David Brat is not a happy candidate. He was expecting the leftover funds from Cantor’s now redundant campaign to flow in his direction. His great expectations were in the order of some $300,000 and he had lovely plans for those funds – hire staff and do outreach (whatever a Republican version of outreach may be) in the Richmond-area 7th Congressional District. He’s very disappointed because his share of those funds amounts to exactly $0.
If Brat and his supporters have heard the saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall", they certainly failed to apply it to Cantor which shows a distinct lack of understanding of basic human psychology. Cantor fell from a great height and the impact of the landing was increased by the sheer shock of it all. When he finally picked himself up and peered over the edge of the crater, I doubt very much that Cantor eyed the victor with a heart-warming sense of generosity. If it disappointed Brat, it came as no surprise to anyone else that Cantor’s suddenly superfluous funds were directed a long way away from his primary opponent.
Ironically, they were held in the Cantor Victory Fund, a misnomer if ever there was one. These funds largely consisted of transfers from a joint fundraising committee to the 7th District committee who managed them for Cantor’s campaign. The latter’s leadership were the ones charged with determining the dissemination of the residual funds, a necessary step in the process of shutting the Cantor Victory Fund down.
So where did these funds go? The funds were funnelled in three directions. The first $25,000 went to Ben Chafin, the Republican contender in a crucial state Senate special election in Southwest Virginia – the winner of that August 19 special election will be filling the seat recently vacated by Phil Puckett in highly suspect circumstances and could well swing the tide of politics in the Virginia Senate which is delicately balanced on the color of this particular seat.
The remaining $300,000, the amount so coveted by Brat and his supporters, has been split between the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee where its effect will be diluted by further division down the line. That Brat will receive none of it inevitably supposes that neither of these national committees will be forwarding a check to him from their coffers.
While Cantor’s defeat may be seen as a gain financially for other Republican campaigns, that gain pales in comparison to the huge loss it represents for Virginian state and national lawmakers. Cantor was a rainmaker who boosted the fundraising of fellow Virginian Republicans by attending their events and attracting donors like the late Texas billionaires Bob Perry and Harold Simmons, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and the giant drug maker Pfizer, donors that state lawmakers in particular wouldn’t otherwise have access to. As reported at Fredericksburg.com the Cantor calamity comes hard on the heels of the loss of another formerly reliable rainmaker, Gov Bob McDonnell.
The loss of Cantor’s rainmaking comes at an inopportune time for the state GOP, as Democrats control all five statewide elected offices. Former Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is awaiting trial on corruption charges, was [also] able to raise millions of dollars for state Republicans through his political action committee.
The burden of compensating Brat’s campaign loss in the redistribution of the Cantor Victory Fund will fall on his local supporters. The burden of compensating Cantor’s loss to Virginian Republicans is likely to fall on their local supporters too. It’s unlikely that Brat could ever fill the void, in spite of campaign spokesman Brian Gottstein’s optimistic outlook. "There will be plenty of time after November 4 to address those types of questions," said Gottstein. But Brat has to win the general election first and, much like his great expectations of a funding boon, that is not a sure thing either.
To assist Brat in learning to live with disappointment, visit Jack Trammell's ActBlue page
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