Those close to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor don't deny his ambitions, but even they are uncertain of his next move. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Cantor's ambition raises concerns

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor has asked the ethics committee to greenlight a national book tour this August for a new GOP manifesto he’s co-authoring with two younger members of Congress, according to sources familiar with the situation.

This is classic Cantor: a hyperambitious move to publish and push ideas he thinks will help rebrand the GOP, on his terms — and not necessarily those of his boss, Minority Leader John Boehner.

If this were an isolated incident, it would pass without a peep. But it’s not: Cantor is earning a reputation for pushing his ideas so hard and so often that some GOP colleagues are questioning his motives. Is he guided by a burning desire to help the party — or to boost himself?


“Boehner is running 1994 all over again,” a senior Republican lawmaker said, meaning Boehner wants to rely on a wave of voter anger with Democrats to ride into the majority. “Cantor and [California Rep. Kevin McCarthy] see it totally differently.” McCarthy serves as Cantor’s top lieutenant in the whip organization and is one of the co-authors, along with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), of Cantor’s new book, “Young Guns.”

Those close to Cantor don’t deny his ambitions — but even they are uncertain of his next move. If Republicans take control of the House in November, the 47-year-old Cantor would become the youngest majority leader in more than 60 years. That would put him next in line to become speaker if and when Boehner leaves.

The choice is tougher if the GOP falls short. If it does, sources close to Cantor say he would have to decide very quickly whether to stay in the House — and hope for a Republican victory in 2012 — or turn his attention to running for the Senate or for governor. At this point, those sources don’t expect Cantor to both hold a top leadership job and prepare for a different office.

Running for higher offices would be a difficult call. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is seen as the GOP front-runner for governor, and other Virginia Republicans, including former Sen. George Allen, have their eye on the Senate race, too.

“He’ll be the first Jewish Republican something,” a House GOP lawmaker said of Cantor. The “first Jewish Republican speaker, the first Jewish Republican vice president or first Jewish Republican president.”

“He could be any of those three,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who came to Capitol Hill with Cantor in 2001. “He always has been fairly closemouthed about what he wants to be, but he could be any of those things.”

That’s the rub for some Republicans. It is clear Cantor is restless, both in terms of his own political path and often the one charted by others, including Boehner.

Cantor declined to comment for this article — and Boehner offered a conventional we-get-along-just-fine response. “We have a good working relationship,” Boehner told POLITICO. “Eric works extremely hard, and he brings an awful lot to the table.”

Boehner, though, concedes the two men “have very different styles.” POLITICO talked to numerous GOP lawmakers for this story, some on the condition their names would not be used, so they could speak candidly about a sensitive topic and relationship.

People inside the GOP leadership circle say there is rarely noticeable friction between the two men — rather, there are clear personal and stylistic differences and distance.

Boehner is a backslapper who loves golf and socializes with his friends after hours at an Italian restaurant on Capitol Hill. Cantor is a serious wonk, hard to read and harder to really know well.

Boehner likes to joke around; he has often mocked Cantor for wearing Gucci loafers. Cantor is hyperactive, intensely focused and seemingly always in motion. “They’re not going to be vacationing together anytime soon, but I think they get along OK,” said a veteran GOP lawmaker.

The two did spar privately over the creation of America Speaking Out, Boehner’s pet project for crafting a new agenda. Cantor wanted the program run out of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which would have allowed party leaders to capture names and then hit those people up for cash and campaign help.

Cantor was familiar with the problems of mixing politics and policy. He was forced to pull the plug on the National Council for a New America, after Democrats complained that it violated ethics laws, which prohibit mingling policy staff with political work. It was an embarrassing flop for Cantor.

Boehner felt strongly his program should be housed inside the official GOP leadership structure, so he could use congressional employees and the appearance of officialdom to sell it.

The argument came to a head when Cantor and McCarthy had a heated exchange with Boehner chief of staff Barry Jackson, according to a source familiar with the situation. Boehner’s view prevailed, and ever since, Cantor has basically blown off the Boehner program to focus on his own initiatives.

All of this makes some Republicans uneasy about moves by Cantor that might otherwise seem innocuous, including his fundraising. Cantor has given candidates more than $1 million directly from his leadership political action committee and plans to give $1 million more.

Some grouse that this gives Cantor control instead of directing his money through the NRCC. “It makes no sense for him to do it like that,” a Republican serving on the NRCC’s executive committee said of Cantor’s fundraising efforts. “It’s just a way of putting strings on everything he does.”

Cantor’s aggressive approach delights younger, more conservative Republicans, some of whom are uneasy with Boehner’s steady-as-we-go attitude. These members believe Republicans are mainly winning right now because they are the lesser of two evils. To truly rebound, they want fresh ideas, fresh blood and a fresh approach to politics.

“He’s probably the hardest-working person in the [Republican] Conference,” McCarthy said. “And he’s probably one of the biggest team players I have ever been involved with in my career — not just in Congress but even before that.”

In 2008, when Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was elected to Congress, Cantor called him weekly until he arrived in Washington in January 2009, the freshman said. By the time the 111th Congress began, the two had “a great working relationship.”

“If he was doing it with me, he was doing it with other people,” Chaffetz told POLITICO. “He’s got his finger on the pulse of the freshman class; between him and McCarthy, nobody has a better working relationship with that class.”

Cantor’s allies in the GOP extend beyond Capitol Hill as well. Former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush called himself a “ big Eric Cantor fan,” saying the two have worked closely on economic and job-creation ideas for the party.

Bush said that he and Cantor — whom he talks to frequently — have never discussed running for another office. “I have never had a conversation with him about the politics of politics,” Bush said.

But Cantor’s coziness with allies such as Bush — on top of the formidable fundraising operations he is building inside and out of Congress — makes the Virginia Republican a serious threat for higher office.

It’s just not clear which one.