Cantor to Give Major Address on Future of GOP

After failing multiple times during President Barack Obama’s first term to get credit for successfully “rebranding” the Republican Party, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) will again attempt to do so on Tuesday when he gives an address at the American Enterprise Institute.  

Cantor will speak about how Republican proposals will “ensure every American has a fair shot at earning their success and achieving their dreams.” 

“Government policy should aim to strike a balance between what is needed to advance the next generation, what we can afford, what is a federal responsibility and what is necessary to ensure our children are safe, healthy and able to reach their dreams,” Cantor is slated to say.  

“We will advance proposals aimed at producing results in areas like education, healthcare, innovation, and job growth. Our solutions will be based on the conservative principles of self reliance, faith in the individual, trust in the family, and accountability in government.”

According to reports, Cantor will also discuss “immigration reform for highly skilled labor, school choice, college affordability and Medicare/Medicaid reform” in addition to talking about “matters directly related to working families and inject his experience as a father of three.”

“Lately, it has become all too common in our country to hear parents fear whether their children will indeed have it better than they,” Cantor plans to say. “And for all of us parents, that is a scary thought. Our goal should be to eliminate the doubt gripping our nation’s families, and to restore their hope and confidence in being able to protect tomorrow for their children.”

After President Barack Obama won his first election in 2008, Cantor was one of the architects behind the “National Council for a New America.” The group launched at an Arlington, Virginia pizza restaurant and promised to go across the country and listen to Americans at various town halls and incorporate their ideas into a GOP platform. 

That initiative ultimately faltered, while his “Young Guns” tour, with Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), could have also gone better. Conservatives complained one of the young guns, McCarthy, was responsible for Republicans being gerrymandered out of some seats in California. 

AEI President Arthur Brooks has fervently argued that Republicans must make the moral case for free enterprise and not come off as bean counters who are only fluent in PowerPoint presentations if they seek to win over Americans and gain support for conservative policy ideas that work. 

If Cantor can channel some of the themes Brooks has always preached in addition to giving off the same sense of conviction, his address could be a step forward for Republicans.