Congressman Mike Pence released the following video, urging all Americans to rise up and let their voices be heard in regard to the Pelosi health care plan.
Eric Cantor, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. House, said his party needs to be inclusive and criticized some comments by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh as inappropriate.
“The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard,” Cantor, of Virginia, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today.
Cantor, when asked about Limbaugh’s comments that “Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate” and his comparison of the administration’s health-care logo to a swastika, said his comparisons were wrong.
“Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?” Cantor said. “No, I don’t, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.”
He also took issue with some of the harsher rhetoric of Republican colleagues in the House.
Cantor, 46, said Republicans must stay unified if they are to win elections. “That’s the lesson learned” from the Nov. 3 Republican gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia, and the loss of a New York congressional seat in a race that divided the party, he said.
His comments about Limbaugh and other members of his party put him at odds with some party leaders. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, has also taken issue with Limbaugh’s comments, then relented.
Cantor was critical of Republicans such as Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, who called the Democratic health plan a greater threat to America than terrorists, and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who took fellow Republican Olympia Snowe to task for voting with Democrats. Pawlenty later said the Maine senator is “absolutely welcome” in the party.
Cantor defended Snowe, saying she “is talking to Democrats the way she does a lot, the way we all do.”
The House and Senate, Cantor said, are “plagued by a political mandate” from Democrats. “The only time that you would have a chance to get an insertion in the bill is to talk to a Democrat.”
November 7th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Very inspiring if this guy ever ran for President I could see myself supporting him.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Great stuff. We need him to run and win at the statewide level so he will be qualified to run for higher office.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Cantor Says Rhetoric Harmful, Calls for Inclusion
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apstLRj59pwk&pos=8
November 7th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Pence could well run in 2012 and do well enough to win in 2016 or 2020!