The New Newt

As the minority whip in the House, Rep. Eric Cantor faces the daunting task of holding together a united opposition against a much more popular president. While Obama has made a series of showy attempts at bipartisanship in recent weeks, GOP strategy so far has been to give him no quarter, and thanks to Cantor's efforts, not a single House Republican voted for the president's stimulus plan. If the Republican strategy seems reminiscent of New Gingrich's combative stretch as speaker of the House, it's not a coincidence—Cantor has been consulting with Gingrich since the new Congress took office. “I talk to Newt on a regular basis because he was in the position that we are in: in the extreme minority,” Cantor told The New York Times.