Final Word: All I can say is good luck, David Brat

Eric Cantor is out and David Brat is IN in Virgina.

In case you missed it, the Republican primary in Virginia Tuesday was an incredible upset for the mainline GOP and a reminder that the Tea Party is not dead.

Brat was an unknown in politics and even Tea Party officials didn’t give him a chance of winning. Nor did they give him any support.

But Cantor was widely criticized for losing touch with his local electorate (which is inexcusable considering he can drive there pretty quickly). But probably more troublesome for Cantor was his apparent willingness to compromise with the left and do something about immigration reform.

His critics were calling him “Amnesty Eric” and other such ridiculous things.

I don’t think this is as much a victory for the Tea Party as a defeat for reasonable Republicans. I believe the old party of Lincoln would have found a way to make better policy for immigrants, certainly the children of those immigrants who were brought to this country as small children and don’t know another country or language but this one.

And I think Republicans like Cantor were doing the right thing to try to find common ground rather than continue to try to enforce a policy that isn’t working.

And it may be that Cantor’s seat goes to a Democrat after all.

Brat, a political newcomer, is a college professor. Lacking the support of National Tea Party groups, he only raised $200,000 for his election fund. He has a doctorate in economics, but in an interview with MSNBC, seemed woefully unprepared to answer a question about a federal minimum wage.

Uh oh. That should be east for a Tea Partier, right?

Good luck, Mr. Brat.