Cantoring on

Could Eric Cantor be the next minority whip?

Date published: 11/9/2008

REPUBLICANS, licking their wounds after this year's election losses, are casting about for a new face for the party. Will their gazes fall on Virginia's 7th District House member, Rep. Eric Cantor?

Mr. Cantor won re-election to his seat handily on Nov. 4, with nearly 63 percent of the vote versus his opponent's 37 percent, a margin to which he has become accustomed. A congressman since 2001, he has served as chief deputy minority whip for Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., since his second term. On Thursday, Mr. Blunt announced he was stepping down from the position, and has endorsed Mr. Cantor for the job.

"Whips" get their name from fox hunting, where "whippers-in" are responsible for keeping the hounds moving in the right direction, i.e., toward the prey. Likewise, House of Representatives whips arm-twist mem-bers of their own party into voting the way the leadership wants. It's an important, if at times frustrating, position.

Mr. Cantor brings his conservative bona fides as well as his youth to the task of providing new leadership for House Republicans. He holds a master's degree in real-estate finance from Columbia University as well as an undergraduate degree from George Washington University and a law degree from the College of William & Mary, and was instrumental in getting some safeguards for the taxpayers built into the recent financial-bailout bill.

Before the election, the 45-year-old Richmond-area resident told this newspaper that the contest was "all about the economy. My message is simply the fact that we have to work very hard to return accountability not only to Washington but to Wall Street."

A member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Cantor is strong on defense and well acquainted with the challenges of the Middle East: A cousin died in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. He was considered a possible vice-presidential pick on this year's ticket.

Forced to reinvent itself, the GOP needs pragmatic conservatives with middle-class empathy to lead the way in Congress. Mr. Cantor has demonstrated his leadership and his fiscal restraint, two qualities the nation now needs. If minority whip is a step toward even higher office, the nation might be well-served.

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Date published: 11/9/2008