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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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Quote of the Day
"We can't imagine why anyone filed against powerhouse Gov. Joe Manchin, but two challengers did."-- The Charleston Gazette in yesterday's editorial endorsing Manchin, revealing an astounding ambivalence by a newspaper to democracy itself. Friday, April 18, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005. (Or was it 2006?)
Where's Larry?
Justice Larry Starcher has been missing from the West Virginia Supreme Court so far this week, and he is also strangely absent from the Court's official 2008 group photo. C'mon... it's not like he had to worry about what to wear for picture day. Those who did show up included, standing from left, Robin Davis, Joe Albright and Brent Benjamin. Seated is Spike Maynard, probably because he was saving his energy for the campaign.
Bill Kristol was good, but not great
Bill Kristol offered a few interesting insights Wednesday night at his appearance at the University of Charleston, but only a few. The well known commentator and editor of The Weekly Standard was friendly and engaging, but didn't seem to have a defined message.The bulk of Kristol's remarks consisted simply of a long and frankly rambling recap of just about every election cycle of the past 30 years, with the excuse that to understand this year's election, it's important to compare it to past elections.But the audience that attended the event was comprised largely of people who are pretty tuned in to politics, and yes, we already understand that it's been decades since both the Republican and Democrat nominations were so up for grabs, because neither an incumbent president or a vice president is running for the first time in ages, etc., etc.No doubt part of the explanation for a lack of meaningful insight was for the reason just stated, i.e., no one -- not even Kristol -- knows quite what to make of the current landscape or how it's all going to play out. Kristol was warm and sometimes funny, and his performance during the question and answer session was far superior to the dry remarks that had preceded it. The best point Kristol made all evening -- and he made it very well -- was that those who think it doesn't matter who wins or loses an election are very wrong. His example of how important it was that Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II were brought together on the world stage at the same moment in history was thought-provoking.It will matter, greatly, whether the next president is Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain. The future we witness 10 or 20 years from now -- and conceivably longer -- will be infinitely different based on who is in the White House for the next four or eight years.The evening with Kristol was enjoyable, but he proved one thing -- he has found his niche as a writer and a commentator. Public speaking in forums like Wednesday's is not his forte.Quote of the Day II
"It's good that around 85 percent of Mountain State adults now are registered. But it's a shame that so many still don't go to polls."-- The Charleston Gazette in today's editorial encouraging voter participation, missing the point that more contested races bring out more voters.Fact of the Day
Even in his landslide victory of 2004, about 35 percent of voters cast 271,675 ballots for someone other than Joe Manchin. This year, most observers agree the built-in anti-Manchin vote is at least 40 percent. The Gazette can't imagine why voters should have a choice other than Manchin?The unintended consequence: Voters now encouraged to register neither Dem nor GOP
I was never a fan of the fact that the West Virginia Republican Party allowed unaffiliated, or "independent," voters to participate in its primary elections. Now that state Democrats are allowing the same thing for the first time this year, what will be the result?According to a story today in the Wheeling Intelligencer, election officials in Ohio, Marshall and Brooke counties say that "while some Republicans have switched over to the Democrats, and some Democrats have become Republicans, voters on both sides are largely choosing to have no political affiliation — or becoming Independents."Way to go. Nothing like political parties creating rules that encourage voters to leave political parties. My contention has always been that permitting independents to vote in party primaries equates to giving them all the benefits with none of the work. Independents don't give or help raise money for the parties, don't volunteer to help parties recruit candidates, don't help parties undertake their important get-out-the-vote programs -- they just watch the horse races and now, in West Virginia, decide which primary they want to influence, and show up to vote.This is indeed the silly season in regard to voting. Having failed to influence the choice of the Republican nominee for president, once- mighty talk show king Rush Limbaugh has been reduced to something he calls "Operation Chaos," which is designed to encourage Republican voters to invade Democrat primaries and cast their votes for Hillary Clinton. This brilliant strategy could well backfire since it's starting to look like Barack Obama might be the weaker candidate than Clinton, based on Obama's "God and guns" comments last week.Trying to tinker with primary elections is not only childish, it's usually an exercise in futility. The parties should allow only party members to vote in their primaries. In fact, they should extend the length of time necessary to be registered as a member of the party in order to vote in an upcoming primary. Independents who are upset by that notion always have a choice -- join a party.Reporters said to be honing in on calls from Starcher-Ketchum
At least two and likely three reporters are aggressively pursuing the facts behind the series of phone calls between West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher and Court candidate Menis Ketchum that occurred just before and after the filing of photographs showing Justice Spike Maynard on vacation with Massey CEO Don Blankenship.Of interest is the fact that when the West Virginia Record reported on the calls, based on records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, it wrote that "Larry Starcher called Supreme Court candidate Menis Ketchum 11 times from his state-issued cell phone." Based on that wording, there were apparently no incoming calls from Ketchum to Starcher, raising questions about Ketchum's claim that the calls were in regard to his concerns over whether Starcher was running for re-election. Also casting doubt on that explanation -- among other items previously reported -- is the fact that Ketchum filed his candidacy papers on the first possible day of the filing window -- January 14, 2008 -- the same day, incidentally, that the vacation photos were filed with the Court. The calls between Starcher and Ketchum began on January 11th, but continued through the 17th, several days after Ketchum made his candidacy official.Reporters are apparently pouring over other numbers called and received by Starcher during that same time frame. Of interest would be calls to or from particular attorneys, if they occurred.Reporters are interested in who the vacation pictures originally belonged to, and how they ended up in the hands of lawyers for Hugh Caperton to be used in his Court case against Massey Energy.A Town Hall Meeting to Discuss the West Virginia Republican Party Platform will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, May 10th at the Charleston Civic Center,: Parlor A.Sen. John Overington, who is chairing the Platform Committee, will be there, along with Dr. Doug McKinney, chairman of the state party. GOP platform meet set in Chas. May 10
