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Wednesday, May 28, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005
RUSS WEEKS: Not your average Joe
MOJO & MIKE: Standing by his man
Having Fun With Mojo
How is any of this my fault?
Hey kids! Mojo here! Have you heard about the scandal at West Virginia University? Probably not. Well, there are some people trying to blame me for the whole mess! How can that be? Geesh! Did I have anything to do with Mike Garrison getting hired there?Well, uh, actually...OK, but do I have any power or control over the WVU Board of Governors?Well, truth is....Never mind! Try this one -- is there any connection between me and the former student who got a degree she didn't earn?Uh, well....So what? It's all just a bunch of coincidences! I'll tell you one thing -- what's really making me mad is that some people are trying to make this whole thing political! Politics has nothing to do with it! Like I said Monday, the Board of Governors can do anything it wants! And I'll support whatever it does!After all, haven't I been fully supportive of everything it's done so far? Weeks' suit targets entire pay raise
Russ Weeks on Tuesday not only filed a legal challenge to the retroactive per diem payments passed by the State Legislature earlier this year, but he also asked the state Supreme Court to throw out the pay raise package in its entirety.Weeks and his attorney, Richie Robb, made the argument that a full one-half of the State Senate will benefit from the pay raises without first standing for election, in clear violation of the state constitution.Article VI, Section 38 of the Constitution of West Virginia prohibits an increase inFiling makes issue of fact that half the Senate will benefit from pay hike before standing for election
compensation to public officials during their term of office.
While all 100 members of the House of Delegates and 17 of the 34 members of the State Senate will stand for election prior to the pay hike taking effect in 2009, the other 17 senators will still be in their current term of office, not standing for election until 2010 under the state's staggered term setup.Weeks, as reported earlier, is also challenging the legality of making per diem payments retroactive back to the first of this year.
Hillary, Barack sign longterm deal with Broadway producer
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have signed a longterm deal with a Broadway producer to star in a new show scheduled to open in January 2009. "These two obviously don't want to break up this act," said the producer. "This is a great way to keep the show on the road."The production will reportedly be based on "The Odd Couple," with Hillary playing a sloppy, obnoxious newspaper columnist, and Barack portraying her neat-freak, picky roommate trying endlessly to change Hillary's annoying habits. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are shown at a news conference announcing their new Broadway show.
Yes, charisma can be taught
JOE MANCHIN
Always had it
ELVIS PRESLEY
Had to learn it
'You can't teach personality' an old adage that's not true
Over the past decade spent working with hundreds of politicians in various campaigns, both as a political party operative and an independent consultant, I have been as guilty as anyone of occasionally observing that while you can teach campaign tactics, strategy, fundraising and other facets of politics, you just can't teach personality or charisma.Naturally, this observations is typically made when trying to turn a dolt of a personality into someone voters will at least not run away from at first contact.But the fact is, personality and charisma can be learned, and to prove the point I offer as examples two of my favorite media-created characters, Joe Manchin and Elvis Presley.Some might say that Mojo was born with charisma, since he has apparently always exhibited such traits as an outgoing personality, oodles of homespun sincerity, and the ability to make everyone he encounters feel downright special and appreciated.But Manchin wasn't born with charisma. He simply learned it from his environment, especially growing up watching the antics of his fabled uncle, the late great A. James Manchin, who was apparently a West Virginia cross between P.T. Barnum and the Wizard of Oz.Witnessing the daily exploits of the colorful A. James, young Mojo picked up the charisma bug early and fashioned it in his own form -- a slightly subdued but still effective derivative more suited and acceptable to the politics of higher office. Then there's Elvis Presley. The word "charismatic" has probably been ascribed more to the King of Rock-n'Roll than any human being in history. A Rolling Stone reviewer, writing about Elvis' 1971 concert in Boston Garden, said he had only felt charisma like that once before, in the person of Robert F. Kennedy at a political rally.Elvis is often the subject of those apocryphal tales bordering on the mystical, i.e., even if you had your back turned and he walked in the door, you would know someone special had entered the room.
Such nonsense. Every biography of Elvis describes his childhood and teenage years as those of a young man barely noticed by his classmates. He was painfully shy, and when he did speak, it was in such a low and self-conscious mumble that he was ridiculed and often made the butt of cruel jokes. Those who did remember him in school described him as polite, shy, and a loner, but the word "charismatic" is nowhere to be found in regard to the pre-fame Elvis. As a senior in high school, Elvis did gain some respect and notoriety when his musical abilities were displayed in high school talent shows, but even then no one predicted particularly great things in his future, and his classmates were astounded soon after graduation when Elvis began rocketing to stardom.In reality, the charisma ascribed to Elvis -- as is the case with anyone -- was simply a reflection of the reaction of others to Elvis' practiced self-confidence and a carefully constructed personality that he developed along with his stardom. Elvis -- who, growing up, loved nothing more than sitting in dark movie theaters watching the Hollywood stars of the day ply their trade on the silver screen -- reinvented himself in their image, adopting the mannerisms, personality and swagger of those fictional characters he had idolized from afar.The landscape is filled with qualified candidates who would make excellent public officials, but they lack the people skills or "charisma" to wow an audience on first contact. But they should not give up, nor should the campaign managers and consultants working with them. Even if they haven't grown up in a Manchin-like environment, charisma can be taught -- although a guitar might help to get things started.