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Abernathy Strategies
RepublicanGazette
Friday, March 21, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Published daily except some days
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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.
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Does McCain need to choose a black VP to offset Barack Obama?
History shows that black GOP candidates don't fare much better with black voters than white candidates, but there is a scenario that might be different
A rash of emails and conversations among state Republicans have centered on whether GOP presidential nominee John McCain should consider selecting a black person as his running mate, to offset the black vote of Barack Obama should he capture the Democrat nomination.Names being bandied about include such luminous black Republicans as Michael Steele, J.C. Watts, Ken Blackwell and Condoleeza Rice. Sadly, modern history shows that black Republican candidates do not tend to attract many more black votes than white Republicans. Too large of a segment of black voters have bought into the notion that only the Democrat Party feels their pain, and that black Republicans are little more than turncoats.Two years ago, Ken Blackwell, a well known and highly regarded black man who was coming off eight years as Ohio's Secretary of State, ran as a Republican for Ohio governor, against Democrat congressman Ted Strickland, who is white. Where did the black vote go? To Strickland, by a margin of about 80%-20%.And yet....I was discussing this subject Thursday afternoon with Del. Craig Blair, who was suggesting that Condoleeza Rice would be an ideal running mate for McCain. Craig and I were agreeing that if Hillary is seen as "stealing" the nomination from Barack, it could cause a real backlash in the black community.If that happens, having a black VP nominee on the GOP ticket might actually draw a much higher percentage of black votes than would typically support a Republican ticket. Of course, that would be negated by Hillary asking Barack to fill the VP spot on her own ticket.But Hillary would only do that if she truly is a political idiot, which she is not. In regard to the McCain choice for VP, it has also been interesting to talk with various supporters of former Republican candidates about their ideas. Mike Huckabee supporters insist that by choosing Huckabee, McCain could really bring conservatives on board.Meanwhile, Mitt Romney supporters insist that by choosing Romney, McCain could really bring conservatives on board.McCain might do well instead to find a solid conservative who was not a candidate for president. We shall see.
The Democrat campaign between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is becoming increasingly defined by race, which could cause problems for the Dems in November.
By Gary HowellOf all the states, West Virginia’s economy ranks at the bottom while we sit on mountains filled with energy in the middle of an energy crunch. Our economy should be booming, yet it is not. One reason is that we have a tendency to look to government for solutions and not to ourselves. Ronald Reagan once said, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” His words hold true today. Everyday as we fuel up our vehicles paying close to $4 or more per gallon we are reminded government has not solved the problem, nor will it.Government officials hold meetings and conferences, form committees and coalitions, but then all that happens is they talk about the problem and get their pictures in the media. One conference referred to the “New Technology of Coal Liquefaction.” For the record Friedrich Bergius developed one of the first processes for turning coal into gasoline almost 100 years ago. Government doesn’t even know how old the processes are; are we sure we want it in charge?One of the ideas being floated is a Private-Public Partnership, where government becomes a partner in the construction and operation of a coal liquefaction plant. The problem is government becomes the dominating partner in these ventures; the project becomes bloated, inefficient, and politically influenced to the detriment of the private business partner, the taxpayer and the consumer. History also reveals that the term “corporatism” was coined by Benito Mussolini to describe Private-Public Partnerships, which were used as a way to maintain government control. This is not a road we want to go down.So what should be government’s role? Government’s first and most important goal should be to make as level and competitive playing field as possible.
We must give West Virginia’s businesses a competitive advantage through business friendly tax and legal reforms. Half measures like eliminating the franchise tax by 2015 is not going to give us a competitive advantage anytime soon. It is like getting in a swimming pool one toe at a time instead of jumping in all at one time, getting wet and starting to swim. We must enact the needed tax and legal reforms wholly and fully now — get the initial shock out of the way and then begin to swim in increased jobs and tax revenue as our economy expands because West Virginia will be economically competitive.So if government’s job should be to provide a level playing field for the competitors, then how do we move forward? The free market will always seek the lowest price and if fuel made from coal is cheaper, then the market will purchase fuel made from coal instead of oil. While we know we can currently make fuel cheaper from coal than oil, the problem is in regard to the cost and time of building the coal liquefaction plant. That cost is estimated at around $2 billion with about 2 years of construction. Some company has to be willing to risk the investment in the plant and take the chance that oil prices will remain high long enough for the plant to pay them back with interest. Sometimes the only nudge the free market needs is the spark of an idea. Consider that CSX Corporation in 2006 purchased $1.2 billion dollars worth of fuel and you know from your own visits to the pump its 2008 numbers are substantially higher. What if the West Virginia coal Industry sits down with CSX Corp and says, since CSX already services 130 active coal mines and purchases billions of dollars worth of fuel, together we can build a profitable coal liquefaction plant. The plant could provide CSX with lower cost fuel, provide West Virginia coal producers with a new market outlet, provide high paying jobs across the board, give the state increased tax revenues and pump billions of dollars into the West Virginia economy.As a state loaded with natural resources we have an opportunity, but only if we are willing to make the necessary political changes to make it happen. If we are not held back by Charleston’s bad economic policies, then West Virginia has an answer to the nation’s energy challenges. That answer is under our feet. Gary Howell is the Republican candidate for the State Senate in the 14th District.The energy answer is under our feet
Second poll confirms Manchin's approval rating down 20 points
A recent Rassmussen Poll confirms that Gov. Joe Manchin's job approval rating has dropped a hefty 20 points or more from the days when it hovered near 80 percent.The poll, taken March 13, says Manchin has an approval rating of 57%, adding up the 23% who say he is doing an "excellent"job and the 34% who say he is doing a "good" job.While a 57% approval rating is still considered positive, it is a far cry from just over a year ago when Manchin seemed so popular as to be invulnerable. The heady days when he topped such polls among the nation's governors seem to be over.The Rassmussen numbers are similar to ratings announced by the state Democrat Party a couple of weeks ago.The poll surveyed 702 likely state Democrat primary voters, and showed Hillary Clinton with a 55-27 lead over Barack Obama.