Eric Cantor ... rising star of the GOP?

Rep. Eric Cantor is receiving a lot of attention these days. A profile earlier this week by Time magazine has now been followed by an indepth look at the Republican Whip by ABC News. At a time when the GOP is adrift and looking for new leadership, this charismatic young man may fill the bill. As observed by ABC:

Cantor is being widely touted as a rising star in a party in search of a new identity. He's being hailed as the Newt Gingrich of his generation and a possible presidential contender in 2012 or beyond.

He has his hands full ... but he seems to be balancing it all:

"I think that Republicans are united in the fact that we want to work with this president to try and solve the economic challenges that families are facing across this country," Cantor said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Since taking over as Republican whip for a diminished and demoralized caucus in the new Congress, Cantor has been a ubiquitous presence for the GOP -- on television, in White House meetings, and rallying the troops behind closed doors.

It was Cantor who surprised Obama aides at a White House meeting by taking Obama up on his invitation to offer alternative ideas on the stimulus package.

It was Cantor who crafted a Republican version of the stimulus bill, giving the GOP something to rally around. And it was Cantor again who managed his colleagues so effectively that not a single House Republican wound up voting for Obama's stimulus package.

At a time when many in the Party have drifted as the GOP appears to have forgotten some of its principles, they welcome Rep. Cantor's strong stand.

"He is a very welcome breath of fresh air, who is not afraid or ashamed to stick to and forcefully agitate conservative principles and policy positions," said Keith Appell, a Republican political strategist. "He is a welcome change. He doesn't buy into the phony bipartisanship that Obama preaches but doesn't practice."

Rep. Cantor seems to also have caught the eye of the President.

"The president has already, in a way, picked him out as a person he wants to have a better relationship with," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the chief deputy whip in the Republican caucus.

Good, positive article ... read it all here.