West Virginia Blue
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Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail traffic between Representative Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret and allowed Mr. Foley to remain head of a Congressional caucus on children's issues, Republican lawmakers said Saturday.
Capito was on the three-member Congressional committee to oversee the welfare of the pages.
* If you haven't voted yet, please vote on Tuesday. I urge everyone in West Virginia to vote a straight party Democratic Party ticket. In the congressional races, the choices are starkly clear. A Republican victory makes it that much harder for future progressive policy advocacy.
For example, if Raese wins the discourse shifts to arguments about whether whether climate change is real and if work place safety and environmental regulations should exist at all.
If Manchin wins, at least we're starting from a more rational place to fight our battles.
* This is one of those years when I really wished we had instant runoff voting. Instead of voting for the candidate whose views were closest to mine, I was stuck voting for the least worst option with a chance to win.
* If Joe Manchin pulls off a victory, one of the many people he can thank is Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. In a year when Republicans are picking up seats all over the country, the weak WV GOP bench is a major liability for WV GOP chances.
Since her election in 2000, Capito has worked hard to make sure she's the only viable state GOP candidate. Even in this election, with her best chance ever to welcome aboard fellow Republicans to the WV delegation in DC, Capito has been MIA. If Raese or McKinley squeak out a victory, it'll be no thanks to her.
* The most famous political science model for predicting US House election outcomes says the Republicans are expected (based on the economy and historic conditions like party in power) to win 45 seats. Nate Silver's current model estimates a Republican margin of 55 seats--not far off. As Atrios recently put it, "I think the ignored true narrative of this election season is that as horrible as the economy is, it's a miracle the Dems are seeming to do as well as they are and especially that Obama remains relatively popular." (We'll see on Wednesday is that's really true.)
The outcome of WV-01 will be one of the indications of how the national wind is blowing. I have no idea how it, or the composition of the House, will end up.
The only predictions I'm prepared to make for tomorrow are that Manchin, Capito, and Rahall will all win. No major changes will happen in the composition of the WV state house.
Whatever the election outcome, there's a rocky road ahead.
Dana Milbank of the WaPo notices what the left bloggers have been saying for years. I'm still surprised the pro-choice Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito wasn't primaried by a teabagger this cycle, but since she's helped undercut any potential GOP rivals over the years, perhaps it's not surprising.
Republican U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito always claimed she was independent and moderate, but as I've predicted she'll have to prove to the right wing extremists who now make up the Republican Party that she's one of them.
Now she's going to be touring with the GOP bus caravan across the state.
Will Capito call out her fellow Republican candidates on their past slurs and bigotry from the other Republicans? When they rail against "big government spending" from the economy saving stimulus program, is she going to point out she touts the stimulus funded projects in WV-02?
In order to help better acquaint readers who may be out of the news cycle, I have put together (to the best of my ability) a bit of a preview for the district congressional elections that will occur in the fall.
The primaries will be in early May, and there hasn't been a lot of buzz (at least to my knowledge) about them. I only found out a month or so ago that The first district was receiving a democrat to challenge.
So here we go
Let's start with the First Congressional DIstrict.
Current seatholder: Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
The long-time serving Democrat, Mollohan, first got elected into the house in 1983, meaning he has served roughly 27 years at this position. In 2008, Mollohan ran unopposed. Mollohan has seen his share of controversies, and will also see a democrat contending for his seat in the primary. This will be his first Democrat to challenge him since Harley Staggers Jr. in 1992.
Challenger: Michael Oliverio II
Oliverio has worked his way up from the bottom. He was elected student body president at WVU. Eventually, Oliverio ran for a seat in the house of delegates and was elected in 1993, and in 1995 assumed office in the West Virginia State Senate where he currently remains representing the 13th district.
Oliverio has had a tendency to focus hard on the national debt, and how to attend to and fix it.
It should be interesting to see how this one plays out, although I would predict a Mollohan victory given the difficulty of unseating a 14 term incumbent.
Other Challengers on the republican side include Mac Warner, Cindy Hall, Tom Stark, Sarah Minear, David McKinley, and Patricia Levenson. Further information will be provided in the coming months.
WV Second Congressional District
Current Seatholder: Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Captio is the daughter of the infamous Arch Moore Jr. and has held the seat since 2001. She was elected after Former Governor Bob Wise vacated the seat for the governor position She is the only Republican Congressional representative for the state and she intends to keep her seat. Capito is running for re-election during a good time for Republicans, polls show democrats are favored to lose more than they gain this November. She is considered safe in her district. Last time around, Capito won by a comfortable margin against Byrd state director Anne Barth.
Challenger: Virginia Graf
35 year veteran as an educator who has served as a school principal and is focused on improving education in the district. Graf is very active in volunteerism and political organizations throughout her community. Graf has a steep hill to climb if she wants to take this seat. Democrats are not the most popular delegation, she is facing an incumbent Republican, and the district is considered safe for Capito.
WV Third Congressional District
Current Seatholder: Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Rahall is heading into his 33rd year in the House, being elected in 1977. He succeeded Ken Hechler when he ran for governor. Rahall and his district are considered by CQ Politics to be a safe democrats, and him being a 33 year incumbent will very much improve his chances.
Challenger:
Rahall could be facing opposition from any of the following
Bruce Barilla (D)
America's Christian Heritage Week Founder & Hotel Worker
Lee Bias (R)
Nurse Anesthetist
Marty Gearheart (R)
Sign Company Sales Executive, Ex-Teacher
Of course Insurance Rep.Shelley Moore Capito won't criticize a Republican. Her faux "civility caucus" was never about creating a civil atmosphere from debate, but just a way for her to be incivil while allowing her to pretend otherwise. Sort of like how she pretends to be opposed to abortion one day and pro-choice the next day, depending on her audience.
Of course Capito voted how the insurance companies told her to vote. They want to cut off people with pre-existing conditions and deny coverage of the sick. The insurance industry has given Capito more than $930,800 in campaign contributions over the years. Nearly 20 percent of Capito's constiuents currently have no health insurance and the vast majority of them will benefit from this healthcare reform measure. But those people don't write her big campaign contributions so there's no sense in expecting her to look out for their interests.
Pelosi, in an e-mail from spokesman Nadeam Elshami, pointed out Thursday that the legislation gave 282,000 of Minority Whip Eric Cantor's constituents tax cuts, in addition to providing tax breaks to Republican Reps. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Scott Garrett of New Jersey and Tom Rooney of Florida.
and:
Pelosi on Wednesday pointed out that Republicans have been to "ribbon cuttings" related to stimulus projects.
As this site and others have pointed out, Capito has tried to take credit for projects funded by the same recovery act that she opposed in lockstep with the House GOP.
I was listening to a national radio show this morning (I think it was Marketplace Morning Report but I'm not sure) and Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) was on talking about the 1000 jobs in the Toyota plant near Charleston, many of them "her constituents" and "people she's met."
She went on to say while she's certainly concerned about those jobs, she's more concerned about the safety of her constituents that drive Toyotas on snowy hilly roads. She wants to know Toyota has a safe product.
I think it's great that Capito is embracing the role of government regulation and oversight to ensure that consumers are protected from corporate greed that leads to injury or death. This certainly is a legitimate role for government regulation.
Now, after over a decade in public office with mounting evidence of the detrimental effects of processing and burning coal, and mining coal, when will Capito's concern for her constituents extend to exposure from those hazards?
Surely, Shelley, that's an equally legitimate place for sound government oversight, right?
First, it calls for big cuts in Social Security benefits for everyone currently under 55 years of age. On top of the cuts it also calls for privatizing Social Security.
Basically the exact plan President Bush tried in 2005. Next, it calls for the full privatization and phasing out of Medicare. It'll be replaced by a system of vouchers in which instead of getting Medicare you get a voucher to buy un-reformed private insurance.
Weirdly, with all that, the draft GOP budget doesn't get the federal budget into surplus until sometime after 2060, which seems like a pretty long time. But isn't this sort of a big deal? House Republicans are poised to run in 2010 on slashing or abolishing the two most popular federal government programs -- Social Security and Medicare.
You may remember that Capito brought President Bush to West Virginia to talk up his Social Security privatization plan, so presumably she'll be on board with that.
Really though, someone ought to ask Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) what she thinks of her party's budget. And, if she's not for it, what is her plan for reducing the deficit?
The field for the West Virginia Representatives to the U.S. House is complete. Here's the candidates who have filed for office in each of the three district races.
The Candidates
WV-01
Alan B. Mollohan (Democrat) from Fairmont, Marion County
Mike Oliverio (Democrat) from Morgantown, Monongalia County
Cindy Hall (Republican) from Wheeling, Ohio County
Patricia VanGilder Levenson (Republican) from Wheeling, Ohio County
David B. McKinley (Republican) from Wheeling, Ohio County
Sarah Minear (Republican) from Morgantown, Monongalia County
Thomas Stark (Republican) from Parkersburg, Wood County
Mac Warner (Republican) from Morgantown, Monongalia County
WV-02
Virginia Lynch Graf (Democrat) from Charles Town, Jefferson County
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican) from Charleston, Kanawha County
WV-03
Bruce Barilla (Democrat) from Bluefield, Greenbrier County
Nick Joe Rahall II (Democrat) from Beckley, Raleigh County
Lee A. Bias (Republican) from Barboursville, Cabell County
Marty Gearheart (Republican) from Bluefield, Mercer County
Conrad G. Lucas II (Republican) from Huntington, Cabell County
Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard (Republican) from Williamson, Mingo County
What to expect
WV-01 While six different Republicans bloody each other up to face the incumbent Alan Mollohan he'll have, on paper at least, just as tough a challenger in the Democratic primary. The primary challenge from the conservative Democrat Oliverio may be a blessing in disguise for Mollohan if it brings out Mollohan supporters early and awakens a campaign apparatus that was dormant when he ran unopposed two years ago. The national GOP want WV-01 to be a high profile race, but with the recent clearing of Mollohan of any criminal wrong-doing in a long-simmering FBI probe, Mollohan can now focus on building up a war chest. Rep. Mollohan may have to campaign harder than usual, but with the advantages of incumbency he should have no returning for another term.
WV-02 After facing a well-supported and well-financed challenge by DCCC-recruited strong challenge by DCCC-supported* candidate Anne Barth in 2008, Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is breathing a major sigh of relief this year. The DCCC and state Democrat party was unable to recruit any high profile candidates for this race. Democrats are lucky that grassroots activist Graf has stepped up to challenge Capito, so the seat remains contested. Graf benefits from no primary challenge so can immediately focus on Capito and a general election campaign. Capito has 'bought a landslide' two cycles in a row, Graf can only hope Capito is complacent and gets caught by surprise if the Graf campaign catches fire.
* Updated: In my haste earlier, I may have left the wrong impression. To clarify: Anne Barth was well supported by the DCCC once she entered the race; State Sen. John Unger was the original DCCC-recruited candidate up until he unexpectedly dropped out just prior to the filing deadline. Also, although Anne Barth did well with fund-raising, she was still out-spent by Rep. Capito by around 3:1.
WV-03 Incumbent Democratic Nick Rahall will have no problem dispatching Barilla in the primary. Former Democrat Spike Maynard is widely expected to be well funded by Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship and prevail in the Republican primary field. A Rahall vs. Maynard general election will almost certainly be a hugely negative, substance free affair. This race will draw national interest--after all, can you think of any other congressional candidates who have inspired Grisham novels? In the end, the interest will benefit Rep. Rahall's fund-raising and he'll be returned for yet another term.
Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is expected to cruise to an easy victory in 2010. Despite an occasional rumbling over the past year, the DCCC has been unable to recruit a high profile candidate. So far, two Democratic challengers have filed pre-candidacy papers to run for West Virginia's second congressional district.
One of them, Virginia Lynch Graf, introduced herself to voters this week with an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette, Why I'm running for Congress. Here's a good portion of the article:
Over the last nine years, I became drawn to politics because I saw a downward pull in the way government was operating. Deregulation of the financial markets, allowing corporate lobbyists to write political policy and politicians angling over power impelled me to become a better-educated citizen.
[snip]
Why run for Congress in 2010? My passion for turning the government again toward its course of representing people motivates me. Although in our history we have never achieved a perfect democratic republic, we have consistently strived for it.
Why now? In West Virginia, and across America, there is a lack of credibility from those we elect to act for the common good. Devotion to protecting people has been replaced by devotion to political parties.
[snip]
My opponent, Shelley Moore Capito, is one of those obstructionists. She sends out materials about health-care reform filled with simple platitudes and misinformation.
Health-care reform is just one issue in a pattern of choosing corporate interests over citizens' concerns. Corporations who seek tax shelters and government subsidies despite locating overseas and exporting American jobs are a blatant affront to our citizens.
My opponent, and other like-minded politicians, take our people to the laundry with their opposition to corporate controls. Rep. Capito voted against the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act aimed at overhauling financial services regulations and placing new controls on institutions deemed to pose a risk to the entire financial system. She voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay for Equal Work, against Helping Families Save Their Homes, and against Pay for Performance Act, which highlights corporate accountability and executive compensation. She voted against veterans' care, clean energy and security, student aid, fiscal responsibility and against a stimulus package aimed at putting people to work.
To constantly favor wealth diminishes opportunities for ordinary citizens to earn decent wages, to receive quality education, and to take care of the health and well-being of their families.
Critical thinking in America is becoming a lost art. TV ads, talk-show hosts and politicians take advantage of the time constraints most Americans have as they work and raise their families. A bombardment of lies, half truths and fear-mongering has replaced honesty. Those engaged in preying on trusting Americans in this manner have become extraordinarily wealthy.
While America is still ranked No. 1 in innovation and entrepreneurship, we see lending institutions strangle that gleaming light offered by small business as they withhold needed funding. Job opportunities are being exported to countries with low labor costs. Just like with the steel industry, manufacturing jobs are almost gone. Political office is fast becoming the domain of the wealthy, who turn their offices into financial feeding grounds.
Graf is hitting many of the same themes we've been "critiquing" Rep. Capito on for years. Here's hoping that Graf has the energy, persistence and resources to get this message out to enough voters to gain traction in the voting booth.
Another email received. More translation needed. Happy to oblige.
Before health care took center stage this week, I had the opportunity to visit Inwood, W.Va., to discuss a high-priority transportation project in Berkeley County.
Remember how wonderful it was when I had a field hearing here in August 2008 about low-income housing and I got the Chair Rep. Waters (D-CA) to come to the Eastern Panhandle right before the election? That was good, right?
I was pleased to welcome my colleague Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., - the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee - for a roundtable discussion with local transportation and economic development officials.
Now you won't remember, I mean, you can't possibly hold it against him or me, he is just another Republican and not the Chairman.
Monday's roundtable was particularly important in the effort to build support for addressing the congested intersection at Route 11 and Route 51.
I mean, I don't say the R word very much. That should be something, right? He took credit for projects from the stimulus money but had voted against it. Oh, you noticed? Never mind.
I'm hopeful to see this important project, among others, funded when Congress reauthorizes the highway bill within the next year.
But you won't remember how I voted on the Transportation Appropriations, right? You already bookmarked it? Oh, never mind.
If influence and political clout were given for hypocrisy, double talking Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito would be a champion legislator instead of a perennial no-name back bencher on Capitol Hill.
The DCCC has unveiled the latest entries into the House Republicans Hypocrisy Hall of Fame, which has now grown to 67 Members. These Republicans have been caught trying to celebrate the benefits of projects they opposed in President Obama's recovery bill, the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and the Omnibus Public Land Management Act.
"With the economy showing early signs of recovery, it's no wonder that more and more House Republicans are scrambling to take credit for the benefits they opposed," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Times are tough. Hardworking Americans need solutions, not more hypocrisy from the Republican Party of No."
House Republicans Hypocrisy Hall of Fame:
* Representative Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) - "Capito informed the group that roughly $1.5 million in neighborhood stabilization funds have been made available to West Virginia, and she said the situation that many are facing in the current financial times is heartwrenching. 'It's just breaks your heart,' Capito said." [The Journal; 3/10/09]
Yeah, so heart breaking she voted against the needed relief to help her constituents although she's happy to claim credit for it.
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One of them, Virginia Lynch Graf, introduced herself to voters this week with an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette, 
