House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Democratic challenger Wayne Powell held their first and only scheduled debate last night in the campaign to represent Virginia's seventh district.
The debate was heated, but Cantor, a classic Republican obstructionist who has become the face of the current do-nothing Congress, was almost robotic in sticking with the Republican script.
"What he proved tonight is that he speaks just like he writes and just like he speaks in Washington, which is Washingtonese, D.C.-ese, whatever you want to say," Powell told The Ed Show after the debate. "It's cut taxes, cut regulations, help small businesses and the jobs will magically appear."
Cantor’s seat is definitely up for grabs.
Just last month, Public Policy Polling found that 40 percent of likely voters in the state of Virginia have an unfavorable opinion of the congressman:
And Congress has a 13 percent approval rating, the lowest Gallup has measured this late in an election year:
Powell has a solid resume with military and legal experience, which should play well in the seventh district.
Indeed, Powell asked Cantor during the debate why he (Cantor) "voted to continue paying members of Congress, including yourself, in the event of a shut down" while "at the same time, you voted against a bill that would have ensured that members of the armed services continued to get paid."
"You can go on your personal attacks all you want, but it's not going to do anything to create jobs," Cantor said in his non-answer, adding that he has supported a number of efforts to help veterans.
"[Cantor]'s so intent on making sure that the richest and the greediest amongst us get all the tax cuts that he forgets that the people that we send forward to represent our best values over seas, whether the war is fair or not, they're doing their duty," Powell told The Ed Show.