West Virginia Blue
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Some of the biggest donors to the West Virginia Republican Party have ties to the coal industry or businesses that are involved in the coal industry.
The largest single donor to the West Virginia Republican Party is Don Blankenship. Mr. Blankenship gave $100,000 in corporate cash in 2000 to purchase a headquarters for the State Party. A portion of that money is now being used to make the rental payment on the State Party building for the executive director and staff.
Other large donors like James "Buck" Harless, Andrew Jordan, Steve Walker, and Pat and Mike Graney have made most of their money in the coal and energy business. These gentlemen and their businesses have a stake in the outcome of the coal and energy debate.
Democrats accusing the opposition of selling out? No, Roman Stauffer at West Virginia Red complaining that the Republican Party and elected officials took the money and aren't delivering the goods to support Big Coal.
And we learn that although the site "welcome[s] diverse viewpoints - partisan or non-partisan" Stauffer had
instructed West Virginia Red writers and contributors to not write about the condition of the West Virginia Republican Party
Hurrah for the community here, which is free to speak and concerned about the people of West Virginia, not the party as an end in itself, selling its support to the highest bidder.
The Eastern Panhandle weekly, Morgan Messenger, succinctly summarizes "the fiasco" that was the W.Va. Republican Presidential nominating convention in "GOP leaders should ditch the convention" (2/13/2008).
Last week's first Republican State Presidential Convention was such a fiasco that we hope it will be the last. West Virginia's GOP leaders should give the presidential nomination process back to the people.
After hearing TV reports that Mountain State Republicans were choosing a presidential candidate as part of "Super Tuesday," several people called The Morgan Messenger office to ask where to vote and why they'd never heard about it.'
Truth is, only Republican activists really knew what was going on.
[snip]
So, it's no surprise that fewer than 20 Republicans showed up for the Morgan County caucus on January 5. They elected delegates who went to Charleston on February 5 and helped to select 18 of the state's 30 Republican presidential delegates. The Morgan County group of 14 included uncommitted folks as well as those who committed last month to John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Ron Paul.
On the first ballot in Charleston, there was no clearcut winner but it looked like Romney might swing the winner-take-all convention. Word went out from the back room that McCain people should vote for Huckabee to prevent a Romney victory. The vote of the Morgan County group then became 12 for Huckabee and two for Romney. Statewide, the total was Huckabee, 567 and Romney, 521. Twelve steadfast souls stuck with McCain.
The whole horsetrading show alienated many people. Rank-and-file Republicans never got to cast a ballot and yet 60% of the state's presidential delegates were given away before the primary election. Also ignored were the independent voters that the GOP needs to win elections in Morgan County and in Democrat-heavy West Virginia. Nor did playing a tiny role in Super Tuesday do much for the state's political clout or image.
Whoever came up with this convention nonsense shouldn't be crowing. They should be eating crow.
In a move that may well be too clever by half, the West Virginia GOP decided to hold a nominating convention on Super Tuesday (Feb. 5, 2008) this cycle. Their thinking is more people will pay attention to them if there are some (but not all?) of the delegates at stake earlier in the process. [For some reason they still want to stick W.Va. tax-payers with a bill for a primary later in the year, too. So much for Republicans as the W.Va. party of fiscal responsibility.]
The deadline for registering as a GOP convention delegate is this Friday. The W.Va. GOP plan was to have so many delegate registrations they'd need county-level mini-conventions to vote on delegates through-out early January before their big convention on Feb. 5. It would be a great plan if, well, there was any Republican presidential candidates who actually excited Republican voters.
Back to the convention plans. They want to have 1,446 party members attend as delegates -- all in order to select 18 of the 30 votes for the Republican nominating convention.
So, how's that process going so far? The Charleston Gazette has the details.
Facing a Friday deadline, West Virginia Republicans have more than 1,100 delegate slots to fill - just over three-fourths of the total - for their ambitious Feb. 5 presidential candidate nominating convention.
Fred Thompson has 55 delegates who intend to support the actor and former Tennessee senator at the "Tsunami Tuesday" event. That's the most so far of any White House hopeful, according to the latest roster posted online Friday.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney follows with 49 delegates wishing to represent him. Ron Paul of Texas has 38. The Texas congressman is edging out former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his 37 committed delegates.
Three of the other presidential candidates registered with the convention - Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter and John McCain - each has at least one delegate. The remaining two, Alan Keyes and Gene Zarwell, have none yet.
Another 148 delegates aren't backing any candidate, giving each GOP contender a chance to win them over at the convention. Organizers hope that will help lure the candidates to the Charleston Civic Center on Feb. 5, when 20 other states are holding caucuses or primaries.
However, organizers have also planned for 1,446 party members to attend the convention as delegates. Only 344 have registered since Nov. 1.
The nominating process provides an illuminating window into which candidates are generating the most interest in the state -- among Republican "notables" and grass-roots activists:
Both Thompson and Romney have two state party officers and two county GOP chairmen among their Feb. 5 convention delegates. However, Thompson also has 11 legislators, while Romney has one.
Among the notable Republican Party figures committed to candidates:
- Thompson: Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer; House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha; former Congressman Mick Staton.
- Romney: National Committeewoman Donna Gosney; state school board Vice President Priscilla Haden; former state Supreme Court Justice John McCuskey; Sue McKinney, Harrison County GOP chairwoman and wife of the state chairman.
- Giuliani: Wood County Commission President Rick Modesitt; Sens. Frank Deem of Wood County and Vic Sprouse of Kanawha.
- McCain: Mason County Commissioner Miles Epling; Fayette County GOP Chairman Gary Lilly; former lawmaker and veteran lobbyist Larry Swann.
- Huckabee: Ashley Stinnett, head of the state's Federation of Young Republicans.
- Hunter: Marion County GOP Chairman Andrew Sabak.
- Paul's roster, meanwhile, suggests a more grass-roots appeal; 35 of his 38 delegates are at-large.
The advertisements with a Sprouse endorsement of Giuliani practically write themselves, don't they? The public record of their private lives do show a striking similarity in the "family values" department.
More telling, among Republican presidential candidates only Ron Paul is generating any grassroots excitement in West Virginia. Wouldn't it be ironic if the story coming out of the West Virginia GOP "attempt to be relevant on Super Tuesday" is a surprisingly good Ron Paul showing?
Not to worry, the WV GOP has a plan to make sure that won't happen. There's no way all those empty seats will be filled between now and Friday. Instead, in the very least democratic process possible...
County party committees will have a chance to fill empty delegate spots after the Nov. 30 deadline. State GOP Chairman Doug McKinney can later pick people for seats left unfilled by the county committees.
So, there you have it. Barring an unlikely surge of grass roots interest in the Republican nominating convention between now and Friday, November 30, the candidate receiving over half of the W.Va. support for the Republican presidential nomination will be picked by Republican party officials.
The West Virginia Republican Party has some serious issues. In an election cycle when the GOP brand is turning toxic, they're struggling mightily.
They're faced with a difficult question: when the face of your party for 8 years is leaving office with a 29% approval rating, when there is a constant drip-drip-drip of scandals coming out of Washington, and when there is such a lackluster field of Republican Presidential candidates, where do you turn?
Which Republican party?
For years the Republican party has been an uneasy alliance of values voters and corporate business interests.
Alas, for Republicans, many in business are no long comfortable with this alliance. During George Bush's tenure as President he's eroded traditional Republican support among corporate and business leaders:
(1) They feel the Republican party has become too beholden to values voters. Too much emphasis has been placed on social issues that are of no interest to businesses or, in some cases, antagonistic to business interests.
(2) They feel the Republican party has ignored the issues that are important to business interests.
Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don't share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries.
A fundamental flaw of putting conservatives in charge of running the government is they are fundamentally incompetent at running government--they simply do not believe government is capable of providing good to people.
The West Virginia Response
Facing the internal schism between values voters and business interests, the West Virginia GOP has made its decision: it's going with business interests.
W.Va. GOP Chairman Doug McKinney
From the W.V. GOP website (emphasis in the original):
Much comment has been made in the press of my recent comments concerning the direction of the Party - some questioning but some very favorable. Thanks Wheeling Intelligencer and Charleston Daily Mail.
The focus of the 2008 election in West Virginia will be the economy and our Party will practice what we preach by streamlining our organization. More money for programs and less for personnel.
We're Republicans for a Reason - Strong National Security, Lower Taxes, Less Government Regulation and More Personal Responsibility. This will continue to be the focus of the WVGOP.
State Republicans have talked enough about moral issues, and will "unleash capitalism" in 2008, said West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Douglas McKinney.
[snip]
"'Unleashing capitalism' will be our party platform next year," McKinney said. "Our philosophy will be, 'It's the economy, Stupid.'
"We've spent too much time in recent years on gun control and abortion. The Democrats are picking up on that now, and this will be something that separates us."
Nothing about traditional family values. Nothing about abortion, sanctity of marriage, or moral values. It's all "the economy" all the time.
The Price to Pay
Are evangelicals going to sit idly by and watch everything they've fought for going by the wayside? Are they going to let their political power slip away easily? Of course not. They're going to fight for the soul of the Republican party, even if it means losing an election.
Rev. James Dobson penned an op-ed in yesterday's New York Times summarizing a recent meeting of evangelical leaders. TMP Media summarizes the event and the op-ed:
Recently it was reported that around 50 pro-family leaders gathered behind closed doors to discuss what to do if a pro-choice politician -- read: Rudy -- won the GOP nomination. The reports were a bit vague as to what happened, suggesting that the group said they would "consider" nominating a third-party challenger.
Now, however, one of those leaders, Focus on the Family head James Dobson, has published an Op ed piece in The New York Times clarifying exactly what happened: The group voted almost unanimously not just to "consider" backing such a challenger, but to definitely do so. In other words, Dobson made it official, saying that if a pro-choicer wins the GOP nomination, these leaders will be going third party. Dobson wrote:
After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous.
That's pretty definitive. The group also discussed the possibility of creating a third party themselves, though there was no consensus on that question. Still, according to Dobson, they will almost unanimously endorse a third-party challenger. This could obviously have a major impact on the race by splitting the GOP vote.
Back in West Virginia
Here is West Virginia Doug McKinney claims: "Being Pro-Life and against gun control are innate parts of the Republican persona." That's odd, his most prominent candidate in 2008, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02), has been a member of the pro-choice caucus. How does he square that circle?
It's clear the West Virginia Republican party has made a choice between values voters and business interests. W.Va. GOP Chairman Doug McKinney has tossed evangelicals out the window.
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