(politics) The Crossroads of WV Politics

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Written by Steven Allen Adams

Friday, 30 July 2010 10:00

Somewhat confused by what is going on in our state today in the wake of the death of Sen. Robert C. Byrd? Steven Allen Adams tries to explains things the best he can, considering we're in chaos right now.

West Virginia right now is much like the caterpillar that is in its cocoon and awaiting its time to become a butterfly. Or so I hope. Theoretically it could become a maggot that infests the human scalp awaiting its inevitable escape.

We are without our late Sen. Robert C. Byrd. In some streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed. In other streets the children danced a Mexican hat dance or something equally celebratory.

Byrd is gone. Rep. Alan Mollohan is gone, though not dead. He has a pretty good chance of scoring a lobbyist position, because the last decade he was already a lobbyist, but a lobbyist we paid. That man might as well been a bank: people deposited money in him and he loaned out greater sums via the earmark system. At least Byrd did it on his own; you couldn't buy him.

Now we're on the cusp of a special election, complete with a primary. 10 Republicans - originally 11, but one was having back surgery and couldn't answer the phone when the W.Va. Secretary of State's office called seeking more details on his application. They kicked him off the ballot but left some guy who ran for President on the Republican ticket in New Hampshire in 2008, only gathering 39 votes. He demanded a recount and that only brought the total up to 43. This guy lives in California, and gave his first speech of the campaign, I kid you not, at the Grand Canyon!

There are other Republicans but none with bigger names than John Raese and Mac Warner. Mac just ran in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary, losing due to the fact that his family business is in bankruptcy. Raese lost to Sen. Jay Rockefeller in 1984, lost to Byrd in 2006, and has now come back around hoping the third try is the charm. Raese is a nice guy but a terrible campaigner and surrounds himself with bad campaign people. Using the WV MetroNews network that he owns isn't helping.

On the Democrat side you have the self-anointed Gov. Joe Manchin, who is a nice guy and is a pretty decent governor, but is still from the old school good-old-boys network and who manipulated our Legislature to pass the laws paving the way for his self-anointment as Byrd heir-apparent. The legislature, for three days, ceased being the Legislature and became employees of the executive branch.

Facing Manchin is the 95-year-old Ken Hechler, the former U.S. Congressman and former W.Va. Secretary of State. He is three years older than Byrd when he died last month, but he is far more coherent and very motivated to give Manchin a race. He wants to give people a choice, especially the anti-mountaintop removal people, billing his campaign as a referendum of sorts on the infamous practice. The question is if Hechler loses, does that mean that West Virginians support mtr? Charleston Daily Mail reporter Ry Rivard asked the question, with Hechler responding people might vote for Manchin for other reasons.

There are other candidates on both sides, but they're going to have to have a plane write their names in the sky. With just over a month until the primary election Aug. 28 it's going to come down to name recognition. Mac and Raese on the WVGOP side and Manchin and Hechler on the Democrat side. A lot can happen in 30-some days and I am excited by the fact I can't predict this.

Either way, we're at a crossroads for sure.