http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/ERIC07_20100506-223408/342799/Cantor suspends National Council for a New America
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th, has pulled the plug on a national organization that was launched with much fanfare a year ago.
He blamed the demise of the council on "relentless" attacks from Democrats. The organization also was the target of an ethics complaint, filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, claiming Cantor's office had violated House rules regarding funding for political organizations.
The council held just one townhall meeting. Cantor and two Republican former governors, Jeb Bush of Florida and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, attended that session, May 2, 2009, at an Arlington County pizza parlor.
Cantor is the Republican whip, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives. Murray said Cantor would concentrate his whip efforts on a "Commitment to America" project set up by the chief deputy minority whip, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. That project is soliciting opinions outside the Beltway to help form a legislative agenda, he said.
Jesse Ferguson, southern regional press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, dismissed Cantor's attempts to create "an extreme makeover" of the Republican Party.