Politico (and AP): McCain is vetting Cantor

By MIKE ALLEN & JONATHAN MARTIN | 8/2/08 8:34 PM EST

The McCain campaign is vetting Rep. Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) as a potential vice-presidential candidate, a campaign adviser told Politico on Saturday.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is a top running-mate prospect for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), opening up the possibility of an all-Old Dominion, Kaine vs. Cantor vice-presidential debate.

Cantor, 45, has provided records to the running-mate search team of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the adviser said.

With a Southern lilt and that belies his talent for raw politics, Cantor is one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish Republicans, and has impressed the McCain team by becoming a prolific fund-raiser for the campaign.

A young fiscal conservative who could help keep Virginia from tipping blue, Cantor could also be an asset in such battlegrounds as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. He has shown appeal to the party's base as well as to independents, and would be an unconventional choice at a time when McCain is looking to add excitement to his campaign.

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Cantor, who lives in suburban Richmond, would bring to the ticket a photogenic family and a track record of raising prodigious amounts of money from his own national network. On weekends, he travels constantly on behalf of Republican House candidates and the national party

Known on Capitol Hill as squeaky clean, Cantor has successfully campaigned and raised money in key states like Missouri, New Jersey and New York.

Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor and now Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia, has said that Cantor was his toughest potential opponent. Cantor decided to stay in the House to continue rising the leadership ladder.

Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and one of the nation's most influential evangelical leaders, recently praised Cantor as a potential McCain running mate, calling him rock-solid on social issues—a huge concern for Christian conservatives with the maverick McCain at the top of the ticket.

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