Eric Cantor will not pursue a write-in candidacy. People should say ‘Thank you.’ #va07

Because you have to positively reinforce, too.

Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told key aides and trusted former staffers on Wednesday that he will not try his luck with a write-in campaign after his shocking GOP primary defeat at the hands of largely unknown tea party-backed economics professor Dave Brat.

“I am not going to do a write-in. I am a Republican and proud of that,” a source familiar with the Virginia Republican’s message quoted him as saying in a closed-door meeting.

So say ‘Thank you,’ allow the man a little bit of dignity* as he voluntarily moves along to the exit** – and breathe a sigh of relief that we’re not going to see a bloody internecine war in VA-07.  Which was honestly the only high-probability way that we were likely to lose the seat.

Via (I think)


Moe Lane

*One of the most dangerous impulses in the human heart is the one to get even. It’s not always the wrong reaction, but it’s never a safe one.

**Don’t weep for him, either. He’s going to make ridiculous amounts of money in the next few years.

23 thoughts on “Eric Cantor will not pursue a write-in candidacy. People should say ‘Thank you.’ #va07”

  2. Indeed. Thank you Rep. Cantor. I will not start getting nauseous at the mention of your name, unlike Murkowski or Cochran (*retch*). If you would learn from your errors, that would be good too.

  3. Thank you Eric Cantor.
    .
    I was talking about this with some friends this morning – what Cantor should do, if he wants to get back in office, is go spend a couple of years at the RNC or something, defending conservative interests, and then run for governor – having been thrown out as too moderate will actually probably help him in a general there, and he really is more conservative than the typical RNC guy.
    .
    Or he could just go ahead and retire to K Street and take his millions.

  4. Sorry, but no. Unless I’m mistaken, VA has a sore loser act in place. Its is illegal for primary losers to then pursue a write in candidacy. What should I say? “Thanks Rep Cantor for not going to jail?”

      1. That is so, countrydoc .. if Scope were around I’m sure she’d say the same .. but the point is that, for whatever reason, Cantor has done the right thing.
        .
        Unlike Murkowski or Cochran.
        .
        Mew

      2. It would not stop him or anybody else from running a write-in campaign; it merely prevents Cantor from getting on the ballot as an independent.

          1. Yeah, a big one. Telling somebody that they can’t choose to vote for Candidate A/George Washington/Mickey Mouse would end up infringing on their right to exercise the franchise; and telling somebody that s/he can’t say You should write me in would thoroughly violate the First Amendment. So as a practical matter a law that banned candidates from engaging in write-in candidacies would be in the courts before the ink had time to dry.

  5. The people we should thank are the primary voters in that district. We constantly complain about voters automatically reelecting incumbents. The voters in this district did the correct thing and made their voices heard. Thank you.

    1. Embrace the healing power of “and”, as the saying goes.
      .
      We can thank the voters for turning Cantor out and thank Cantor for not being a Cochran about it.
      .
      Mew

      1. Again, it is illegal. I did not rob a liquor store yesterday. Where is my thanks? I understand the urge for this as a “healing measure” for the squishes, like our beloved Moe. In a manner, I even support it. I just don’t think that this is it. I can thank Cantor for his many years of service, sure. But handing out participation trophies for just following the legal requirements of the law is silly to me. Maybe its just me. Anyway, I do wish him well AND I’m glad he’s gone.

        1. This is the relevant section of the law.

          https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+24.2-520

          § 24.2-520. Declaration of candidacy required.

          A candidate for nomination by primary for any office shall be required to file a written declaration of candidacy on a form prescribed by the State Board. The declaration shall include the name of the political party of which the candidate is a member, a designation of the office for which he is a candidate, and a statement that, if defeated in the primary, his name is not to be printed on the ballots for that office in the succeeding general election. The declaration shall be acknowledged before some officer who has the authority to take acknowledgments to deeds, or attested by two witnesses who are qualified voters of the election district.

          (Code 1950, §§ 24-370 through 24-372; 1960, c. 427; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-184; 1978, cc. 239, 778; 1983, c. 461; 1993, c. 641.)

          Note: printed.

          1. Got it, thank you. So a write in candidacy would be legal? If that’s the case, then sure “Thanks Rep Cantor”.

      2. acat, Cochran is in a runoff election, while it seriously looks like he won’t get the nomination, he did make the cut for the runoff election.
        –
        People were yelling that people should accept Romney as inevitable, and I kept saying that Romney wasn’t a good candidate. I would be a hypocrit if I suggested Cochran get out of race before the runoff was held.

  7. Since I basically signed up yesterday to post a comment telling OGH I thought he was wrong about something, it’s only fair I pop in here to say I think Moe is completely right on this point, both on the main post and all his explanatory comments.
    Not that I have any delusion, mind you, that Moe was losing sleep waiting for my nod of approval, but like I said it’s just good form to balance a drive-by criticism with some praise.

  8. Not to take anything away from the winner, but I wonder just how many votes Obama’s latest flaunting of immigration laws cost Cantor? Obama’s opening the borders and busing illegal immigrants across the country had to hurt anyone who talked of compromising with him on the issue.

    Oh, and thanks Mr Cantor: your buddy Barry screwed you over but that is what you get for trying to work with scoundrels.

  9. His dignity is not mine to allow or disallow.
    Only his own actions can besmirch it.
    .
    It’s good that he chose to honor the results.
    In recent years, entirely too many Republicans haven’t.
    But “he followed the rules he agreed to” is a low bar to clear. Doing so is not praiseworthy. It’s barely a qualification for being civilized.

    1. :shrug: This is basic behavioral modification stuff: reinforce positive behaviors and discourage negative ones. I didn’t set up the world, I’m just trying to yank on the steering wheel a little. 🙂

  10. Indeed. Thank you, Rep. Cantor, for doing a great deal of work over the past few years fighting the president and the Democrats on a whole host of issues. I just wanted to say that there is still one person out here who remembers all of that.

  11. Well, Cantor wasn’t all that high on my list of primary targets, anyway. Thanks for letting go, Mr, Cantor.

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