In front of a national audience on C-SPAN2, Democratic
candidate for the U.S. House Wayne Powell tied his challenger, Eric Cantor (7th-R),
to special interest groups and large corporations while also attacking the
latter for his non-service in the military.
The six-term incumbent, Cantor, was visibly irritated by
Powell’s constant attacks, a circumstance that Cantor hasn’t faced in a debate
format in many years.[1]
Powell, himself a former colonel in the Army, said about
Cantor, “He never talks about working people – he only talks about business
people…you’re so far removed from reality, I don’t think you even know what a
small business is except for a hedge fund.”[2]
One of Mr. Powell’s strategies for winning the election,
then, has been painting Eric Cantor as an ultimate Washington insider, the kind
that America largely rebuffed during the 2010 election cycle and one that
America is still largely at odds with.
While no one reasonably begrudges Eric Cantor or any other
member of congress for their wealth (Eric Cantor has a net worth of close to $3
million[3]),
the point that Mr. Powell and other political figures have made is that many
within Congress have been absorbed by a world of luxury and privilege that is
far beyond the scope of how most Americans live.
The question then becomes, can a group of individuals (i.e.
elected representatives in congress) living high on the hog truly understand
and represent the “average” American?
In the case of Eric Cantor, it’s debatable if he ever had a
firm understanding of how the average American lives, being able to hoist
himself into public office through the proper rhetoric for the time and place.
Eric Cantor is clearly part of the problem in Washington and
not the solution.
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