05/26/2011
It’s widely noted that the GOP field of Presidential candidates seems a little weak. They are especially lacking in Identity Politics Oomph. For example, polls have long revealed more pervasive bigotry against the idea of a Mormon President than against most better known victim groups, but nobody in the media cares about promoting Mitt Romney to make a statement against anti-Mormonism. Similarly, nobody in the press cares that Tim Pawlenty would be the first half-Polish President.
The Democrats have their We Shall Overcome Mythopoetic Narrative Candidate locked in. Maybe, in the GOP’s struggle to have the press less in the tank for Obama in 2012 than in 2008, the Republicans need their equivalent of comparable Media Narrative Firepower. With legalistic technicalities slowing the potential candidacy of the GOP leadership’s current favorite, Bibi Netanyahu, attention will likely turn toward the next best thing. From Wikipedia:
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is the U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 7th congressional district, serving since 2001. A member of the Republican Party, he became House Majority Leader when the 112th Congress convened on January 3, 2011. He previously served as House Minority Whip from 2009 to 2011.
… Cantor is the only Jewish Republican currently serving in Congress.
Cantor was born in Richmond, Virginia. His father owned a real estate firm and was the state treasurer for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. .. Cantor was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at [George Washington] and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1985. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from William & Mary Law School in 1988, and received a Master of Science degree from Columbia University in 1989. …
In 2002-only a few weeks after winning a second term-Roy Blunt appointed Cantor Chief Deputy Republican Whip, the highest appointed position in the Republican caucus.
… . On November 19, 2008, Cantor was unanimously elected Republican Whip for the 111th Congress, after serving as deputy whip for six years under Blunt. … Cantor became the Majority Leader when the 112th Congress took office on January 3, 2011. …
Cantor is a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Republican National Committee. He is one of the Republican Party’s top fundraisers, having raised over $30 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). He is also one of the three founding members of the GOP Young Guns Program. …
… He supports strong United States-Israel relations. … He opposed a Congressionally-approved three-year package of US$400 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority in 2000 and has also introduced legislation to end aid to Palestinians.
In May 2008, Cantor said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a "constant sore" but rather "a constant reminder of the greatness of America", and following Barack Obama’s election as President in November 2008, Cantor stated that a "stronger U.S.-Israel relationship" remains a top priority for him and that he would be "very outspoken" if Obama "did anything to undermine those ties." Shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Cantor met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just before Netanyahu was to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to Cantor’s office, he "stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration" and "made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States." Cantor was criticized for engaging in foreign policy; one basis for the criticism was that in 2007, after Nancy Pelosi met with the President of Syria, Cantor himself had raised the possibility "that her recent diplomatic overtures ran afoul of the Logan Act, which makes it a felony for any American 'without authority of the United States' to communicate with a foreign government to influence that government’s behavior on any disputes with the United States." …
In August 2008 news reports surfaced that Cantor was being considered as John McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate, with McCain’s representatives seeking documents from Cantor as part of its vetting process. However, in May 2009, a source who claimed affiliation with the McCain campaign denied those reports, calling them "a complete and total joke", and blaming "Cantor’s PR people" for being responsible for the false reports.
Cantor met his wife, Diana Marcy Fine, on a blind date; they were married in 1989. They have three children: Evan, Jenna, and Michael.
Diana Cantor is a lawyer and certified public accountant. She founded, and from 1996 until 2008 was executive director of, the Virginia College Savings Plan (an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia). She was also chairman of the board of the College Savings Plans Network. Mrs. Cantor is a Managing Director in a division of Emigrant Bank, a subsidiary of New York Private Bank & Trust Corp.It’s hard to see how Eric Cantor is any less qualified to be the First Jewish President than Barack Obama was to be the First Black President.
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