The RTD’s Jeff Schapiro has a bit of fun [1] at Eric Cantor’s expense over the recent 7th district convention debacle. Such entries are both fun to write and, because they sting, even more fun to read.
But buried inside Jeff’s piece is a nugget of information worth pondering:
Brat acknowledges that defeating Cantor is the longest of long shots. Turning out 600 people for a district convention is one thing. Turning out 6,000 voters in a districtwide, open-to-all primary is quite another. Brat’s people do believe they can deeply wound Cantor, by holding his majority in the primary to the low double-digits. That would be fighting fire with fire.
If this is indeed the aim of the Brat campaign — to wound, embarrass, harass and otherwise poke Cantor — then it is an exercise in vanity. One that rivals the 2005 gubernatorial run of that boundlessly vain and silly man, Russ Potts.
Or we can be even less charitable, and call the race what it really is: a pantomime horse [2], cloaked in the guise of the current candidate while masking the real actors inside.
One of them — could be the horse’s front, but could just as easily be the back, will shed the costume and emerge as the contender in 2016.
The betting window is open as to who that challenger will be.