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Wednesday, May 14, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005
One in four Dems vote against Manchin
One out of every four Democrats who voted in Tuesday's primary election voted for Mel Kessler over Gov. Joe Manchin, revealing a dissatisfaction with the governor that bodes well for Republican challenger Russ Weeks in November.In Monongalia County, home of West Virginia University, Manchin won by only 3500 votes out of more than 14,000 cast, showing the degree scandal will hurt the governor as it continues to unfold across the state.Manchin also faces a rising tide of discontent from state workers, teachers, pro-lifers and others who believe Manchin has failed to keep a number of promises made during his 2004 campaign. Walker likely to benefit by Maynard loss
Justice Spike Maynard's defeat in the Democrat primary on Tuesday likely opens the door for GOP Supreme Court candidate Beth Walker to gain much more support from business and conservative interests than might have come her way had Maynard been victorious.With Margaret Workman and Menis Ketchum capturing the top two spots in the Court race and moving on the November, Walker has an opportunity to put herself in a position similar to that which Republican candidate Brent Benjamin found himself in 2004 after Democrat Jim Rowe's defeat in that year's Democrat primary.Ketchum will almost certainly try to paint himself as a "business" candidate, but hopefully business donors won't fall for it. A perusal of his campaign contributions and his own record clearly paint Ketchum as just another liberal trial lawyer.As Workman, Hillary Clinton, Natalie Tenant and Anne Barth showed last night, women are strong candidates in West Virginia, and Walker will benefit in November from that fact.Weeks challenges Manchin to seven regional debates
GOP gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks on Tuesday congratulated Gov. Joe Manchin on his primary election victory, and challenged Manchin to a series of seven regional debates across West Virginia throughout the campaign."There are important issues in this campaign, and voters have the right to hear and consider for themselves the differences between the two candidates," said Weeks.Weeks said voters deserved to hear a discussion about cronyism and corruption in state government.Rodriguez was told Garrison to be WVU prez months before search officially got underway
Former West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez says that he was told Mike Garrison would be the next WVU president months before the search committee was even formed.According to a deposition in the WVU-Rodriguez lawsuit, Rodriguez "said he talked to Board of Governors members Steve Farmer and Drew Payne about Garrison. Rodriguez said of Farmer, 'I felt he had great influence, in particular, because he told me months before President Garrison was elected that he was going to be the next President of West Virginia,'" as reported by MetroNews.Garrison faces blow-back today from a full meeting of the WVU faculty, and a continued rising tide of public opinion opposed to his presidency, and his days at Stewart Hall seem numbered.When Garrison lost Hoppy...
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson famously noted that when he lost Walter Cronkite, he knew he had lost the nation.Similarly, the death knell sounded for WVU President Mike Garrison when he lost "Talkline" host Hoppy Kercheval, who is the closest thing to a "conscience of the state" that West Virginia has.Kercheval is typically cautious when it comes to being so bold as to call for someone to resign, but when he began doing so in the Garrison case, it was an indicator of just how badly Garrison was wounded.
DAN GREEAR
Greear takes AG win over Lewis
Charleston lawyer Dan Greear won the nomination of the GOP over fellow attorney Hiram Lewis on Tuesday by a comfortable 56-44 percent margin.Greear is a first-time candidate for statewide office, while Lewis has been on a statewide ballot three times.Greear was supported by mostof the Republican establishment, including officeholders and donors.
Greear won his home base, Kanawha County, by a two-to-one margin, even though Lewis had changed his residency to reflect a Charleston address on the ballot. In Lewis' home base of Monongalia, he only defeated Greear by 378 votes out of more than 3400 cast.Greear is now in a strong position to challenge incumbent Darrell McGraw, and should enjoy the strong support of business and conservative interests across the state.Poor campaign by Maynard, stealth effort by Workman helped lead to Tuesday's outcome
The big victories by Margaret Workman and Menis Ketchum over incumbent Justice Spike Maynard on Tuesday were aided in no small part by a poorly run campaign on Maynard's part, and the fact that Workman escaped being the target of any negative campaigning.Workman demonstrated that she likely is the best politician of all the Democrats in this Court race. But she could have, and should have, used her easy ride to raise more money and put a better organzation in place. In the general election she will be tested, and at present she may not be ready for that test.With his awkward handling of the Monaco pictures, Maynard snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Only after the ABC hit piece did he seem to get his legs under him, and even then, his campaign was slow and unimaginative.Maynard failed to take advantage of his strong points -- his incumbency, his name recognition, and the fact he was the only conservative -- even the only moderate -- in the race. His campaign did not effectively respond to attack ads that should have been anticipated months ago.Despite a campaign that was often schizophrenic, Ketchum was the beneficiary of Maynard's poor campaign. In fact, it is likely Ketchum who was indecisive while his campaign rolled along without him half the time. But despite his win, the issue of the phone calls between him and Justice Larry Starcher is not over, and may end up making his party wish he had not been victorious on Tuesday. As for Bob Bastress, he was always a non-factor, the Ralph Nader of the primary election.