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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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Friday, May 2, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005
Time grows near for Garrison to make hard call
Those who have done president the greatest disservice are those who promoted him for a role he was not cut out to fill
As difficult as it will be, the time is rapidly nearing when Mike Garrison will have to look at his family, his friends and his supporters, and tell them that it's time for him to make the tough decision to voluntarily step aside for the good of West Virginia University.Voluntarily stepping out of a role you have coveted for a long time, then finally attained, is one of the most difficult actions in life. It is akin to agreeing to a divorce when you don't want it but your spouse does. It can be gut-wrenching.All that Garrison is fighting for now is his own position and reputation. But what's best for Garrison is not what's best for WVU. What's best for WVU is obvious -- a housecleaning and a chance to start over with a new team in place, a team free of the suspicion and taint of political influence and cronyism. Every student, every graduate, every supporter of WVU deserves the Heather Bresch scandal to go away as quickly as possible, and that can only happen as completely as it needs to with a new president. The WVU scandal has reached the point that most real scandals reach -- past the point of no return. There is no putting the genie back in the bottle, no explanation of events that will make everyone re-think what happened and view the players in a different light.It is easy to say something like, "If Mike Garrison really loves WVU, he'll do the right thing and resign." But Garrison probably does really love WVU, and that being the case, he cannot bring himself to voluntarily dissolve his union with the institution. He wants to vindicate himself. He wants to prove his critics wrong. He wants to take back the events of last October and make everything right again. He wants to buy some flowers and apologize. It is easy to feel sympathy for Garrison, but that sympathy in reality springs from the fact that he never should have been given the position at WVU to begin with. He was infinitely unqualified for it, and his inability to handle the Bresch affair as it should have been handled was as predictable as spring rain.Those who know Garrison from his days as Gov. Bob Wise's chief of staff almost universally credit him as a strong and able leader. But chief of staff for a governor is a much different role than president of a university. Chief of staff for a governor requires making daily decisions designed primarily, frankly, to protect your boss from political damage, curry favor with friends and supporters, and advance a political agenda. That mindset is not what the mindset and motive of a college president should be, but it was in the Bresch case, because that is Garrison's background and training. In the end, those who have done Mike Garrison the greatest disservice are those who promoted him for a role he was not cut out to fill. If he leaves WVU under a cloud, the "search committee" and the Board of Governors who pegged him from the start for the presidency should apologize to him profusely for putting him in an unwinnable situation -- a situation that ended as it was predestined to end.Garrison will land on his feet and enjoy a very successful career in a business, legal or political position more suited to his training and talents. The best course of action for him, and for the university he loves, is to acknowledge the obvious and begin the next phase of his life, so WVU can do the same.
Makeup of delegates from WV up in air
18 committed to Huckabee, now Primary will decide 9 more
JOHN McCAIN
While the hotly contested Democrat contest for president is understandably making most of the news in regard to West Virginia's May 13 Primary election, there is an interesting scenario to be played out on the Republican side, too. West Virginia's delegation to the Republican National Committee could possibly represent such an amalgam of divergent preferences that it could hold its own mini-convention prior to the main event.Back in February, the results of the state presidential convention handed Mike Huckabee 18 delegates in the winner-take-all format. But there were persistent rumors that the Ron Paul campaign was promised a handful of those delegates, so some Paul-ites might be making the trip to Minneapolis, too. On top of that, there are nine more GOP delegates to be elected on May 13 -- three per congressional district. It would make sense for Republicans to cast their votes for the guy who has already wrapped up the nomination -- John McCain -- and award him all nine delegates.But Huckabee, Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Alan Keyes and McCain will all be on the ballot on May 13. (Fred Thompson dropped out of the race just before the West Virginia filing deadline.) So, conceivably, if Republican voters want to be fickle, Giuliani could win one congressional district, Romney another, and Huckabee yet another. Or McCain could win two districts, and Romney one. Or.... the possible combinations are numerous.It would not be particularly helpful for Republican voters to cast their ballots for candidates other than McCain -- not if they would like West Virginia to be an important state in the decisions made by a President McCain in regard to where he might help state parties and their candidates, and where he might not, in the years to come. But that may not be important to everyone. And with a low turnout likely in the GOP Primary, a relatively few number of voters could mean an unpredictable outcome, and the guess here is that the Ron Paul supporters in particular might still be locked into the message-sending mode.In the end, such shenanigans would be for naught. Nationally, McCain has the delegates necessary to win the nomination when the first round of ballots are cast in Minneapolis, regardless of how many delegates committed to other candidates stick with their original choices. And after McCain wins, the RNC chair will ask that his nomination be made unanimous by acclamation, which it will, technically, even if a few voices ring out in protest.McCain is likely to visit West Virginia soon -- probably not long after the Primary -- and hopefully his visit will be on the heels of a big West Virginia Primary victory. Such a circumstance would be good for the party as a whole, now and in the future.Bill Clinton still being kept in background by wife's campaign
Former President BiIl Clinton continues to be sent to out-of-the-way locales for low impact media coverage as he stumps for wife Hillary's presidential campaign.In fact, CNN Thursday night did a segment on the fact that Bill has become persona non gratis in his wife's campaign, while daughter Chelsea is front and center.As in Morgantown Thursday, Bill speaks for about 35-55 minutes, and takes no questions from reporters or audience members.