Sources: Cantor Launching Super PAC To Position for VP
October 5, 2011 | 1:08 AM
A top staffer to Eric Cantor is leaving the House majority leader's office to launch a Super PAC aimed at raising Cantor's national profile, sources told Influence Alley.
The PAC will be run by Cantor's deputy chief of staff John Murray and would give Cantor a vehicle he could use to run for vice president, should the opportunity arise, said a source close to the majority leader's office, who asked not to be named because the source was not authorized to speak publicly. Murray's departure from Cantor's office is imminent, the source said.
Murray did not respond to requests for comment.
Cantor, first elected to the House a decade ago, has risen quickly through the leadership ranks and has worked hard to raise his profile co-authoring "Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders" last year.
And on Tuesday, after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced -- again -- that he wasn't running for president, talk quickly shifted to Cantor as the GOP's next white knight. And just this week, the majority leader was the subject of a lengthy profile in New York Magazine.
UPDATE: A Republican strategist close to Cantor tells me that the stated purpose of the Super PAC is to focus on supporting House Republicans in the political and policy arenas. Member Super PACs are the next evolution in fundraising and allow individual lawmakers to solicit soft money donations* from loyalists who wouldn't necessarily give to other organizations. Cantor's project is not competing with other GOP committees, the source said, but is another addition to the Republican arsenal.
Some close to CantorLand tried to tamp down the VP speculation saying the PAC wasn't created to make a huge play for VP, but to build Cantor's national brand, push cash to Republican causes and drive policy. Of course, having an increased national footprint, demonstrated money machine and buzz are assets in any veepstakes.
And some Cantor boosters are quick to point out that their guy makes good sense for the ticket: he appeals to the base, has higher name ID than the average House member, is a prodigious fundraiser and could cut into the Democratic advantage among Jewish voters in swing states like Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.
*UPDATE 2: Eagle-eyed reader and campaign finance law expert Paul Ryan tells the Alley that the source who said lawmakers can solicit soft money donations is wrong. The Campaign Legal Center lawyer said a Super PAC can solicit soft money but "it remains illegal for federal officeholders to solicit any contributions from corporations and labor unions as well as contributions in excess of $5,000 from individuals or PACs." The McCain-Feingold restrictions remain in effect, Ryan said, pointing to FEC advisory opinion 2011-12.
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