But on the East Coast, outside of MSM circles, the folks who follow conservative politics expect the same forces that brought down Cantor to target McCarthy.

These powerful groups and individuals disliked Cantor for far more than his advocacy of cheap labor via “comprehensive immigration reform.” They saw him as a K Street crony capitalist far more concerned about Wall Street than Main Street.

McCarthy seen as a Cantor clone

Guess what? That’s their take on McCarthy, too, according to Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner, who understands the conservative movement way better than Politico or the Los Angeles Times. Here’s some of Klein’s analysis:

“Whether it was on immigration or fighting to shrink the size and scope of government, Cantor was increasingly at odds with conservatives and far too cozy with business interests.

“His defeat presents House Republicans with an opportunity to signal — ahead of the 2014 midterm elections — that they’re listening to conservatives. But by elevating McCarthy, who is next in line as whip, they’d be sending the opposite message — that they’re determined to crush conservatives.

“Several groups placed McCarthy’s voting record well to the left of Cantor’s for 2013. The American Conservative Union rated McCarthy at 72 percent compared with 84 percent for Cantor; Heritage Action ratings place Cantor at 53 percent and McCarthy at 42 percent; and Club for Growth had Cantor at 68 percent and McCarthy at 53 percent. Moving away from conservative groups, the National Journal rated Cantor the 80th most conservative member of the House while McCarthy was 170th.

“McCarthy voted for a Hurricane Sandy relief bill that included spending that was unrelated to providing emergency aid, fought for the farm and food stamp bill, fought reforms to the federal sugar program, and backed an extension of the corporate welfare agency known as the Export-Import Bank.”

Depicted as cozy with unions

Some Republicans and conservatives are comfortable with McCarthy’s moderate and/or squishy views on immigration. But I doubt few if any will like this depiction of the affable former deli owner as cozy with union interests. More from Klein:

“As Red State’s Erick Erickson pointed out, McCarthy even participated in a retreat for liberal Republicans at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla. The event was hosted by the Republican Main Street Partnership, which is a group run by representative-turned-lobbyist Steve LaTourette aimed at defeating conservatives. The organization includes big labor unions among its donors.”

So it’s more than a little premature to assume McCarthy will end up as the second Californian to be House speaker this century, an assumption that many have because of recurring rumors that John Boehner is tired of the job. There’s no doubt in my mind that McCarthy would be better than the last California pol in that role.

But there’s a populist, anti-Washington wave building out there in Conservativeland, and its ideal candidate isn’t someone remotely like Kevin McCarthy.

To that point, this was the headline on Klein’s analysis:

“The absurdity of electing Kevin McCarthy to replace Eric Cantor as House majority leader”

But as a very useful article in the Sacramento Business Journal points out, this isn’t nearly the good news that Dan Richard and other bullet-train boondoggle bandwagoners will pretend:

“Lawmakers have reached a deal on funding the California High-Speed Rail Authority up to a projected $250 million beginning in fiscal 2015, far less than the agency expects it will need to cover construction costs at that time, which is roughly $4 billion a year.

“While the financing deal is not final, the plan to fund high-speed rail through 25 percent of future cap-and-trade proceeds was approved by a state budget panel Thursday in advance of a budget floor vote expected by Sunday night.”

Bad news for bullet train in Cantor wake

There’s also another development that bodes ill for the bullet train: the single biggest congressional critic of the project is Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield.

He’s going to be the new House majority leader soon as a result of the Eric Cantor defenestration. And he’s likely to be House speaker in a couple of years. John Boehner was the subject of retirement rumors even before his No. 2 was ousted in a Virginia primary, which is an implied rejection of Boehner as well.

If the dominoes keep falling and McCarthy becomes speaker, nothing would make him look weaker than Congress renewing federal funding for the fiasco that threatens to tear up his district.

That’s why he has a unique niche in American journalism: He’s a liberal who relentlessly argues against tolerating illegal immigration or “comprehensive immigration reform” on the grounds that the last thing a nation beset by income inequality needs is a flood of inexpensive, low-skilled laborers.

This has led him to focus on House Republican leaders’ interest in “comprehensive immigration reform.” Here’s an example excoriating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor as a secret champion of amnesty.

Overnight lots of folks began crediting Kaus for helping obscure econ prof Dave Brat beat Cantor on Tuesday in a Virgina GOP congressional primary and for suggesting it was a real possibility when the conventional wisdom was that the powerful Cantor would cruise to a lopsided win. CNN’s Jake Tapper called him “Kaustrodamus.”

Brat against crony capitalism and bailouts

Kaus likes Brat for his economic populism.

“Notes: 1) This is a pitch — against a ‘low wage agenda’ and ‘crony corporate lobby’ — that can appeal to Democrats as well as Republicans. Maybe partisanship will eventually be transcended, not at the top, with David Brooks, Gloria Borger and Jon Huntsman imposing a Beltway consensus they hammer out at an Atlantic panel, but at the bottom, where less sleek figures like Brat, Phyllis Schlafly and Jeff Sessions, can make common cause with Democratic workers who’ve gotten the short end of previous top-down triumphs such as global trade and Reagan’s 1986 amnesty, as well as of ineluctable technological trends like automation. 2) Perhaps not coincidentally, Democrats can vote in the Cantor vs. Brat primary. …

“Backfill: See also this earlier Brat release, which expands the potentially bipartisan anti-corporate agenda to other issues – like spending, debt and insider trading.”

Will Brat’s stunning victory presage a national populist uprising?

The National Journal’s Ron Fournier, who seems liberated since he stopped being AP’s Washington D.C. bureau chief, thinks it’s possible.

One way or the other, Cantor’s loss shows there’s no such thing as a safe House seat anymore.