OPINION:
With all the articles being written about House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s primary loss this week, let us make one thing clear: The Tea Party shot itself in the foot (“Eric Cantor’s rising star flames out,” Web, June 11).
Mr. Cantor has a 95 lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, making him more conservative than Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, and one of the most conservative members of the House. Mr. Cantor was a stalwart defender of conservative principles and a trustworthy ally. Had he been re-elected, he would have had a shot at unseating House Speaker John A. Boehner, making Mr. Cantor the most conservative speaker in history (even more conservative than Newt Gingrich). Mr. Cantor lost owing to stupidity on the parts of both his campaign and the ignorant people in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, who are said to have voted him out on the issue of immigration. Had it not been for Mr. Cantor stalling this bill, it would have already been passed by establishment Republicans and Democrats. He used his position as the only conservative in the leadership to stall the bill and modify it to the point of rendering it useless.
Now conservatives have lost one of their greatest members and advocates and replaced him with a man who calls himself a libertarian, but opposes some of that ideology’s core tenets. I hope Mr. Cantor reverses his backing out and runs a write-in campaign, hopefully by November. I also hope the conservatives in his district will realize their error and send Mr. Cantor, the best hope for a conservative future, back for another term.
DAVID HIRSCH
Flushing, N.Y.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.