Some of President Obama’s troubles can be traced to one person:
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
He’s consolidated his own power by courting the Republican House tea-party-loving freshmen who swept in last year.
Cantor has an interesting outlook about working in Washington – being liked is not an advantage.
One suspects he thinks it’s much better to be deemed so unreasonable that your opponents ultimately feel no choice but to bend to your will.
That may explain why so many in his own party don’t like him.
Even his supporters say he doesn’t have the social graces and natural confidence of most politicians.
Cantor rarely hangs out with his colleagues, and since he doesn’t golf or fish or have any hobbies, when he does find himself in social situations, he usually talks about work.
We all know how boring it can be to have someone like that at a party.
According to New York magazine, more than once Cantor has asked his aides: Why does the president seem to hate me so much?
