Rep. Eric Cantor’s upset loss in the Virginia Republican primary today has the media proclaiming a seismic shift in the world of conservative politics. This year was supposed to be the year when the Republican “establishment” exercised it’s clout and put down insurgencies from the Tea Party in order to prevent unelectable candidates from the far right from becoming their endorsee. And they’ve generally had a lot of success this year in defeating the wing-nuts. Cantor was the House Majority Leader with 5-10 times more money than Brat, and he’d been in office since 2001, so his campaign and the media certainly had reason to believe he could rely on TV ads, name recognition, and actual supporters to let him coast through the primary. Hence the “surprise” when this political neophyte beat him.

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