House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said today he expects the GOP to take control of the House of Representatives following next week’s midterm elections.
That will provide a Republican check on the “unfettered agenda to expand government” by President Obama and the current Democratic-controlled Congress, he said.
“People are suffering under tough economic times and this country is expecting a change and a government that listens to them again,” Cantor said during an appearance in Chattanooga for Scott DesJarlais, the Republican challenger in the 4th District congressional race. “The policies of (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and (President) Barack Obama have put this country on a path where most people don’t recognize it.”
DesJarlais, a conservative Republican who has not previously run for political office, is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn.
Cantor said DesJarlais, a Jasper physician, “has risen to national prominence” as one of those who could help shift the balance of power in Washington next year.
Davis is seeking his fifth term in Congress and, as a member of the conservative Blue Dog Democrats coalition, has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, National Right to Life and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
But Cantor said Davis “has put his lot in with Nancy Pelosi” and voted in favor of the $787 billion stimulus plan last year and the union-backed “card check” legislation to make it easier to organize workers in a labor union.
“That is pretty extreme if you look at what most people in this district want,” Cantor said.
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.