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REPUBLICAN OF THE YEAR
Manchin's defense of DuPont really goes back to Chesapeake
Gov seeks band-aids instead of addressing tort issues, which is easy to understand when you look at source of most of his campaign funds -- trial lawyers, lobbyists
JOE MANCHIN
Even as Gov. Joe Manchin futilely tries to defend his decision to file a friend of the court brief on behalf of DuPont's appeal of a $196 million dollar verdict against the chemical company -- a brief identical to DuPont's own brief in several key places -- the real reason for Mojo's rush to the courthouse can be traced back to Chesapeake Energy's reaction to a similar verdict a few months ago.After the Supreme Court declined to consider Chesapeake's appeal of a $400 million verdict -- in a case that was in progress before Chesapeake moved forward with its purchase of NiSource -- Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon threw a fit, announcing he was pulling the plug on a $35 million Charleston headquarters, much to Manchin's embarrassment. McClendon is reportedly still fuming at the state as a whole and Manchin in particular for failing to solve Chesapeake's problems with legislative action.So one can only imagine the level of the governor's eagerness to do something -- anything -- to demonstrate to DuPont and other potentially giant employers that he really cares.In fact, Manchin is willing to do a number of things to demonstrate his concern, according to recent news reports, including asking DuPont for help in developing his brief, meeting with DuPont executives, and even seeking the company's assistance with "technical" questions about filing a brief with the court. Of course, this only became known after The New York Times obtained communications between Manchin and DuPont via Freedom of Information Act requests.But the one glaring thing Mojo won't do -- the one thing that would make more of a difference than filing a thousand "friend of the court" briefs -- is lead the way for any real changes in the state's tort system. And why won't the governor take up that cause? According to Follow the Money, Manchin has received more campaign funds from lawyers and lobbyists than anyone else by far -- at least four times more money than he has received from the health care industry, the banking industry, labor, energy, communications or any other group of donors. And so, while the governor talks, and talks, and talks about making West Virginia business friendly, and chips away at the food tax and the various business taxes (rather than eliminate them), he does virtually nothing in leading the way for reform within the state's legal system. Instead, he goes for a grandstand play of filing a brief with the court, to show everyone how much he cares, and in the process manages to entangle himself in an ethical quagmire that has once again raised serious questions about the personal touch he brings to everything happening in West Virginia, from West Virginia University's administrative and athletic decisions to the West Virginia Turnpike Authority. The governor wants to have a hand in everything, by whatever means necessary. Manchin finds himself in a kind of twilight zone right now. It's easy to see how he might feel his ship has sailed without him; the parade may have passed him by. He spent considerable time in recent years working his way up to such positions as the head of the Democratic Governors Association, and the Southern Governors Association, and various other national committees, so he would be poised to spring onto the national scene as a real player. But unfortunately for him, he bet on the wrong horse (Hillary Clinton), and Barack Obama has about as much interest in Joe Manchin as Aubry McClendon has in building a headquarters in Charleston. Last week's news that Sen. Jay Rockefeller will address the DNC convention in prime time must be a bitter pill for Mojo. Now, Manchin finds himself stuck with being governor of West Virginia, and with a business climate that stays stuck in the mud no matter how many "Open for Business" signs he erects or how often he whittles a penny or two off a tax here or there. The state's real drawback for business -- the court system and the legal climate in general -- is something he has refused to address in any meaningful way, and so he resorts to filing a "friend of the court" brief, which is ironic, because in the grand scheme of politics, West Virginia's courts are not Joe Manchin's friends.Rockefeller may be ready for Far East
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller may be tired of serving in the U.S. Senate, and his early and aggressive support for Barack Obama's presidential bid may be connected to another goal -- becoming ambassador to Japan.Several political observers are speculating that once Rockefeller is re-elected in November -- something he naturally considers a given -- and if Obama wins the presidency, the ambassador post to the senator's favorite foreign country will be just an appointment away.At Harvard, Rockefeller majored in Far Eastern Languages, He studied Japanese onsite in Tokyo, and over the years has led many trade missions to Japan and Taiwon.His father, John D. Rockefeller III, managed the U.S. policies over the Far East, including both China and Japan, and, according to various references, influenced the Japan development after World War II, advising its highest leaders. He also promoted the Oriental culture in America.Of course, Rockefeller jettisoning from the Senate right after his re-election would lead to a whole new set of interesting circumstances as an appointment and then a special election would be necessary to fill out his term.Searls' colleagues remember the Gazette scribe
Media colleagues of Charleston Gazette reporter Tom Searls have offered tributes to the political scribe since his passing last week. On his program Friday, "Talkline" host Hoppy Kercheval offered commentary on Searls, and said in a news story, "Tom was a great old-fashioned 'shoe leather' reporter who followed his strong news instincts." Mannix Porterfield of the Beckley Register-Herald produced a fine tribute to Searls, quoting several friends and associates.And Phil Kabler, Searls' friend and fellow statehouse reporter, appropriately devoted his entire Sunday column to his fallen coworker (including revealing the "rest of the story" about a run-in I had with Tom and which I described on Friday, albeit without as much detail about exactly what Tom said). As Kabler writes, "The press room, and the whole Capitol for that matter, will be an emptier place without him."Weeks fundraiser Sept. 16, Beckley
Republican gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks will hold a major fundraiser Tuesday, Sept. 16 in Beckley, and more details will be announced later this week.