Maynard gets spiked

Oh well, at least they’ll always have Monaco…

With most of the votes in, W.Va. Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliot “Spike” Maynard has been soundly defeated in his bid for reelection.

All the pro-Maynard ads from the Chamber of Commerce couldn’t save him from the photos with Blankenship. Neither could hiring Blankenship's chief political consultant.

The result pretty much writes off Don Blankenship as an electoral force in W.Va.

The Massey CEO’s venture into politics began in 2004 when he targeted Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw for defeat.

Under the front of a supposed children’s advocacy group “For the Sake of the Kids,” Blankenship hit McGraw with a barrage of negative and misleading ads. It worked. The $3.5 million the he put into the race elected Republican Brent Benjamin to the court.

However, Blankenship would soon become a victim of his own success.

As a result of the Benjamin victory, Political observers took notice and immediately began to profile him as a bold new force to be reckoned with in West Virginia politics.

The deceptive nature of For the Sake of the Kids, combined with Blankenship’s anonymity in the group’s message was the real reason for his success.

Blankenship was able to remain behind the scenes for the most part in the McGraw campaign, but now he was in the spotlight and his agenda was fully on display.

And voters didn’t like what they saw.

His next effort, in 2006, to deliver both houses of the legislature to the GOP failed miserably.

All of the Democratic candidates Blankenship targeted for defeat were reelected, except Margarette Leach, whose defeat was due to her ill health and not Blankenship’s ads.

Candidates who accepted donations from Blankenship were the subject of controversy and the Democrats gained seats.

Shortly after 2006, Air America’s Mike Papantonio shared his thoughts with me on why voters rejected Blankenship’s legislative campaign.

“[It was] because of his credibility. It was a character-based revolt. They said, "This guy is revolting to me," Papantonio said.


And that brings us to today.

For the Sake of the Kids is nearly defunct (the organization's Web site hasn’t been update since 2006). The W.Va. GOP has, at least publicly, rejected support from Blankenship in 2008.

In four short years, Blankenship has gone from being perceived as a powerhouse, to being viewed as an ineffective advocate to being electoral poison.

The photos of Maynard and Blankenship, coupled with Blankenship’s bizarre, thuggish behavior in an ABC News segment sealed the deal and sent Maynard packing.

At this point, not only are Blankenship’s efforts politically worthless, but the view by voters that a candidate is friendly to the Massey CEO is a surefire recipe for defeat on election day.

Photo: This 2006 file photo that has been entered into evidence as part of a court motion by lawyers seeking to remove West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard, left, from hearing a case involving Massey Energy Inc., show the justice and Massey CEO Don Blankenship together in Monaco.

Hillary Clinton wins W.Va.

AP called it minutes after polls closed.

As expected, it was a big margin.

But don't write W.Va. off entirely for Obama in the fall.

Carnacki of WVaBlue and DailyKos offers the following numbers:

Barack Obama with just 26 percent of the Democratic votes 87,466.
John McCain with just 76 percent of all Republican votes 83,791.

Sure, Dems dwarf the GOP in registration here, but something to think about.

Primary day

Kos has put together a good rundown on the W.Va. primary here.

Word is Clinton will give a victory speech from Charleston around 9 p.m. tonight.

We all have a pretty good idea who's going to take the state, though it will have little impact on the national results (today longtime Clinton guru James Carville said it's over).

Other races to watch tonight:

-The Supreme Court will give us an indication of whether or not Don Blankenship has any value left as a political force

-Secretary of State could be close

- And in Mississippi, a special election is being held for a Republican Congressional vacancy. If the Dems pick up this one, it could signal a national trend, as they've recently won special elections in Illinois and Louisiana.

Operation Blowhard

Rush Limbaugh said yesterday that his so-called Operation Chaos forces will deliver a landslide to Hillary tomight.

Someone needs to break it to the Dittoheads that the polls have showed a Clinton landslide here for months - long before Limbaugh began his silly little DJ stunt.

The guy is desperately trying to save face and look relevant after his all-out efforts to stop McCain and get Romney nominated blew up in his face. He can't influence his own party, so he's trying to take credit for the existing primary mess in the Democratic party.

Clinton will win big here, but Rush will have nothing to do with it.

In an unrelated note, I've decided to appeal to my readers (yes, all 3 of you) to join me in a campaign to get the sun to rise in the east tomorrow. I know it's going to be hard work, but if we're persistent, we can demonstrate the awesome power of this blog. Operation Helio Ascension will be our ultimate triumph!

Campaign stuff

Obama's coming back to W.Va.

Confirmed by the Gazette.

WVaBlue has heard rumors it will be Huntington.

Until then, the campaign has announced a ton of events for the weekend.

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Following her Charleston appearance, the Clinton campaign kicked off a 15 city Veterans for Hillary tour today.

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As expected, poll shows Clinton maintaining her big lead in W.Va. Other than Arkansas, this may be the most receptive state to her campaign (or the one most opposed to Obama, depending on your way of looking at it.)

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And for your handy reference:

Barack Obama's W.Va. page:

Hillary Clinton's W.Va. page

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Fireworks in Fayetteville yesterday

A look at the Supreme Court race

Orion Strategies has released a poll on the WV court race.

Before going into this, bear in mind that only 368 were questioned and the poll has a margin of error of +/- 5 points, which covers the spread between the top 3 candidates. Also 40% are undecided.

The poll has Ketchum in the lead (apparently, heavy advertising pays off, especially when its focus is to get voters to know your name.)

Workman follows, already being a well-known name and having formerly served on the court.

Maynard and Bastress take up the rear. Bastress has nowhere near the financing of Ketchum, so that's no surprise.

Probably not a good sign for Maynard, who as chief justice is already well-known. He's also got an ad blitz in his favor going on. (and a sizeable one against him, too) If the vote plays out anything like this poll, the Blankenship photos are going to sink him.

From the Gazette:

The poll asked voters to name their top two choices for the office. Ketchum was named easily led as the first choice of 24 percent of poll respondents. Workman was named more times as the second choice than the others, with 18 percent.

Pollsters then combined the two rankings for each candidate, leaving Ketchum at 18 percent and Workman at 17 percent.

Incumbent Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard ran third in the poll with 13 percent, just ahead of West Virginia University law professor Bob Bastress, who polled at 12 percent.

Our turn

One week to go.

Clem Guttata at WVaBlue has a great rundown on all the details of the W.Va. primary.

How dumb does he think we are?

From Bill Clinton's appearance in Clarksburg this week. He claimed elitists support Obama:

"The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules," he said. "In West Virginia and Arkansas, we know that when we see it."

Why he's just a regular hillbilly! 

And if you doubt his sincerity, remember this, of course, comes from a man who moved back to his proud home of Arkansas immediately upon leaving the White House, unlike those elitist types who all flock to New York.

Is there anything more elitist than an establishment campaign trying to play Appalachian voters for a bunch of rubes?

Photo: In this April 30, 2008, file photo former President Bill Clinton addresses a crowd while campaigning for his wife. AP

Ken Hechler endorses Obama

as reported in the H-D:

Hechler, also a former professor at Marshall University, discussed Obama's ability to inspire Americans and bring lasting change to this country.

“I’ve taught courses on the presidency and great presidents are able to inspire and communicate. The last four great ones were Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Ronald Regan. Obama has that same tremendous inspirational ability and he, among all the candidates, will be able to lead this country.

And from an Obama campaign press release, some more W.Va. endorsements were announced (via W.Va. Blue):

Obama received the endorsement of the following leaders from the Northern Panhandle

State Sen. Larry Edgell (D- Wetzel County)
Former State Senator John Chernenko, decorated World War II veteran and former Prisoner of War, former U.S. Marshall Northern District West Virginia (D- Brooke County)
Del. Tal Hutchins (D- Ohio County)
Sheriff Tom Burgoyne (D -Ohio County)
Commissioner David Sims (D- Ohio County)
John Saunders (Ohio County Democratic Party Co-Chair, leader steelworker community)
Frank Slider (Tyler County Democratic Party Co-Chair)

Obama campaign opening headquarters in Huntington Saturday

On the corner of 8th Street and 4th Avenue at 2:30p.m.

Congressman Nick Rahall will be on hand.

Photo: Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., laughs while being introduced at a town hall-style meeting in Kokomo, Ind., Friday, April 25, 2008 / The Associated Press

Obama in Beckley

Went to see Obama in Beckley yesterday.

My estimate of the crowd was about 3,000. A good mix of ages, gender and ethnicities. Lots of young people. Obama was introduced by Jay and Sharon Rockefeller.

Sen. Rockefeller said to expect more Obama visits to southern WV and the state in the month leading up to the WV primary.

Obama's effectiveness as a speaker is something that has to be seen in person. Quick on his feet and informal, he holds the crowd in the palm of his hand. The comparison to a rock concert is pretty accurate.

Some highlights:
- Asked about mountaintop removal during the Q&A by environmental activist, Larry Gibson, he said that the clean water act needs to be enforced, called for a balance between economic gain and preserving the environment and stressed the importance of being stewarts of the land and leaving it for future generations.
When I talked to them afterwards, MTR opponents seemed cautiously optimistic about his answer.

AP's take:

Beckley gave Obama a taste of the complexities of West Virginia politics when Chad Foreman of Fayetteville asked the candidate a question about mountaintop removal mining.
Obama’s answer didn’t give much red meat to either environmentalists or coal supporters, both of which had loud contingents in the audience.

He stressed the need for a balanced approach between environmental concern and preserving jobs.

“I’m not just going to take a bunch of contributions from the coal industry and do their bidding, any more than I would only listen to the environmentalists,” Obama said. “I want to listen to everybody.”

He did, though, come out in favor of clean coal technology, something many environmental activists find to be a misleading name.

- Pledged to sit down with West Virginia's Congressional delegation and work out a mine safety plan.

- Said that he would pay for his programs by ending the war, making the top 1% pay their fair share in taxes. Said he would use a pay-as-you-go approach, rather than the current administration's tactic borrowing from "The bank of China."

- Said that he would use force to strike enemies if necessary for defense, but would advocate more diplomacy in foreign affairs, with both friends and foes. As to the claim by Bush, McCain and Clinton that he can't meet with hostile nations, "Just watch me.," he said.

- On gas prices, said instability in the Mideast is a cause, but the "hard truth" is that the country hasn't developed an efficient energy policy since the 70s. Would invest more in renewable energy, raise fuel efficiency standards.

WVaBlue has a slideshow here.

Video of his answer to one of the energy questions here:


Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., waits behind the curtain to speak at a town hall meeting at Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center Arena in Beckley, W.V., Thursday, March 20, 2008.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Candidates on mountaintop removal

Faithfull at DailyKos has Hillary Clinton's answer on mountaintop removal.

Clinton on West Virginia Public Radio:

I am concerned about it for all the reasons people state, but I think its a
difficult question because of the conflict between the economic and
environmental trade-off that you have here.

I'm not an expert. I don't know enough to have an independent opinion, but I sure would like people who could be objective, understanding both the economic necessities and environmental damage to come up with some approach that would enable us to retrieve the coal but would enable us to do it in a way that wouldn't damage the living standards and the other important qualities associated with people living both under the mountaintop and people who are along the streams.

You know, maybe there is a way to recover those mountaintops once they have been stripped of the coal. You know, I think we've got to look at this from a practical perspective.

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Obama spoke on the issue in an August 2007 stop in Kentucky:

He said the country also needs a forward-thinking energy policy, and he
alluded to his disapproval of the coal mining process of mountaintop
removal.

"We're tearing up the Appalachian Mountains because of our
dependence on fossil fuels," he said, sparking loud applause.

Candidates in our region

As predicted, the W.Va. primary is in play for the first time in years.

Both Clinton and Obama are going to be around here for the next few days.

Clinton: First a town hall meeting at Capital High School in Charleston at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The event is free and open to the public. Then she'll be in Huntington, where she'll talk with veterans at the American Legion Post 16 at 4:15 p.m.

Obama: First, he'll be in Charleston for a speech at 9:30 a.m. at the University of Charleston in the Geary Auditorium on Thursday. This event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Then he's headed to Beckley for a town hall meeting at 4:30p.m. at the Raleigh County Convention Center. This one's also free and open to the public, tickets required. (ticket info is on his site)

Update: Looks like Obama in Charleston tickets are gone, according to his WV campaign site:

There is confusion about the Charleston event. It is a much smaller event than the one in Beckley and right now tickets are all out. We are working on finding out if more will be allocated. However, the Beckley Event is a much larger venue. Keep checking in.

Obama responds

To the statements of Rev. Wright in a column for Huffington Post.

Some excerpts:

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

[...]

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

[...]

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.

Definitely worth a read.

Photo: Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., speaks to press on the plane as he headed from Chicago to Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2008.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Also of note: Obama'a West Virginia campaign has launched.

Rahall to endorse Obama

According to CQ Politics, he says he'll make it official before the primary.

Barack Obama will pick up an important industrial state endorsement from veteran Rep. Nick J. Rahall II before the May 13 West Virginia primary.

Rahall told CQ Politics Thursday that he privately made his commitment to Obama about 10 days ago and will officially endorse the delegate leader in the Democratic presidential primary sometime before voters in his state go to the polls.

“The new voters he has brought to the process this year and the new direction, in my opinion, add up to what our country needs,” Rahall said.

Obama has struggled to win the support of the type of working-class white voters who populate much of Rahall’s 3rd district in the southern portion of the state. In the Ohio primary on Tuesday, many of them backed Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Rahall acknowledged that his pick may be out of step with the leanings of the Democratic voters in his district.“I recognize this may not be a popular decision in my district,” he said. The district has the third‑lowest median income in the country

Poll: Heavy Clinton lead in W.Va.

From the Daily Mail:

By nearly a two to one margin, West Virginia Democrats and Independents are more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton than Barrack Obama, according to a new poll.

Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they'd vote for Clinton in the upcoming West Virginia primary election compared to 22 percent who selected Obama, based on a public opinion poll conducted by Charleston-based Mark Blankenship Enterprises.

Thirty-five percent said they were undecided

Not surprising. the western counties of Virginia heavily favored her and she's still doing all right in Ohio. So demographically, it makes sense that W.Va would go the same way as the rest of the reason.

W.Va. Democratic primary details

Clem Guttata at WVaBlue has all the of specifics on the selection of delegates for the primary.

A sampling:

* "West Virginia will use a proportional representation system based on the results of the Primary
for apportioning delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention." In other words, our May 13 primary matters.

* "The first determining step of West Virginia's delegate selection process will occur on May 13,
2008, with the West Virginia Primary and the Presidential Preference. This will be followed by a post-primary convention in June 13-14 at the Civic Center in Charleston, where the delegates and alternates will be elected."