republicans leaders were trying to talk about it as if it weren t dead, but i think it s been dead for some time, and i don t think it s going anywhere. probably not much of anything else. in this atmosphere this is not a good time. well, speaking of that, because it takes both sides of pennsylvania avenue. what is the raexz of the white house to cantor s defeat, and will president obama, who was holding up on executive action to further ease regulations about deportation? will he now move ahead on executive action because he figures there s no deal to be made in congress? it s interesting because if cantor s loss had happened in isolation, there would be a lot of cheers from the white house. the white house also knows what this signal is about the president, particularly immigration. at this point, though, it looks as though the white house is going to hold out on executive action until john boehner himself says emgregs reform is not going to happen this year.
republicans leaders were trying to talk about it as if it weren t dead, but i think it s been dead for some time, and i don t think it s going anywhere. probably not much of anything else. in this atmosphere this is not a good time. well, speaking of that, because it takes both sides of pennsylvania avenue. what is the raexz of the white house to cantor s defeat, and will president obama, who was holding up on executive action to further ease regulations about deportation? will he now move ahead on executive action because he figures there s no deal to be made in congress? it s interesting because if cantor s loss had happened in isolation, there would be a lot of cheers from the white house. the white house also knows what this signal is about the president, particularly immigration. at this point, though, it looks as though the white house is going to hold out on executive action until john boehner himself says emgregs reform is not going to happen this year.
party take the same steps that eric cantor took regarding even the dream act. i think what we re going to see is no more movement on any kind of immigration reform. clearly, brat did a good job of making that a key issue and certainly cantor s support for amnesty for dreamers was a big focus, but he also highlighted the fact that we can t have wall street politicians and we need to do away with big government and we need to focus on the constitution and this right here, my view is symbolic of we re not going to hear anymore about immigration reform and that was one of many factors that led to cantor s defeat, but it was certainly one of them at a time when we re having an influx of these illegal immigrants coming across the country and the problem where we have an immigration problem. it s going to be a concern for the administration. lastly, larry, quickly. the leadership battle that is ongoing right now, what do you see is the takeaway ultimately
debating, but there s no question the right wing media complex played a role. laura ighraham pounded cantor on the radio for weeks. and then she had a rally for dave brat. i kind of wish thinking about this that president obama would have thought this through a little bit more and maybe, you know, forgetting sergeant bergdahl out of captivity. instead of sending five taliban mvps over there, he could have just traded one eric cantor. she led the eric cantor charged. but many followed. ann coulter called cantor a maniacal amnesty supporter. the drudge report posted links to articles critical to cantor. and there was an assault on the airwaves. you don t have to convince me that eric cantor is a guy who
speaks to the notion even if boehner was perceived to be more of the mod to cantor s conservative figure in the house for a number of years. boehner could still go back home to ohio s 8th district and shake hand in bars and the outside of coffee shops. wine bars even. cigar bars. and had, maybe, less of an easy time, connecting, cantor did in rural parts of virginia 7. ironically, redistricting, made virginia 7, more rural after the last round of redistricting. the idea of being rural and conservative, something many republicans say synonymous with a safe seat. tot safe if conservatives don t care as much about your party label as what we talked about, issues, tone, style. a big sea change here in the republican party we are reporting on. dave wasserman. crystal stays. coming up. who is the guy who beat eric cantor you are going to need to know about him. that s next.