Club for Growth gives Cantor high marks

The conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth said Wednesday that Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has evolved into the kind of vice presidential candidate it could get behind if Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) should tap him.

{mosads}The group argued that Cantor has been “consistently strong in several economic policy areas” and, after a start in the “key area” of government spending that was “less strong,” the Club for Growth now thinks that Cantor “ranks among the most pro-growth members in the House.”

“Over the past two years, Rep. Cantor has been one of the few Republicans to come to grips with the sorry state of the GOP and lead by example,” the group said in a release. “If Sen. McCain wants to win in November, he will need to choose someone who recognizes how badly Republicans have strayed from the principles of limited government and economic freedom. Eric Cantor gets it.”

The Club for Growth noted that, in 2007, Cantor “rose to the top” of Republican House members, scoring 95 percent on its congressional scorecard and ranking 21st overall.

In the release, Club for Growth President and former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) took the opportunity to praise Cantor as another chance to ding former presidential candidate and ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, long a nemesis of the group.

“McCain’s vice presidential pick will be crucial for his campaign and for the future of the GOP,” Toomey said. “Choosing someone like Mike Huckabee would indicate an abandonment of limited-government, free-market principles. However, picking someone like Eric Cantor, who has tried to help the Republican Party reclaim the mantle of fiscal conservatism, could make the difference between victory and defeat. For economic conservatives, Eric Cantor would be a good choice.”