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Posted by BadChiWV
Democrats need to stop Earl Ray Tomblin from becoming the next Governor of West Virginia. Some say Tomblin is Manchin without the charisma. He is worse. Here are a few reasons:
Too Close to Corruption
His link to corrupt politicians like Joe Ferrel and self serving position on gambling back in the 90s are only two of the troubling skeletons in the Tomblin closet.
The Tomblins have been a powerful political force in Logan County for years. According to an article posted on West Virginia Watchdog:
Tomblin's own father, former Logan County Sheriff Earl Tomblin, was a member of the "Logan Five;" five elected officials convicted of election rigging in the 1970s. Later, in 1992, Earl pleaded guilty to bribery related to the election for former Logan County Sheriff Oval Adams.
In addition to that Tomblin pushed an effort to legalize gray machines (illegal gambling machines before regulated video lottery) while his family's business apparently operated the machines. Watchdog goes on to say:
An effort was led by the senior Tomblin to legalize the machines under former Gov. Gaston Caperton, only to fail due to investigations into the West Virginia Lottery Commission at the time.
Watchdog Post:
http://westvirginia.watchdog.o...
Ferrel Indictment:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/wv...
Acting as More than Governor
Governor's are elected. Earl Ray Tomblin has not been elected. Yet, Tomblin has tried to squirrel his way in there by slapping his name on all the doors, letterhead, and signs he can find. Thank the good heavens the WV Supreme Court put him in his place stating he was not even acting Governor but merely an act as Governor. That being said, I'll bet my hound dog Tick that Tomblin hasn't changed his letter head or even the way he is announced to reflect the highest court in the State. It is offensive.
Can't Beat Em, Join Em
Tomblin has pulled two major flip flops and he has been selling himself as Governor for just a few months. First, Tomblin tried to put off holding an election. He said he wanted to hear from the people. Ha! He never had any intention of having an election and fought it all the way to the Supreme Court (it was Tomblin's lawyers arguing against having an election this year). To beat all, once the Court told him he couldn't fake being Governor anymore he acted like it was his idea to have the freaking election. Does he really think people in WV are that dumb?
Tomblin also got out maneuvered in the Senate...twice. First, Senator Kessler and his crew of merry Democrats took the Senate leadership away from Tomblin's old guard. Tomblin tried to fight it but once Kessler secured the right number of votes, Tomblin tried to act like he was going to stay out of Senate business. Right. Tomblin was out positioned after fighting the new leadership like hell behind closed doors and then tried to pretend to be above the entire matter. What is worse is that Tomblin directly interjected himself into Senate matters while telling everyone he would not- does not say much for how far you can take his word.
Then, yes there is a then (which is actually now I guess) Tomblin threw his old leadership team under the bus to make himself appear above the fray. I would wager that Tomblin promised his old leadership that he would not abandon them and when he did he pissed some people off- Former Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick went so far as to not vote for Tomblin for Senate President (one of only three votes against Tomblin after all the deals were made). Now we have Senator Chafin and Senator Jenkins raising three kinds of hell on the Senate floor about Tomblin's absence, while Tomblin sits down in the Governor's Office. How Tomblin could leave his guys out to dry is beyond me and if he gave them his word that he wouldn't then he should have kept his word. Chafin and company are too smart to be crossed and Tomblin may have sold out the wrong people at the wrong time.
Bad Policy Positions
Tomblin has taken some pretty egregious positions on a number of policy issues. His position on coal is like most of the other State Democrats but even a coal guy like myself thought it a bit much to promote a pro MTR rally as a sitting Governor. Hell, not even a Republican would have the gall to do that. It might not hurt him with the coal money but I bet it pissed off some of citizens being protected by the EPA's recent moves.
Tombin has also tried to throw one time money at teachers and State workers and called for cutting a number of taxes. The thing is- who the hell is Tomblin to push those types of budget impacting policies having not been elected. He is just trying to win the vote of business and placate enough teachers and state workers to win election. Beyond that, Tomblin always talks about how the State needs to save money but I guess that does not apply when it comes to winning votes.
Tomblin torpedoed ethics reform. The House of Delegates rightfully passed ethics reform legislation last year and Tomblin was instrumental in killing the bill. The legislation would have given more power to the ethics commission to delve into the finances of politicians' families (a lot of politicians hide money with their families for all types of nefarious reasons). Why did Tomblin want to kill it? Not sure but I like my politicians open and honest about their finances and given Tomblin's associations it does not bode well for him to block it.
You name the issue- union topics, environmental issues, free choice, gay marriage, etc- Tomblin's position is not in line with Democratic values.
Given all this, I strongly encourage Democrats to get behind a candidate like Perdue and do so quickly. Don't think Tomblin has no shot because of the items I listed above because he is getting name recognition in his act as Governor role and has a ton of money. Don't let the Republicans, and in that breath I am referring to Tomblin as well, win this election. |
