WSJ: "Obama's attack machine"

The thing about fear is that you can see it. For an insight as to what the left today fears most, witness its attempted political assassination of Eric Cantor.

So begins the Wall Street Journal's "Obama's attack machine" article from April 3.

I've seen that attack machine move into high gear in the Virginia blogosphere over the past weeks ... predictable attacks that are there just for the sake of being there ... kind of like a pesky gnat you can't get rid of.

Why would the left feel so threatened by Virginia's up-and-coming congressman who serves a the Republican Whip in the U.S. Congress?

Described as one of the GOP's up-and-coming talents, the WSJ described Rep. Cantor:

The 45-year-old Virginia congressman came to Washington in 2001, and by last year had been unanimously elected Republican Whip, under Minority Leader John Boehner. In recent months, Mr. Cantor has helped unify the GOP against much of President Barack Obama's agenda, in particular his blowout $787 billion stimulus, and yesterday, his blowout $3.6 trillion budget.

He's also one of the GOP's up-and-coming talents. Along with Wisconsin's Paul Ryan, or California's Kevin McCarthy, he represents a new guard, one that's sworn off earmarks and brought the conversation back to fiscal responsibility and economic opportunity. They've focused on party outreach, and are popular with younger voters and independents. They are big fund-raisers, part of a drive to recruit and elect more reformers. And they are on the rise.

Eric Cantor is personable, popular, and probably most known to many voters for his annual "Republican Roundup" held annually at Innsbrook in western Henrico County where thousands gather on a fall afternoon to take in complimentary barbecue, entertainment, kids activities, and politicking by high-ranking Republican electeds.

Because of his popularity with voters and fellow Republicans in the House, Democrats see Cantor as a threat and have targeted him:

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann is so obsessed with Mr. Cantor, he can barely find time to be indignant about anything else. Talking Points Memo, Huffington Post, Think Progress and other leading liberal blogs are today all-anti-Cantor-all-the-time.

But the real ugly was unleashed a few weeks ago, when the goon squad set on Mr. Cantor's wife. An outfit called Working Families Win began running robocalls in five districts noting that Diana Cantor was a "top executive" at a bank that had received bailout funds -- the clear implication being that Mr. Cantor's vote for said bailout hinged on this fact. "In the middle of the AIG scandal, our congressman [fill in the blank] voted to make Virginia Republican, Eric Cantor, the conservative leader in Congress," it droned (incoherently and incorrectly), before demanding voters oppose the "Cantor Family Bank bailout."

At least when Chuck Schumer ran ads targeting Republicans for voting for a "bailout" that his own party brought to the floor -- and passed -- he kept his attacks on the members. And the last anyone looked, the AIG intervention was being overseen by the Obama administration, not the House minority whip. This may set a new political low, not the least because Mrs. Cantor in fact works at a subsidiary of the bank in question. Not to mention that Mr. Cantor led the initial GOP revolt against the "bailout."

Just watch the Virginia dem blogs and you will see their obsession with Eric Cantor. If they are that obsessed, he must be doing something right for conservative Republicans. Keep an eye on this rising star.