Cantor Skips Obama for Britney Concert

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 25, 2009 8:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – The political blogosphere is having some fun tonight with the fact that House Minority Whip Eric Cantor attended the Britney Spears concert last night instead of dutifully tuning in to President Obama's press conference. Cantor's office confirmed to Wonkette that he took in the show, adding that he did so with Democrats as part of a "bipartisan" night.

Cantor apparently attended at the request of a fundraiser, notes the Huffington Post. "If suffering through a Britney Spears concert will raise one more dime to help Republicans take back the House, then I'm glad Cantor's willing to do it," said one GOP aide. Cantor initially said Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu also attended, but she denies the claim and Cantor's office has since backtracked.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 25, 2009, to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

In this 2008 file photo, Britney Spears performs on ABC's "Good Morning America" show at the Big Apple Circus in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file)

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va., arrives in the East Room of the White House Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

After attending the NRCC dinner, Eric, like President Obama has been known to do, enjoyed a night at the Verizon center. It was a bipartisan night, as Eric was joined by Senator Landrieu and other Democrats. - Rep. Eric Cantor's office

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Congress Moves to Ban Its Own Insider Trading

Bill an attempt to restore faith of hostile public

(NEWSER) - Soon, insider trading may be illegal for lawmakers, too . In an effort to boost its historically low approval rating, the Senate will today hold a procedural vote allowing it to later this week pass a bill banning Congress from trading on nonpublic info, or giving that info to others to trade on, the AP reports. Similar legislation is in the works in the House. More»

Congress' Productivity Plunges

Hill approving fewer bills, fewer laws being signed

(NEWSER) - Non-election years are typically productive times for Congress, but not this year. As of last week, the House had passed 326 bills, its fewest in the last 10 non-election years, while the Senate had green-lit 368, its lowest total since 1995, the Washington Post observes. (For comparison, the House passed 970 bills in 2009 and 1,127 in 2007, while the Senate passed 478 and 621.) All of that resulted in 62 signed laws—or 26 fewer than Bill Clinton managed to sign when he faced a new Republican Congress in 1995. More»

Weiner's Bathroom Grosses Out New Lawmaker

Leftover toothbrush sparks thorough cleaning

(NEWSER) - The office of scandalous sexter Anthony Weiner needs to be sanitized—literally. Newly elected congressman Rob Turner's family was horrified to find the former House member's toothbrush in his old office bathroom, and ordered a thorough cleaning. “Weiner left his toothbrush behind! It literally says ‘Anthony’ on it,” an insider tells the New York Post . “We made the assumption who Anthony was.” More»

Kyl Leaves Debt Talks, Too: No Republicans Left

He joins Eric Cantor in bailing on Joe Biden's negotiations

(NEWSER) - And then there were none: Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is joining Eric Cantor in his decision to skip Joe Biden's deficit-reduction talks, which means no Republicans are left on the panel, reports ABC News . The departures come as Mitch McConnell blasted President Obama on the Senate floor, notes Politico , which sees a "concerted effort" by the GOP to force the president to get personally involved in the talks. They've hit an impasse over Democrats' push for tax increases. More»

Hey, Obama, GOP 'Can't Do It Alone'

This is the president's 'leadership moment'

(NEWSER) - President Obama's deficit commission co-chairs may think real fiscal responsibility is still possible, but Eric Cantor thinks the president's budget "shattered our best hopes" with its "conspicuous lack of candor." "This is a leadership moment," he writes in an opinion on Politico. "House Republicans took the lead by passing the largest discretionary spending cuts since World War II," but, he says, "one party in a divided government can't do it alone." More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website