As stated here before, the only serious knock on the West Virginia Republican Convention is the lack of total GOP voter participation in the process. Unless counties are holding a county convention in January, the only way for GOP voters to cast ballots for delegates to the state convention is via online voting in January, and they had to sign up by Nov. 30 to do that.
Here's a look at how many voters signed up county by county, compared to registered GOP voters per county, and whether that county is holding a convention. There are some voters listed more than once on the list provided to campaigns by convention organizers. Some who signed up to vote may be disqualified if they are found not to be legal voters.
Some counties have as few as one voter signed up, and no convention planned. It appears, according to the list, that Ritchie County has no voters signed up to vote online, and no convention planned, so it is unknown how delegates will advance from Ritchie since the rules say at-large delegate candidates must receive at least one vote.

County     GOP voters   Online voters*    Convention?

BARBOUR         3,364         7      Yes

BERKELEY        22,703     153   Yes

BOONE              2,091       12     Yes

BRAXTON          1,557          4       No

BROOKE           3,683         17     No

CABELL            18,559      184     No

CALHOUN           1,223         5       No

CLAY                  1,270         8       No

DODDRIDGE       2,626          4      No

FAYETTE           4,497          50     Yes

GILMER                918           1      No

GRANT               5,068            7     No

GREENBRIER     6,319          45    No

HAMPSHIRE       4,213           27    No

HANCOCK           5,260         22    Yes

HARDY                2,072          73     No

HARRISON         11,778        83     Yes

JACKSON             8,466       44       No

JEFFERSON         9,975       60     Yes

KANAWHA            37,409   343      No

LEWIS                  3,484        10      Yes

LINCOLN              3,392         11      No

LOGAN                 2,246        26      No

MARION               9,339          33     Yes

MARSHALL          6,784          26      No

MASON                5,907         21      No

MCDOWELL         1,256          1       No

MERCER               8,946       49       No

MINERAL             7,289         15       Yes

MINGO                 1,706          1        No

MONONGALIA      14,309               119     Yes

MONROE                3,157      10        No

MORGAN               4,699        13      Yes

NICHOLAS              3,698      16      Yes

OHIO                       10,149    75       Yes

PENDLETON           1,525      24        No

PLEASANTS           1,680      7         Yes

POCAHONTAS        1,669       10       No

PRESTON                8,104      28       No

PUTNAM                 13,857   108     No

RALEIGH                 13,416      99      No

RANDOLPH              3,644       37      No

RITCHIE                   3,732       0       No

ROANE                     3,344       5       No

SUMMERS               1,742        8      No

TAYLOR                   2,941        7       No

TUCKER                   1,569       2      Yes

TYLER                      2,981      27      Yes

UPSHUR                    6,854    13      Yes

WAYNE                     6,641      47       No

WEBSTER                    697      5        No

WETZEL                    2,646      32      No

WIRT                         1,415       3      Yes

WOOD                      21,822     141     Yes

WYOMING                 3,279         4      No

Total                        342,970   2,182

* Vote totals are unofficial until convention officials verify the legality of each voter who signed up to vote online.
All legally registered Republicans who reside in counties holding conventions are eligible to show up at the convention locations and participate in the voting for delegates to the state convention on Feb. 5, 2008, at the Civic Center in Charleston.
For a list of dates and locations of county conventions, visit the convention website at www.wvgopconvention.com.
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New for 2007-08
RepublicanGazette
  Sunday, December 23, 2007    "When news breaks, we fix it"   Published daily except some days
Submissions welcome
  The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included. Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.
All opinions are those of The Republican Gazette and its editor, Gary Abernathy, except letters or commentary signed by others, and do not reflect the views of anyone else, including clients of Abernathy Strategies.
Just published -- Sen. Russ Weeks tells the behind- the-scenes story of one man's fight for the truth! 
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Unions look for GOP ringer for court
Union and trial lawyer powers within the Democrat Party are looking for a registered Republican to run for the state Supreme Court in an effort to affect the ultimate outcome of the race next year, and a woman who filled that same role in 2004 will possibly to do so again.
Linda Rice, a Huntington trial lawyer who ran in the 2004 primary against Brent Benjamin, is rumored to be considering running again, sources say.
While the Democrats have a crowded field of five candidates for the two positions to be elected this year, only Beth Walker has filed on the GOP side -- a strategy many Republicans believe offers the best chance of another GOP pickup next November.
In West Virginia, Supreme Court candidates do not run for particular seats. Instead, when there are two to be elected, as in 2008, the top two vote getters are the winners. 
On the Democrat side, union interests are hoping that Menis Ketchum and Margaret Workman emerge as the winners of the Democrat primary. If Walker is the sole GOP candidate, they fear she is likely to win one of the two spots next November. But if they can field another GOP candidate, like Rice, they believe having two Republicans on the ballot next November could sufficiently dilute the Republican and other anti-union votes enough to ensure Ketchum and Workman's election.
Of course, Ketchum and Workman have to come out ahead of Democrat Spike Maynard in the
Candidate who played that role in 2004 said to consider another run
primary -- no small feat.
While Ketchum himself, and some in the media, have portrayed him as a "centrist," the unions and trial lawyers clearly see him as one of their own.
In 2004, with only one to be elected, Brent Benjamin was the party-backed candidate for the high court. But at the time, business interests were backing Democrat Jim Rowe as the candidate to beat Warren McGraw in the Democrat primary election, and payed little attention to Benjamin. Nevertheless, Rice, an unknown in GOP circles who had previously supported McGraw, was reportedly urged to run by unions and trial lawyers in the hope that she might topple the unknown Benjamin on the GOP side, allowing union interests to hedge their bets.
That move prompted the state Republican Party to take the unusual step of buying radio ads in the primary promoting Benjamin as the endorsed GOP candidate. Benjamin eventually won the GOP primary over Rice by 6,162 votes out of the 97,656 cast. Rowe lost the Democrat primary to McGraw, prompting the business community to regroup and setting up Benjamin's historic win over McGraw that November.
The union and trial lawyer interests see 2008 as a crucial election, understanding that if the GOP makes another pickup, coupled with a Maynard reelection, it will likely spell doom for years to come for their hopes of keeping the West Virginia Supreme Court one of the most activist and tort-friendly courts in the nation.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Fred vaults into solid third in latest survey in Iowa caucus
FRED THOMPSON
Catching up on the news

Commentary on news over the last few days in West Virginia...

Manchin: Blankenship has economic interests of West Virginians at heart
The most interesting thing about the settlement between Gov. Joe Manchin and Don Blankenship in Blankenship's lawsuit against the gov was Mojo's joint statement with The Don that “Although they may have dynamic differences of opinion on particular issues, they fully recognize and support the benefits of an energetic exchange of views. Importantly, both Governor Manchin and Mr. Blankenship have the economic interests of West Virginians at heart.” Nice of Mojo to admit that.
The settlement statement also saw the gov expressing "regret" for making remarks that "could be reasonably construed as a threat.”
The incident stemmed from comments Manchin made after his pension bond issue was defeated in 2005 at the hands of a campaign funded by Blankenship. The governor said Blankenship and Massey Energy should expect more governmental scrutiny since the Massey CEO had decided to become so politically involved.

Does gov's daughter have MBA? Who cares? The rest of the story is the most interesting stuff
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported recently on the possibility that Heather Bresch, daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin, may not have earned a degree awarded to her now by West Virginia University.
My take is, who cares? It's not like anything's going to happen, such as Ms. Bresch losing her job with Mylan Industries, or an outbreak of outrage among West Virginians over the cozy relationships detailed by the story.
Indeed, the most interesting thing about the Post-Gazette story is the comprehensive manner in which it spells out the intricate ties between Mylan, WVU, new WVU President Mike Garrison, Gov. Joe Manchin, and a host of other players combining to create the most incestuous relationships since Jerry Lee Lewis' first marriage. But it's old news, most of it brought out during the Garrison hiring fiasco, and nobody cares. Still, you really need to take some time and read the story.

Anger toward Rodriguez just a reminder of what's wrong in WV
The overreaction of many West Virginians to Rich Rodriguez' departure for Michigan does somewhat demonstrate the mindset that prevents the state from making the changes necessary to improve its whole economic picture.
Some West Virginians, even in government, seem to believe that the privilege of working in West Virginia should be enough reward unto itself, and the lure of greater financial reward or a more prestigious job out of state should be trumped by the mere pleasure of living in the Mountain State.
West Virginia is a wonderful place to live (because of its people, not its policies), but you only get one life, and there are no do-overs.
This same mindset seems to permeate state government in general. The additional taxes or government mandates that businesses face for the privilege of doing business in West Virginia are defended sometimes by politicians because, well, businesses should be happy for the privilege of doing business in West Virginia.
The reality, of course, is that businesses will locate where the climate and incentives are conducive to the greatest rewards. When it comes to college football, it's hard to top Michigan in terms of climate and incentives.
When Bob Huggins came to WVU, no one in West Virginia complained about the fact that he had just a year earlier made a multi-year commitment to Kansas. Huggins broke that commitment and came to WVU because it fit his personal goals.
Rodriguez has done the same, but is villified for it, because, geesh, he was supposed to just love West Virginia enough to stay here no matter what.
Thousands of ex-West Virginians who have left here would have preferred to stay, live and work in West Virginia. But until West Virginia's economic climate is better than, or at least equal to, other states, people will follow their economic needs, and what's best for their families, over their hearts. Rodriguez was certainly much better compensated at WVU than the average West Virginian, but the Michigan job was both more prestigious and even better paying.
A change in government policies may not have kept Rodriguez in Blue and Gold country, but it would make the difference for most people who, on a smaller scale, can relate to the lure of better opportunities elsewhere.
GOP online convention voters county by county
GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson has vaulted into a solid third place in Iowa, according to polling by Strategic Vision.
Thompson now registers a strong 16% of the vote in Iowa, well ahead of John McCain, Rudy Giuliani
and others. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney continue to lead in Iowa, but their numbers have fallen from their high water marks just a few days ago.
You can read the details of the Strategic Vision poll here.