Press Releases

Va. Democrats Unveil New Cantor Website

Posted by Greg on Monday, August 11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 11, 2008

Va. Democrats unveil new Cantor website

In conference call Monday, Dems ask 'The Overdog' to explain denial of favors for lobbyist Abramoff

RICHMOND - Virginia Democrats officially launched a new Eric Cantor website Monday, while calling on the Congressman to explain today's statement in USA Today that he "never met officially with or did any actions for Jack Abramoff."

In fact, as TheNextCheney.com shows, Abramoff hosted multiple fundraisers for Cantor, around the time that Cantor signed a letter to benefit an Abramoff tribal client.

In a conference call today, the Democratic Party of Virginia launched a new Cantor section of TheNextCheney.com, available at: www.democrats.org/page/content/VPCantor. The site focuses on Cantor's ties to Abramoff and Cantor's unrelenting support for failed Bush-Cheney policies.

During the call, former Virginia Delegate George Grayson (D-Williamsburg), who served with Cantor in the House of Delegates, explained that Cantor's ties to special interests go back to his early days in elected office. Grayson said Cantor was known in Richmond as "The Overdog" for his tendency to side with big business over middle-class families.

"There was a saying in Richmond, 'lean to the green,'" Grayson said. "That meant courting huge corporations who could make contributions to your campaign in return for favors and favorable votes. Eric leaned so far to the green that he almost fell over. He so consistently voted against middle-class families that he became known as 'The Overdog' as opposed to the underdog."

Grayson said that Cantor would make a good match for McCain, given both of their connections to Abramoff and other special interests.

"Given the fact that John McCain has surrounded himself with lobbyists who seem to be running his campaign, I'm not surprised that he's considering Eric for the number two spot because neither man has met a special interest that he didn't like," Grayson said.

Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia, called on Cantor to explain his USA Today statement on Abramoff.

"Cantor's statement runs counter to the record, which shows he held fundraisers with Abramoff and did favors for his clients," Leopold said. "Jack Abramoff liked Eric Cantor so much that he named a tuna-based stacker sandwich after him. Now Cantor wants to have his sandwich and eat it too. He wants to do favors for lobbyists, but deny responsibility.

"Cantor ought to be honest with Virginia voters about his cozy relationship with lobbyists. Above all, one thing is clear: If John McCain is looking for yet another friend of special interests, then Eric Cantor is certainly his man."

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