked to provide information. But only one person is going to be chosen. It will certainly be an enormous surprise if it's a House member representing one-eleventh of Virginia," Sabato said. "It would be a very strange decision."
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
