Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th, the target of a death threat last weekend and recipient of threatening mail, said yesterday that such incidents "unfortunately, come up on any side of the political spectrum."
In a brief interview after speaking to the Associated General Contractors of Virginia, Cantor said "we are all, because of our positions as elected officials -- and mine is unique because I'm Jewish -- victims of this kind of behavior."
Three security officers from the U.S. Capitol police force accompanied Cantor to the breakfast meeting at the Willow Oaks Country Club in South Richmond. As the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, the GOP whip has been accompanied by security personnel since last year.
Cantor said he was not crying wolf last week when he held a news conference on Capitol Hill in which he talked about a bullet that shattered a window at his campaign office in downtown Richmond. Richmond police subsequently determined that it was a random shot.
"The purpose was to indicate that there are individuals on the other side of the aisle who were using those kinds of actions and language for political gain," Cantor said. "These are matters that ought to be in the hands of law enforcement. We ought not to be revealing e-mails; we ought not to be talking about these kinds of things."
He noted that he singled out for blame last week two prominent Democrats. They were former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
In a March 24 news release on behalf of the DNC, Kaine said: "Republican leaders are themselves engaging in actions and rhetoric that previously would have been limited to fringe elements of the Republican Party."
In his speech to representatives of small businesses and contractors who belong to the trade group, Cantor said President Barack Obama has gone from being the "hope and change candidate of 2008" to creating disillusionment by concentrating on health care when he should have been seeking to promote jobs and the economy.
Cantor said Obama's economic stimulus package turned out to be an "$800 billion boondoggle" that most economists agree created few jobs.
Asked whether the Republicans denied themselves a seat at the table by voting unanimously against the health-care bill that Obama signed into law last week, Cantor said "we attempted many times to participate, but were rebuffed at every turn. There was an ideological pursuit this administration was committed to. It reflected the Washington-knows-best attitude."
Cantor said the health-care overhaul will impose huge costs on small businesses.
Almost half the people don't pay any income taxes, and this is creating an entitlement mentality that is leading this country down the path to "European socialism," he said.
Cantor has represented the 7th Congressional District, which includes large parts of the Richmond area and extends westward to Page County, since 2001.
(Cantor's wife, Diana F. Cantor, is a member of the board of directors of Media General Inc., parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.
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