The DNC continues to needle House Whip Eric Cantor for remarks he made on Thursday, in which he said Washington D.C. and perhaps Democrats in particular, were "overreacting" to the economic crisis.
The committee released a new web ad on Friday highlighting what spokesman Hari Sevugan described as Cantor's "belief that we are overreacting to the worst economic crisis in the last 75 years and his preference to just say 'No' to measures meant to set the economy back on track."
Such an insinuation was vigorously disputed by Cantor's office, who said the remark was a general commentary on how the White House has tried to implement government spending proposals that can't be justified by their stimulative effect. But clearly, the DNC smells blood. Watch:
UPDATE: Cantor responds. Tracked down by Roll Call (subscription required) the Minority Whip declared himself humored by the attacks, but calls them expected.
"It's never pleasant, obviously," Cantor said of the Democratic attacks. "But that's how the game is played. But we intend to engage in the battle of ideas, and we will win."
Democrats are unlikely to find even a moderately competitive challenger to Cantor in his conservative district next year. But with a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee decision in February to run a series of ads in the district targeting Cantor, some political observers have suggested that the increased attention may have shaken him up -- a charge Cantor dismisses.
"That is so ridiculous," Cantor said.
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