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Charleston Gazette statehouse beat reporter Phil Kabler may be a little bit too much of an insider to think clearly. At least that is what his story in today's Charleston Gazette leads me to believe. The story is largely about the primary race for the 8th District of the West Virginia State Senate. There are three candidates in the primary: Senator Erik Wells and challengers Richie Robb and Rich Lindsay. Kabler's attempt to write a story about who is funding each candidate in their election attempt failed miserably.
Don't get me wrong, Kabler hit his favorite talking point: Robb gets all of his money from the unions and Wells gets his from the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce itself. Where the article failed was in its attempt to give the public any information about Rich Lindsay. Kabler writes in full about Lindsay:
A third Democrat in the race, Charleston lawyer Richard Lindsay II, raised $1,719 during the period, according to his disclosure filed with the secretary of state's office.
Kabler failed his readers and the citizens of Kanawha County in two respects. First, Lindsay may have only raised $1,719 during the last month, but he has raised over $15,000 to date. Second, and most importantly, Kabler did not make any mention of where Lindsay's money came from. Perhaps that is because all of Lindsay's money comes from individual donations. That's right, actual human beings. Lindsay has raised more money from individual contributions than either of the other candidates. Rather than taking money from businesses and other special interests, Lindsay has raised his money the same way that President Obama did. Kabler must not have found this important?
I can't understand how a reporter would write an article about money raised and where it came from, without ever mentioning where Rich Lindsay's money came from, particularly since Lindsay sent the press release that likely led to the story being written. I guess I shouldn't expect much more from an insider like the statehouse beat author.
For a rainy Monday night in April, there was a great showing at WV-02 Democratic primary candidate forum sponsored by the Berkeley County Democratic Association. From the front steps to the auditorium stage, Martinsburg High School was abuzz with campaign energy as candidates enter the final weeks of the primary season.
My major take-away of the night was, Anne Barth clearly showed why she is the only viable Democratic challenger in the race to unseat ineffective Bush-McCain Republican Shelley Moore Capito. The contributions that Thornton Cooper and Richie Robb can best make to the Democratic Party in West Virginia -- and there are many -- are not in running for the House of Representatives.
Here, in no particular order, are some of my many impressions of the event:
- Anne Barth consistently had the tightest, most polished, best prepared answers to questions. (Of course, like any candidate her challenge will be to make sure her consistently "on message" responses still sound fresh and spontaneous after the 100th time she gives them.) Even better, not only were her responses well delivered, they also made sense. She has used her full-time campaigning experience these last few months, including candidate forums like this one, to really hone her message. In fact, I thought she did a better job at stating a sharp contrast with Capito yesterday than Callaghan did in his final debates in Oct. 2006.
Barth does have two challengers in the primary...
- My advice for Thornton Cooper. As Steve Martin's character said in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - "When you tell a story, have a point." I think I might agree with you on any number of policy issues, but I'm not really sure. In almost half of your answers I wasn't sure what your point was. Stop trying to look smart, succinctly make a point and be done with it. It's impossible to connect with voters if they can't figure out what you are talking about.
- Carnacki already nailed in on Richie Robb... oh, how I wish he had run for State Senate. Again, I found myself largely in agreement with Robb on the issues. We need more progressive voices in the legislature. Despite having been a Republican mayor for 32 years, Robb would be to the left of many State Senate Democrats on many key issues.
More general observations
- Two best lines from Thornton Cooper: first, he stated that whoever wins the primary, we all need to support that person to beat Capito; second, he reminded the audience that we need to beat McCain in November because McCain has crazy ideas about the economy.
- Biggest unforced error of the night... Thornton Cooper, trying to out-do the other candidates in his personal connections to teachers... "my ex-wife was a teacher". I know being divorced is not a disqualification for office holding these days, but no need to flaunt it.
- Second biggest unforced error... Richie Robb tacitly endorsing a 91% tax rate for the wealthy. He forgot to mention it was a 91% marginal (not total) tax rate. This was in response to a question about what he would do to specifically help the three Eastern Panhandle counties, making the comment all the more perplexing.
- None of the candidates have really figured out how to address issues specific to the Eastern Panhandle. Anne Barth came the closest by talking about providing high quality jobs here to decrease commuting time. Cooper and Robb failed to even engage in the question. Land use and teacher pay are two other big issues around here -- one can argue that both are state legislature issues... still, there is a role that the federal government plays in each, too.
- Robb's strategic error... Richie Robb engaged the really annoying political tactic of saying, I can attack Capito better than Barth can attack Capito. What's annoying about it? Instead of doing it, he talks about doing it. When he was asked questions about how he would attack Capito, he didn't answer them very well.
- Barth's effective come-back: Anne Barth really shined in her final answer of the evening. She gave a passionate defense of the coalition of Democratic Party activists and stalwart supporters who have endorsed and are supporting her. The idea that she cannot engage or withstand "rough and tumble" politics was completely debunked by her able demonstration to the contrary. She had by far the best answers on how she'll get her message out across the large district and how her positions differ from those of Capito. She didn't have to say she can attack Capito better, she showed it.
In all, it was a great night for building momentum here in the Eastern Panhandle for the electoral defeat of Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito in November. A big thank you to Anne Barth, Thornton Cooper and Richie Robb for their participation.
Finally, the Berkeley County Democratic Association is to be congratulated for pulling off a great event. The moderator did a great job -- kudos to everyone involved in staging this event.
The Democrats debated at Wesleyan College and West Virginia Public Radio was there. Link to MP3 audio download or click here to stream from the site. Link to transcript (pdf).
Barth: The other thing we can do as a government is support trade remedies like the Byrd Amendment. It required that duties on illegal imports be paid directly to the industries harmed, like steel. And in 2006, the Republicans in Congress voted to repeal the Byrd Amendment, over the objections of the entire Democratic delegation of West Virginia.
Cooper: We have to figure out what we do best in this country. There are some types of commodities that come in and some jobs, they're not coming back. Like textiles, the clothes that most of you guys wear are made in other countries. Those jobs are not coming back.
Robb: What I think should be done, and this is very difficult, I think products should be looked at individually with respect to whether there is indeed fair trade, or whether slave labor, or polluting industries, or whether child labor is being dumped in the United States.
Barth had a great answer and I liked Robb a lot in 2006 and I think you can see from that answer his heart is in the right place. However he finished third in the primary that race and he just doesn't have the support. I'd rather he had run for state senate. Cooper sounds like someone who thinks we should just throw our hands up instead of come up with solutions.
Finn: At the end of the day, Democrats have one overriding question - who can actually beat Shelley Moore Capito, who has beaten back competitor after competitor for the past eight years. Barth says her experience running Senator Byrd's office in West Virginia gives her the edge.
Barth: People often say that Congresswoman Capito is a nice person, and that's true. But her policies are bad for our families. She came in with George Bush seven years ago and voted with him four out of
five times. Cozying up to George Bush and Dick Cheney may have worked as a strategy to help her own political career, but it has been a terrible strategy for helping West Virginians.
I liked Richie Robb when I was introduced to him in 2006. But when I went looking for a candidate to draft for the 2008 race, I didn't even consider him. The Democratic voters had already looked at him in his primary bid and soundly rejected him. He finished third of the three candidates. If he had done a better job in the primary, he might have been worth a second look. But he raised even less funds than the lackluster fundraiser Mike Callaghan.
If Robb was serious about running for West Virginia 02, he would have declared his intentions months ago. If he should decide to jump in now, there is not enough time for him to fundraise to be competitive nor is there time to introduce himself to voters across the district who did not know him.
My goal is to defeat Capito. If I thought Robb would have a chance of doing that, I would have sought Robb out. But all he can really do is be the Ralph Nader of WV-02 and possibly undermine efforts to remove her from office.
But if he wanted to be a viable candidate against an entrenched, corporate funded incumbent like her, he would have had to have entered months ago because even with her vulnerabilities, it's going to take a mighty effort to get her out of office. Jumping in at the filing deadline is not going to do it.
A few hours before the Iowa caucuses last night, Scott Saxton of WSAZ news in Charleston-Huntington made a post online that should get the attention of any Democrat in WV's Second Congressional District: http://www.wsaz.com/news/headl...
Richie Robb, retired South Charleston mayor and former Congressional candidate, seems to be getting things ready to run against retired state employee/citizens' advocate Thornton Cooper and State Senator John Unger in the May primary election. His presence will surely heat things up as Democrats and independents in the 2nd District decide whom they want as an opponent against incumbent Republican drone Shelley Moore Capito.
Rev. Jim Lewis has a good post on performing his community service at his blog, Fig Tree Notes:
You may recall, from my last Notes, that I was arrested for trespassing when I refused to leave my congresswoman's office because of her vote supporting the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq. For that, the judge gave me the choice of paying a $50 fine or doing a day's worth of community service. I chose community service.
One e-mail I received after my sentencing read: "I thought you did your community service by sitting in congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito's office." Perhaps, but the judge wanted more than a pound of flesh; he wanted my full weight.
For my community service I chose to work on a Charleston garbage truck. The job seemed fitting, considering the fact that my congresswoman has contributed to the mess in Iraq by having been joined at the hip with Mr. Bush's war policy.
I wonder if Sprouse still feels that way after Stirewalt posted this:
Sen. Vic Sprouse, R- Kanawha, was once considered one of the most electorally-secure Republicans in the West Virginia Legislature, having vanquished two of the best-funded, most ambitious members of the plaintiffs' bar in Charleston: former circuit judge, Supreme Court justice and congressional candidate Margaret Workman and former congressional candidate and multi-term delegate Mark Hunt.
But now that Sprouse's very public estrangement from his former wife has made it to every corner of the Internet universe through he and his former wife's blogs (here and here) Both blogs have largely moved on to other issues and developed large followings in their own right. But the stinging, highly personal online war between the feuding spouses left its political mark.
Sprouse opted not to seek another term as Senate minority leader this session and now his would-be replacements are already lining up.
Soon to be former South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb has already announced his candidacy for Sprouse's senate seat, but now another Democrat has, tentatively at least, gotten into the race. Charleston personal injury lawyer Roger Decanio has announced to his colleagues on the plaintiff's bar that he has filed pre-candidacy papers with the Secretary of State's Office.
Reader and Indians fan Don Surber thinks he can already make the call on Vic Sprouse's political future: "Vic is a dead man walking. No one will touch him after what he did to his third wife and his son. There are two sides to every story, but ditching a pregnant 24-year-old wife would require a story written by Shakespeare and edited by Homer to overcome -- especially when the baby is born with a bad medical condition."
Me: Maybe so. I don't know. It depends on whether anybody is willing to make political use of the sad story of the senator's marriage and disabled son. If enough voters know about it, it would sink him, but we in the media tend to overestimate the impact of such things.
We've always stayed away from such personal affairs in the past, but when right winger goes after right winger, we can't help but break out the popcorn.
Back to decent people. Steve Adams has a good post on State Police troopers being shuffled around:
The troopers in Pleasants and Wirt Counties were pulled out and ordered to report to Wood County a month ago. The theory behind the move was the SP could provide 24 hour coverage to all three counties. Wirt and Pleasants each had three troopers working eight-hour shifts, and sometimes a trooper was sick and would force the other two to cover.
Under the new plan, all troopers were to be centrally located in Wood County, with certain troopers assigned to take calls from Pleasants and Wirt Counties. There were three problems, if not more, with this plan.
Note to self -- we've got to fix the link in the sidebar to his blog and his new name for it, Feedback.
As social animals, we are born with the potential for obedience which then is influenced by our interactions with the larger society. Whatever moral or other inhibitions we have when acting independently become secondary when we are acting as a part of a larger unit:
Therefore when the individual is working on his own, conscience is brought into play. But when he functions in an organizational mode, directions that come from the higher-level component are not assessed against the internal standards of moral judgment.
People in this situation do not see themselves as acting on their own but rather as agents for another person's wishes.
Feel free to pimp your own blog posts or any other blog posts you think might be of interest.
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