Senator Eric Cantor?

Apparently our local boy (Henrico, that is) has made good. Patrick Ruffini has liked Mr. Cantor since he wrote him in for Senator in 2002 and is seconded by Scott Johnson of Powerline:

Conventional wisdom has Eric Cantor rising through the ranks in the House. But he's also the best hope for Virginia Republicans to hold John Warner's Senate seat.

Here's why the guy I wrote in for Senate in 2002 is still the best choice:

• He's the most talented member of the Virginia delegation.
  
• He hails from the Richmond suburbs, maybe the state's pivotal region. Northern Virginia has decisively rejected the last two GOP candidates on cultural grounds -- they were from the stix or acted like it. Cantor is from the suburbs in an increasingly suburban state. At the same time, he doesn't hail from NoVa proper and will find it easier to connect with conservatives throughout the Commonwealth.
  
• Cantor's conservative record would be a marked improvement over John Warner. He scores a solid 82% on the Club for Growth's RePORK Card, the best in the Republican leadership.
  
• Cantor's Congressional seat is solidly Republican and doesn't flip if he runs.
  
• He has one of the most obscenely high cash-on-hand totals in the House. That could scare off opponents. Of all the potential candidates, he has the most potential of scaring off Mark Warner -- who could figure a bruising fight against the tough as nails, well funded Cantor isn't worth it -- and that he'll be better positioned by running for governor against George Allen in 2009. Running in 2008 also rules out Warner as VP on the Hillary ticket.
  

Any way you shape it, its going to be an interesting election year.