Can This Guy Defeat Eric Cantor?
We're sitting at a Brentwood Village lunch spot on the type of beautiful day that can be a revelation to folks who spend their summers in the South. Powell takes a breath and looks around, as if the weather's munificence were somehow incomprehensible, before continuing to assail his opponent. "Cantor lacks empathy. I think that's crucial for public service—and why would anyone want to serve who doesn't have empathy, and those who don't, shouldn't," he says. "Cantor never talks about workers. Cantor started his career driving Mr. Bliley—[Republican Tom Bliley held Cantor's seat from 1981 to 2001]—while I was defending my country in the military. He's never worked." (For the record, Cantor spent a number of years working for his father's real estate firm before going into politics full time.) . .
Powell is still decidedly an underdog. He lacks his rival's professional polish, name recognition, and funds—having raised just over $730,000 to Cantor's $6.3 million. Then again, as Powell likes to point out, he doesn't share Cantor's negatives. Polls from early in the campaign indicated that District 7 constituents have little love for the incumbent. According to Hickman Analytics, more voters there would like to replace Cantor than reelect him (43 percent to 41 percent), and they would prefer a pro-choice candidate to a pro-lifer by 68 percent to 23 percent. (Cantor has a 100 percent rating by the National Right to Life Committee; Powell is pro-choice.)
Cantor also earns failing grades from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association. This chafes at Powell, who retired in 2002 as a full Army colonel with 5 years of active duty and 25 more in the active reserves—he returned to duty after 9/11 to command an Army intelligence unit and now has a son serving in Afghanistan following tours in Iraq.
Powell's working-class pedigree would seem to resonate with his district. His parents were solidly blue-collar—dad a welder, mom a baker—and he was born into the postwar glow of the greatest generation. "FDR arguably saved the world from fascism," he says, perhaps overlooking Churchill in his enthusiasm. "I was always very patriotic growing up. I think duty, honor, and country is important, and it isn't just a military thing," Powell continues. But Cantor "has been totally feckless, mean-spirited, a self-absorbed obstructionist for 12 years. This is all about his power. The 7th District is just a platform."
For his part, Powell is running on a platform of fiscal responsibility, economic justice—including the wealthy paying a greater share of taxes—women's and gay's rights, and rebuilding the middle class, such as it were. To hear him talk, Cantor's biggest advantage is incumbency (the district has been in Republican hands since 1971) and name recognition, which can be nine-tenths of the game in a down-ballot race—Powell's was a meager 17 percent when his campaign launched. He managed to raise his profile somewhat at the October 1 debate with Cantor, where he landed some well-aimed jabs and a subsequent segment on MSNBC's The Ed Show. For what it's worth, Powell was declared the debate winner by 86 percent of respondents to an informal, online poll conducted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. . .
Following the introductions, the crowd grilled both men for an hour or so. Of particular interest was whether they had the mettle to fight to the finish. Afterward, an audience keen on script-flipping opened up its checkbooks, satisfied that the pair were worth investing in.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/can-wayne-powell-beat-eric-cantor
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Powell was declared the debate winner by 86 percent of respondents to an informal, online poll conducted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.