Cantor

The politically potent Club For Growth has joined a growing chorus of conservatives who are expressing support for the idea of Eric Cantor being McCain's running mate.

Today's Washington Times weighs Cantor's pros and cons and concludes he would be an asset to the ticket. (One of the cons being he might be too conservative.)

Meanwhile the independent conservative grassroots campaign for Cantor is picking up steam and has been noticed at Politico and the Wall Street Journal.

And I blame MaryKatherine Ham for this one. Last Friday she published the following profile quote on Facebook: MaryKatherine Ham "is wishing she were on the House floor for the "Night the Lights Went Out in Congress."

MK, this one's for you. Since it's sung to the tune of "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia", I'll include a recap of the original here for those who are not familiar with this classic little Southern Gothic ditty. The original version's by Vicki Lawrence of Carol Burnett fame, but sorry Vicki, my favorite cover is by Reba McEntire accompanying this perfectly gothic clip from the CW's "Supernatural":

 And here is my ode to Vicki, Reba and the 8/1/8 "Rock The House" Band of Brothers (and sisters):

The Night That the Lights Went Out in Congress

It was a hot summer day in Washington
The money in my wallet was almost gone
My husband told the kids we can’t drive over to Granny’s
Americans said “Drill Here, Drill Now!”
Congress said “No way, no how!”
They weren’t countin’ votes, but we were countin’ our pennies
The gavel went down and the Congress recessed
Without any energy solution addressed
John Boehner asked Speaker Pelosi to please reconsider
She shut off the cameras and turned off the mikes
On the way out the door she flipped off the lights
While Congressman Cantor continued his debate in the Chamber

That’s the night that the lights went out in Congress
That’s the night that they killed our Energy Act
Don’t trust your vote to the Democrats in November
Cause the Speaker and the House ain’t workin’ for you, that’s a fact

The press went home and C-Span died
But the folks on the street were invited inside
To listen to Republicans staying and making their stand
Like drilling offshore and up north in ANWR
Devin Nunes showed a picture of a sail-powered car
He said “I’m a Democrat, folks, here’s my energy plan”
The people in the gallery rose to their feet
Their whistles and cheers could be heard on the street
While Culberson uploaded live updates to Qik and Twitter
The Band of Brothers stayed into the night
Republicans went home, then came back to fight
For American families who’ve suffered at the pump all summer

That’s the night that the lights went out in Congress
That’s the night that they killed our Energy Act
Don’t trust your vote to the Democrats in November
Cause the Speaker and the House ain’t workin’ for you, that’s a fact

Drilling is safer than ever before
On the Outer Continental Shelf and in ANWR
We want to send a message to the world that we’re independent
“Use it or lose it” on Federal land
Can’t force hidden oil to rise out of the sand
When the oil corporations spent three trillion dollars to find it
Nuclear, coal and natural gas
Can bring us clean energy that’s going to last
With solar and wind power and new modes of transportation
Republicans are asking for a vote up or down
They’re working for us and they haven’t left town
While Democrats went on a nice long 5 week vacation

That’s the night that the lights went out in Congress
That’s the night that they killed our Energy Act
Don’t trust your vote to the Democrats in November
Cause the Speaker and the House ain’t workin’ for you, that’s a fact

Since I made the case for Congressman Eric Cantor to be selected by McCain as his running mate, Cantor has proven himself to be a feisty campaigner, an effective critic of Obama, and a creditable candidate for Vice President.

AP is now reporting that McCain has asked Cantor to turn over personal information. It sounds like he is a finalist for the number two spot.

A few weeks ago I made the case for John McCain to choose Congressman Eric Cantor for his running mate. Since that time a Cantor candidacy has received quite a bit to support.

Politico, The Washington Post, and (now) Daily Kos are taking Cantor very seriously.

Kos has launched a multi-post attack on the conservative Cantor. This is an indication that the Left understands that the articulate, web-savy, conservative, Mr. Cantor would add an important missing dimension to McCain's campaign. No higher negative campliment can the Left offer a Republican candidate.

Once again, I want to argue that the choice of Cantor will cause the Republican base and a few Democrat constituencies to sit up and finally take notice of the McCain campaign.