I'm getting the sense that the Eric Cantor bubble is bursting. The Politico, I guess, presaged it with an article earlier in the week. But their piece lacked actual evidence of mistakes on Cantor's part. Rather, it suggested that he'd snubbed Obama's press conference to attend a fundraiser at a Britney Spears concert (seriously) and had bickered with John Boehner in an effort to keep Republicans from supporting Mike Pence's budget blueprint. One charge was trivial and the other was an example of good judgment. The underlying note, however, was that Cantor was unready for this level of scrutiny and beginning to clash with the rest of the GOP's leadership team. If it was originally a narrative in search of some evidence, however, today it got its nut graf. Cantor accused Democrats of "overreacting" to the financial crisis. Not having the wrong reaction or trying to import a banking solution from Mao's Little Red Book, but "overreacting." Yipes. Steve Benen neatly drops the hammer, writing, "It's hard to imagine what Cantor was thinking. Democrats care too much about fixing the economy? That's the pitch from the House Republican leadership?" It's not, of course, the pitch from the House Republicans Leadership. Rather, they'll sell it as an isolated gaffe from the increasingly troubled Eric Cantor.
