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VISIT NO MO MOJO
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REPUBLICAN OF THE YEAR
UPDATED DAILY!
Mojo9/24/08
9/24/08GET YOUR 'DEGREE!' (Click image for details!)
(Press Release) The Walker for Supreme Court campaign today released its first television advertisements for the general election campaign. "Always" and "Believe," began airing statewide today and highlight Beth Walker's commitment to traditional West Virginia family values and her tough-on-crime approach to the West Virginia Supreme Court. "I believe our judges should spend more time protecting our families and our values and less time worrying about the comfort of criminals," says Walker in the "Believe" ad. In the second ad, Walker states, "I've always been a supporter of the rights of gun owners. That might explain why the NRA [National Rifle Association] endorsed me, and only me." Watch the "Believe" ad by clicking the play button.Walker unveils statewide TV ads in Supreme Court campaign
WVBA debate not open to general public; lawmakers, 'business leaders' make up VIP-only audience
I've been asked many times in recent days if the public is invited to attend the first gubernatorial debate coming up in October. The answer is, no.When Russ Weeks and Joe Manchin square off in their first face to face debate of the campaign Oct. 13, almost every West Virginian will be able to watch the 7 p.m. event on TV stations around the state, as well as listen to it on the MetroNews radio network.But members of the general public who would like to attend the event in person are mostly out of luck. The sponsoring organization -- the West Virginia Broadcasters Association -- sent invitations to elected officials like members of the State Legislature, and to selected "business leaders."The debate will take place at a 150-seat theater in the Clay Center in Charleston. Each campaign is being permitted to invite ten guests.Of course, inviting members of the legislature heavily stacks the audience with Democrats, given the makeup of the body. Someone suggested to me that the "business community" might even that out on the Republican side, which was a pretty funny joke.Nevertheless, it is what it is, and frankly, there are so many Democrat lawmakers who don't care for Gov. Manchin that in reality the imbalance of the audience will not be as one-sided as it might seem."Talkline" host Hoppy Kercheval will moderate the debate, which will not feature strict time limits for responses or for follow up rebuttals. Instead, Kercheval will conduct the event in more of a "Larry King" style, engaging the candidates in conversation.Ireland: Registration fraud scrutinized
Tactics similar to those used by ACORN group, tied to Obama; FBI, U.S. Attorney in probe
Tactics similar to those used by a group calling itself the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) have been uncovered in West Virginia, according to information announced Thursday by Secretary of State Betty Ireland.Ireland did not name ACORN, but said "preliminary investigations reveal that several hundred voter registration applications have been filed containing, in some instances, forged signatures, inaccurate addresses or other identifying information, and/or changes to party affiliation. It has been reported that some individuals are submitting voter registration forms with names and addresses that have simply been lifted from the phone book."Ireland said in a press conference that "it is believed that individuals who are being paid by third party groups to register voters are responsible for the voter registration applications at issue. Reports in the national media indicate similar activity is also taking place in other states." Media reports in recent months and years have identified the ACORN group as engaging in exactly the same pattern of activity. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last month that "Milwaukee’s election chief on Wednesday turned 32 more voter registration workers in to the district attorney’s office for possible prosecution, saying they tried to submit falsified registration cards. "That brings to 39 the number of registration workers under scrutiny, and the number could grow, Election Commission Executive Director Sue Edman said. An organization warned the commission staff late Wednesday afternoon about some questionable cards in the latest batch collected by its workers, Edman said."All of the workers targeted for investigation were paid employees of two liberal groups running voter registration drives, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the Community Voters Project."As described earlier this year by the National Review, "Obama has had an intimate and long-term association with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), the largest radical group in America ... because Acorn works locally, in carefully selected urban areas, its national profile is lower. Acorn likes it that way." The article quotes author Sol Stern saying, "...local legislators and reporters are often 'slow to grasp how radical Acorn’s positions really are.'”
In West Virginia, the United States Attorneys Office, FBI, United States Postal Service, and the Kanawha County Prosecutor's Office, are investigating. Initially, the activity appeared to be limited to Kanawha County. However, since the press conference, computer generated reports indicate similar activity has occurred in Monongalia and Jefferson counties. Fraud investigators from the Secretary of State's Office continue to assess whether it has occurred in remaining counties in West Virginia. All of West Virginia's 55 county clerks have been alerted to be on the lookout for possible fraudulent activity in their counties and have been advised by the Secretary of State's office to take extra precautions to prevent problematic registrations from being part of any voter's file. Safeguards are in place in West Virginia's Statewide Voter Registration System to detect registration changes."Voter registration drives conducted by third parties are perfectly legal in West Virginia and we encourage groups to undertake the effort to register our citizen's to vote. However, when these voter registration drives are not carried out in a responsible and legal manner, significant problems can result,"Secretary Ireland cautioned.
Secretary of State Betty Ireland on Thursday announced that probes are being conducted into voter registration fraud uncovered in West Virginia. Since the press conference, additional cases of fraud have been found in counties in addition to Kanawha, where the problems were first uncovered.
