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Wow! In the Martinsburg story Clem linked to below, there's this from the Mike Stuart anointed candidate
"I'm not a career politician. People hear that and clap," he said. "I've been in business my whole life and know what it takes to create jobs.
"In West Virginia, we haven't had a recession the last couple of years because we've been in a recession for the last 80 years. ... People understand that. That message is resonating."
Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and her daddy former Republican governor Arch Moore have been career politicians in West Virginia for a good part of those 80 years.
If Maloney has no love for the Capitos and Moores it seems to be a feeling that is shared:
Capito said her unscheduled appearance was fortunate timing.
"We finished up about 3 p.m. (in Congress). I was coming (to Martinsburg on Friday) and I thought, let's go out and get together with some folks for dinner. It just so happened that the party was having its executive committee and the candidate for governor, so it was good timing," Capito said.
Not quite a ringing endorsement of the GOP's gubernatorial candidate, is it?
As a way to duck the GOP infighting started by WV GOP chairman Mike Stuart, the WV Chamber of Commerce has endorsed both Maloney and Ireland. On the Democratic side, the group in a move that surprises no one endorsed Senate President acting as Governor Earl Ray Tomblin.
There's some interesting figures and names in the recent fund raising reporting, but here's one that I think needs highlighted:
Six candidates from the Democratic Party have raised nearly $2.6 million compared to eight Republicans raising $260,000.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant is fourth on the fund raising list among the Democrats and has raised nearly as much as all eight Republicans combined.
Perhaps if WV GOP Chairman Mike Stuart had not spent so much time tearing down the state's most popular Republican, Betty Ireland, she might have done better with her fund raising against Bill Maloney.
As Ireland and Tennant have shown before money isn't everything and their personal charisma and appeal have overcome being outraised in campaigns before.
But it is telling that quite a few Republican women are contributing to Tennant's campaign and after the way Stuart and others in the Republican Party in the state have ganged up and beaten up on Ireland, it would not surprise me to see even more Republican women cross party lines for the general election if Maloney is the party's nominee. Maybe Stuart thinks the Republican Party can win without women. That is an interesting strategy.
There has been a weird hypocrisy around Ireland from Republican men. The same Republican men who say Ireland is not anti-choice enough are the same ones who ignore that the pro-choice Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is endorsed and receives funds from the Republican version of pro-choice Emily's List.
Among the other candidates, Senate President Acting As Governor Earl Ray Tomblin topped the list, funded in large part by coal barons.
House Speaker Rick Thompson raised $666,643, making him second, but he also outraised Tomblin in the most recent quarter showing he has momentum. More importantly he keeps gaining union endorsements that will put volunteers on the streets and behind phones to GOTV for him.
Treasurer John Perdue was third with a respectable $595,000.
Tennant also made a strong showing with $216,500. As I mentioned before, those who count her out because she has not raised as much as the others should talk to Joe DeLong.
Acting Sen. President Jeff Kessler has raised $94,903, which does not seem a lot until you put it in context of what the two leading Republicans have raised.
West Virginia GOP Chairman Mike Stuart apparently needed some healing balm for all the self-inflicted burn he's been getting. Link:
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus has announced the appointment of West Virginia GOP Chairman Mike Stuart as Chairman of the RNC Standing Committee on Resolutions.
"I am delighted to have Mike Stuart serve as the next Chairman of the RNC Standing Committee on Resolutions," Priebus said. "His experience leading the West Virginia Republican Party and his longstanding dedication to our Party's conservative principles make him the best choice to serve in this key leadership post heading into such a critical election season for our country. (Emphasis mine)
Stuart has been leading the WV GOP since all the way back to 2010.
Some experience.
And let's look at that experience leading the West Virginia Republican Party
Stuart told Politico he was going to enter the gubernatorial race if a strong candidate did not appear AFTER Betty Ireland, the best polling Republican in the state, had announced and before other Republican candidates entered.
He issued a press release condemning legislation passed to give long needed pay raises to state employees AFTER 15 of his own party's House delegates had voted FOR that legislation.
He condemned Attorney General Darrell McGraw for not joining a federal lawsuit AFTER McGraw had all ready joined it.
Instead of building the party's credibility and standing in West Virginia, Stuart has been seen as working more to burnish his own resume and credentials for his own future run, not the sort of thing one expects to see in a party chairman.
So as a West Virginia Democrat, it's good to see Stuart taking on a new task for the RNC that will take away his time from party building and fund raising in West Virginia during not just one, but two election cycles with the special gubernatorial election this year and the races in 2012. But hey, it is yet one more thing to help Stuart make important connections that will benefit himself as a candidate some day. He's definitely following a "conservative principle" in that he's looking out just for himself.
I say with all sincerity, I hope Stuart does as good a job for the RNC as he has for the West Virginia GOP.
While Betty Ireland is the only announced Republican gubernatorial candidate, effectively avoiding the annual "What Will Shelley Moore Capito Run For?" charade, I keep seeing Facebook comments and emails saying the real GOP figure we should worry about running for office is WV GOP chairman Mike Stuart.
Stuart's got impressive credentials and the WV GOP biography makes him sound more like a candidate himself than a party chairman.
Mike, Katrina, Isabella and Audrey returned to West Virginia to begin the effort to fight for working folks, to rebuild West Virginia's economy, and to create an economic environment where future generations of West Virginians can reside and thrive.
Is Stuart using his position as WV GOP chairman to build his own political future and protect Capito's or that of other Republican candidates? It'll be interesting to watch, but it wouldn't be the first time that Shelley Moore Capito's supporters have maneuvered to block Ireland from becoming a potential Capito rival.
Here he is in Politico mulling a run for governor:
"The key is bold leadership. We need a GOP candidate that is not afraid to lead to build a better future for West Virginia," he said.
Stuart is in the middle of a reorganization of the state party and said he would want to meet with key business leaders before settling on a decision. But he could use the overhaul of the state party as a launching pad for a campaign.
"We will be releasing my vision plan for the state in February which will go a long way toward defining key goals we want to achieve for West Virginia through new leadership," he said. "The race must be about the future as well as a referendum by the people on whether they are satisfied with placeholders as opposed to transformative leadership."
Doesn't that mean that as WV GOP chairman, Stuart is already dismissing Ireland as a candidate who could offer that kind of leadership?
For years West Virginia rightwingers would tout Ireland's economic success as a formula for West Virginia to follow.
Here's one example from 2006 from Curtis Dubay at the rightwing group The Tax Foundation:
West Virginia should aim to be to the United States what Ireland is to Europe. Ireland lagged behind the rest of Europe for years, but 10 years ago it dramatically revamped its tax code with broad bases and low rates, and after only 10 years it is known as the Celtic Tiger.
Here's another from rightwing Bow Tie Boy at the rightwing State Journal:
Some have called it the Irish Miracle, while others, in a nod to the explosive economies of the Pacific Rim, refer to Ireland as the Celtic Tiger. But whatever you call it, while the rest of Europe is groaning under low growth rates, Ireland has been purring.
The reality of course is that the unfettered, unleashed capitalism that the Irish followed and that the rightwingers wanted for West Virginia has created this:
DUBLIN - Ireland's decision to accept a rescue package worth more than $100 billion prompted a call Monday for early elections and a warning from a major ratings agency that the bailout could prove to be a "credit negative" for the country.
European Union officials, who had been pushing Ireland to accept help, quickly agreed to the request late Sunday, committing a significant amount of money to an ailing member for the second time in six months. The total amount was not announced, but several officials said it would be 80 billion to 90 billion euros, or $109 billion to $123 billion. Last spring, Europe disbursed 110 billion euros to Greece to save it from default.
snip
But the Irish government has been sinking further and further into debt since its 2008 decision to protect its banks from all losses. The banking system had become so weakened that it could not afford to wait any longer for help.
Banks, which issued loans recklessly during the real estate boom, have losses of about 70 billion euros, almost half the country's economic output. A new set of bank stress tests will be imposed, and the number of banks will be pared down, officials said.
The rightwingers are always wrong. But they never pay the price. Everyone else does either in bailing out Wall Street or in the dead from George W. Bush's war in Iraq, but not them.
In 1960, American icon John Wayne supported the unsuccessful candidacy of Vice President Richard Nixon (R) who lost to U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy (D).
Here's what John Wayne said:
"I didn't vote for him but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."
Like the national GOP, the West Virginia Republicans would rather the nation failed than to allow Democrats to govern successfully. They drove the nation into a ditch but they don't want anyone to get it out.
No wonder Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel is always sending out emails begging for more contributions from GOP donors:
Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.
RNC trips to other cities produced bills from a long list of chic and costly hotels such as the Venetian and the M Resort in Las Vegas, and the W (for a total of $19,443) in Washington. A midwinter trip to Hawaii cost the RNC $43,828, not including airfare.
Steele himself declined numerous interview requests, though his defenders point out that luxurious accommodations are sometimes necessary to attract big-time donors, especially since Republicans remain in the minority in Washington.
A friend pointed out in an email that apparently the West Virginia Republican "thinktank" ran out of new ideas months ago. I'm not surprised. They didn't have any good ideas anyway.
It reminds me of the old campaign page of Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito listing her accomplishments in office. It was blank.
Paul Nyden of the Charleston Gazette has a better story on Senator Robert Byrd's health:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The health of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is improving, according to several of his staff members, but he remains in the hospital.
Mark Ferrell, who works in Byrd's Charleston office, said Friday, "From what I know, he continues to improve and has been telling family members and staff he wants to go home."
Larry Puccio, Gov. Joe Manchin's chief of staff, said Friday, "We understand he is doing better and certainly hope he continues to get well and goes back to work. We need him so badly in Washington.
"Sen. Byrd has such a veteran staff that continues to operate so well during his temporary absence, doing a very professional job," Puccio said.
The rightwing hate promoters in the media like Don Surber are eager to push Byrd out of office because they could never defeat him at the ballot box.
Senator Jay Rockefeller has been out longer with a knee injury yet you don't see the obsession with his health that you do with Byrd because this has nothing to do with his time missed. Byrd represents everything the Republicans are not: decent, powerful, and in the U.S. Senate.
Here's a dramatic interpretation of how the rightwing hate promoters like Surber and the Ghoulish Old Party politicians like Del. L'il Jonny Miller and Del. Troy Andes are behaving. No wonder the family doesn't want people to know which hospital Byrd is recovering. The Byrd haters would be there harassing him while at the same time showing their "concern."
Except Byrd isn't going any where. He's the king in that video skit riding by them. I hope Byrd recovers soon and serves his entire term and runs for re-election just to spite them.
Shame on Jake Stump, who usually is better than this. In a story today in the Daily Mail, Stump does a story on Senator Byrd's health.
Of the five people he quotes in the story, four are Republicans. Other than Gary Abernathy, the other three Republicans sound positively ghoulish. Note to Stump: of the two major political parties in West Virginia, only one is relevant and it certainly isn't the Republican Party.
Byrd's illness has prompted rumor mongering and even a false report of his death on WSAZ.com this morning.
What is wrong with some of you people in the old media - and unfortunately some in the new media on the Republican side of the blogosphere - and in political office that causes you to act so irresponsibly and with such a lack of grace and decorum?
Some in politics and the press mock the bloggers as being irresponsible and using foul language, but why is it taking a dirty hippy blogger like me to remind some of you to act with more respect and responsibility? I'm certain your mothers raised you to behave better than this. Shame on you ghouls.
West Virginia Republican Party executive director Gary Abernathy is leaving to return to Ohio.
Abernathy's hiring was controversial at the time; some within the party objected for a variety of reasons. But he weathered the initial storm and the controversy eventually died down.
Abernathy will also give up his popular political blog, The Republican Gazette, where he posted a video farewell message Wednesday.
"I need to make a clean break and let the Republican Party be on their way without me," Abernathy said. "That will be sad for some, and a celebration for others."
I must say it's sad for me as well. I've butted heads with Abernathy and I've learned from him. I've criticized him on policies he supports and I've defended him from scurrilous charges from within his own ranks. On Memorial Day we even posted a tribute on each of our respective blogs to our honored dead in a show of unity for the true meaning of the day.
Abernathy had an impossible task trying to rebuild a state party with a dearth of viable candidates. He also was constrained by the most radical rightwing core of the party from reaching out to moderates and independents to grow the ranks.
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