Governor McAuliffe ‘heartsick’ at Eric Cantor’s loss

By Lynn R. Mitchell

“I’ll be the first to tell you I was devastated the night Eric Cantor lost. We lost the House majority leader. We’ve never had a speaker in Virginia history; I would love for Eric Cantor to have become speaker.” –Governor Terry McAuliffe (D-VA)

In an interview during Channel 4 NBC Washington’s “Ask the Governor,” Virginia’s Governor Terry McAuliffe said in a nutshell what so many Republicans want: a leader who will work with those across the political aisle (see Virginia Gov. McAuliffe ‘heartsick’ over Eric Cantor’s primary loss).

Noting that Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA 7th) was very easy to work with, the governor said:

“My staff dealt with Eric Cantor’s staff all the time. I dealt with the congressman and leader Cantor all the time. They were nothing but helpful,” McAuliffe said.
…
McAuliffe said that Cantor’s defeat, coupled with the looming retirements of veteran House members Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Jim Moran, D-Va., represent a significant blow to the power of the state’s congressional delegation.

“I can tell you as governor, this isn’t a ‘D’ or ‘R.’ This is about how I compete — how do I compete against those other 49 states?” McAuliffe said.

There is such a thing as standing up for one’s principles. There’s another thing called leadership, and that requires working together to find a compromise that is as satisfactory as possible for both sides of the political aisle. That was Congressman Cantor. As extremists in both parties continue to push for their lock-step agendas, the more support they will lose from rational, pragmatic voters who understand that, just as in marriage, no one gets their own way all the time.