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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEric Cantor: "If You've Got That Anger Working for You, You're Gonna Let It Be"
Cantor explains how Republicans staked the party on Obamacare's repeal and aided the rise of Trump.
Written by Elaina Plott | Published on July 26, 2017
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Lets back up a moment. Remember the summer of 2013, when the Defund Obamacare Tour drove the news cycle all through Congresss August recess? The town halls organized by the political arm of the Heritage Foundation enlivened the base and furthered what had been the GOPs core message since 2010that Obamacare was bad and, if Americans helped Republicans hold both chambers, it could be repealed.
Cantor helped create that perception. Earlier that summerafter many failed attempts over the years to shred the law piecemealCantor promised colleagues that the House would vote on a full repeal. But even after it did, the measure was dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Cantorin Congress 13 years and, fairly or unfairly, once thought to be above electoral reproachpaid the price. His 2014 avenger, now-congressman David Brat, bludgeoned him for being soft on Obamacare, among other things. But the failure to make a dent in the law landed a bigger blow on the party. After seven years of pledging they could dismantle Obamacare, if only they had control of Congress and the White House, Republicansat last in charge of bothhave faced deep divisions over a replacement.
Asked if he feels partly responsible for their current predicament, Cantor is unequivocal. Oh, he says, 100 percent. He goes further: To give the impression that if Republicans were in control of the House and Senate, that we could do that when Obama was still in office . . . . His voice trails off and he shakes his head. I never believed it.
He says he wasnt the only one aware of the charade: We sort of all got what was going on, that there was this disconnect in terms of communication, because no one wanted to take the time out in the general public to even think about Wait a minutethat cant happen. But, he adds, if youve got that anger working for you, youre gonna let it be.
Its a stunning admission from a former member of the party leadershipthat the linchpin of GOP electoral strategy for the better part of a decade was a fantasy, a flame continually fanned solely because, when it came to midterm elections, it worked. (Barring, of course, his own.)
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https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/07/26/eric-cantor-republicans-obamacare-donald-trump/
procon
(15,805 posts)Since there appeals to been an overrun of stupid in those who find the GOP a suitable standard, it follows that they are game for almost any sort of evil and wrongdoing.