Cantor said \u201cimmigration reform\u201d was a top priority for 2013, said [Brat campaign manager Zachary] Werrell, but now \u201che\u2019s realizing that voters in his district are overwhelmingly against it, and all of a sudden, he\u2019s saying he\u2019s against amnesty.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What\u2019s going on? From all appearances, Cantor has been trying to have it both ways: \u00a0appealing to his constituents by emphasizing anti-amnesty votes, and appealing to big-money donors by supporting \u201cimmigration reform.\u201d \u00a0Now voters have to decide whether they trust him when he says he\u2019ll block a general amnesty, or whether they fear he\u2019ll betray him as soon as he wins his primary.<\/p>\n
And hence my theory: \u00a0why are politicians increasingly at the extreme ends of their parties? \u00a0Yes, gerrymandering plays a part, when so many elections are decided at the primary level because there is no effective opposition. \u00a0Yes, the corrupt politics that favors incumbents to an extraordinary degree, as they use their office to collect cash, and especially because more power accrues to longer-serving Representatives and Senators so that voters won\u2019t want to lose the power their state or district gains by having a long-serving politician.<\/p>\n
But I think that trust plays a role too, or, rather, the lack of trust. \u00a0It\u2019s easy to tell where a \u201chardliner\u201d stands. \u00a0Voters don\u2019t have to worry that they\u2019ll be \u201csold out\u201d by someone with strong ideological convictions. \u00a0To vote for a centrist requires a lot more trust that he\u2019ll do the right thing and that he\u2019s being truthful about his policy positions. \u00a0How many times have I read of Obama, \u201cI knew he was lying about some of his policy positions; it\u2019s just that I thought he was lying about the policies that I opposed, not the ones I supported\u201d?<\/p>\n
And politicians are, it seems to me (see my comments earlier this month<\/a>), increasingly open and unhesitating in their lying. \u00a0Which, I think, makes voters less likely to take a chance on a centrist.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So here\u2019s a \u201cDaily Caller\u201d article on Eric Cantor\u2019s primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an amnesty supporter. \u00a0Cantor touts his credentials as refusing to bring up the Senate bill for consideration, and opposing similar legislation. \u00a0As for Brat? Cantor said \u201cimmigration reform\u201d was a top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
My latest theory -- on hardliners in American politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So here's a "Daily Caller" article on Eric Cantor's primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My latest theory -- on hardliners in American politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So here's a "Daily Caller" article on Eric Cantor's primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-29T09:33:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html\",\"name\":\"My latest theory -- on hardliners in American politics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-29T09:33:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-29T09:33:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"So here's a \\\"Daily Caller\\\" article on Eric Cantor's primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"My latest theory — on hardliners in American politics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My latest theory -- on hardliners in American politics","description":"So here's a \"Daily Caller\" article on Eric Cantor's primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"My latest theory -- on hardliners in American politics","og_description":"So here's a \"Daily Caller\" article on Eric Cantor's primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2014-05-29T09:33:00+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html","name":"My latest theory -- on hardliners in American politics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-05-29T09:33:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-29T09:33:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"So here's a \"Daily Caller\" article on Eric Cantor's primary challenger Dave Brat, who is framing his candidacy as opposing amnesty, and Cantor as an","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/my-latest-theory-on-hardliners-in-american-politics.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My latest theory — on hardliners in American politics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}