E. Wayne Powell, the challenger to House Majority leader Eric Cantor, is not backing down in his attack of the powerful republican in closing days of the campaign.
Powell has not been afraid to challenge Cantor on the perceived influence his financialsupporters may have on his work in Congress, a lack of accessibility for his constituents and his prominent role as the republican leader in Washington. Powell has hammered that message home in a sizeable TV ad buy, a relentless push on the campaign trail and through national TV apperances by himself and his charismatic campaign adviser Dave "Mudcat" Saunders.
It was a tough task for Wayne Powell, the democrat challenging House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia's 7th Congressional district. Powell was given the opportunity to give his campaign a big boost, by getting the first debate with Cantor in a decade.
Cantor is expected to cruise to re-election for the 7th time, he represents a district that is aligned with him politically, he has immense name recognition and a significant cash advantage. But Powell has mounted a spirited campaign and has gained passionate support from people unhappy with the role Cantor has played in a volatile Washington environment.
(Cantor and Powell debated at the CarMax Headquarters in Goochland)
On Monday night, Powell was hoping to find an attack line that would resonate with an electorate inclined to send Cantor back to Washington. Even though the republican had everything to lose, it was still a lot to ask for the short amount of time Powell was given.
You can watch the debate in its entirety on the CSPAN web site.
Here is my recap of the debate for NBC12:
Henrico Congressman Eric Cantor is one
of the most powerful politicians in America, but in order to keep his job he
still needs to win an election in November. Monday night he met face to face in
a debate with the man hoping to keep him from going back to Washington.
That man is Wayne Powell. This
is his first time running for political office and he had a tall task. List of
all the reasons someone shouldn't support Cantor, and do it all within the
confines of a one hour debate.
Powell had a lot of work to do and not
very much time to do it in. In front of national television cameras (the debate
was broadcast live on CSPAN2) he had to make the case that Cantor's time in
congress should be over.
"You are the leader in the Congress,”
Powell said to Cantor. “You've got to do these things and you’re not."
Powell looked for every opening to
attack the six term Henrico congressman. From campaign donations to Washington
gridlock and what he called Cantor’s inequitable support for big companies.
"He never talks about working people,” he
said. “He only talks about businesses."
Despite Powell getting animated and
even fiery at times, Cantor remained cool. He rarely stopped smiling and never
strayed far from his key talking points.
"It's paid for by working people,”
Cantor said during a long explanation on taxes. “That's why these taxes are no good and Obamacare
has to go."
And while Powell, continued to drive home
his points, Cantor deflected, rarely addressing them in specifics, instead
calling it dirty politics.
"And the thing is none of these
negative attacks do anything to create a job," Cantor said.
Powell hung tough, and argued that he
was just giving the voters of the 7th district a true sense of who their Congressman
really is.
"I'm not attacking you I'm
describing you,” he said. “And it is a difficult process."
If you decide to spend only one night paying any attention to the race for congress in Virginia's 7th district, make that night tonight.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, one of the most powerful politicians in American, will meet face to face with his opponent Wayne Powell in a debate to be broadcast from coast to coast on CSPAN-2. Cantor is widely expected to win another term in congress with ease, but if Powell hopes to dust up the republican, tonight would be the night.
Powell's campaign is being assisted by the charismatic democratic political operative Dave "Mudcat" Saunders. Saunders helped Jim Webb upset George Allen in 2006 and helped North Carolina Sen. John Edwards during his bid for president.
Saunders has taken the Powell campaign national and regularly appears on liberal talk shows denouncing Cantor, while at the same time helping Powell raise cash. While Powell is not very well known, Cantor is and democrats all over the country have sent in donations to help the campaign to put the republican out of office.
Despite Powell's success in that department, his fund raising war chest is dwarfed by his highly connected opponent. If the democrat hopes to have any chance of seriously challenging Cantor, tonight's debate may offer the opportunity to give his campaign some legitimacy. If he can perform well, that could lead to more money giving him the chance put up more television ads like this one, the campaign just released:
The Cantor campaign is prepared to absorb any attack from Powell. Cantor's team knows the only way for Powell to make quick gains is to attack and do so hard. They are anticipating a negative onslaught from his campaign in the closing weeks of the race.
“Wayne
Powell is demonstrating to us what is wrong with politics in Washington
today," said Cantor aide Ray Allen in a prepared statement. " No ideas, no vision and no solutions, just partisan, negative
attacks. That is no way to offer your service to the voters and Mr.
Powell should be ashamed.”
We will see if that onslaught begins tonight on national TV.
It may have come as a surprise to Fox News Channel viewers in the Richmond area taking in the Republican National Convention, television ads indirectly attacking House Majority Leader Eric Cantor by his opponent E. Wayne Powell.
Powell bought enough ad space on Fox News Channel that the ad ran at least once every hour during the entire convention.
Here is a look at the ad:
The ad is designed to attract republicans which make up a huge majority of the 7th congressional district. Powell is gambling that many of them are unhappy with Cantor, even if they share the same party affiliation.
"It hasn't mattered if they're
party-affiliated or independent," said Powell in a statement. "I have yet to knock on a single door where the
person answering is happy with what's going on in the Cantor-run
Congress."
Cantor chuckled when we asked him about the ad during an interview from Tampa Bay during the convention, but then said that he is "taking this race very seriously."
In 2010 the incumbent was criticized for not engaging his then opponent Rick Waugh. This time around Cantor quickly agreed to a debate with Powell.
"We are looking forward to a debate with Mr. Powell on the issues that will effect so many people in our Commonwealth," Cantor said.
Powell who is for the most part unknown in the 7th district, last made headlines when he represented the group of pro-choice protesters who were arrested for marching on the steps of the Capitol during the General Assembly session. The local attorney has run a spirited race to this point, driven by his well known political strategist Dave "Mudcat" Saunders.
Saunders believes there is enough fatigue in Cantor's district that a strong candidate could topple the powerful leader.
"Without question, Cantor's abysmal
approval rating is the reason Republicans aren't letting him address the
convention," Saunders said. He believes the more people get to know Powell the more Cantor could face a tight race. Saunders has already engineered quite a bit of national face time for Powell's candidacy on cable news channels. In particular liberal talk shows on MSNBC.
The appearances have helped Powell's fund raising efforts.
Despite the pep in the step of the Powell effort, few view Cantor as being in any danger come November. While Cantor appears to be prepared to engage Powell to a degree, expect him to run a campaign based primarily on his accomplishments. It will be rare that he even mentions his opponent.
There could be some fireworks, but it will take quite a bit to make the race truly competitive.
Extended clips from Cantor's comments can be found below:
