Posted on 09/27/2005 4:25:34 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) plans to announce today that he will seek a ninth term, ending months of speculation the 87-year-old lawmaker was considering retiring next year to avoid a grueling re-election campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollcall.com ...
Just what we need...sheets in diapers
"Pretty, pretty, pretty . . ."
"Spirit"?? Does that mean wearing the sheets? As in Caspar the Ghost? Or as in Robert Byrd, Grand Kleegle of the KKK?
Can he campaign from beyond the grave?
Does no one else live in WV?
Would it be plausible to expect people to want some term limits for Senators?
Robt. Byrd is the conscience (or is that "the incontinence") of the Democrat Party.
PLEASE, SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, PUT THIS FOSSIL IN A MUSEUM AND OUT OF THE U.S. SENATE!!!
Turn the old Scallywag out. He ain't nothing but a Blatherskite.
From the book, "I Know Why the Aged Byrd Stinks."
Add Kennedy to that list
That Depends.
Unbelievable. Hang it up Sheets, it's over already.
Good one...
If he dry cleans his sheet he'll be as good as new.
He better be prepared to get roughed up. He's not getting this one for free nomatter what the situation.
I think we can win this one if whomever runs against him runs smart. I was hearing that if Capito doesn't run, a former Coach of WV State (I think) who's popular might run. If he's pro-life, it might actually make up for his lack of experience and connections, because he could beat Byrd upside the head on that issue all day long.
I had to brush up and check - the governor's a Dim, so I assume he'll get to appoint his replacement when the old coot croaks in the Senate Chamber.
"...Just what we need...sheets in diapers..."
How do we know he's not wearing them now?
I like your tagline, but it's better if the last word is "Jackass"
"...Can he campaign from beyond the grave?..."
Why, of course he can. He's a dimoCRACK!
Senility can cause strange behavior, but that doesn't explain Byrds early days in the Senate.
When he goes on one of his long rambles in the Senate chamber, I'm amazed people can take it. I would think even people in his own party would be ready to strangle him.
How will they know when he has croaked? When he stops making a d*mn fool of himself.
I predict he will pass on in October of 2006 and Bill Clinton will enter the race in an attempt at racial reconciliation.
He has crosses left to burn.
Thanks, talking about jack asses, maybe West Virginian's continue to vote for Byrd because of all the inbreeding.
He needs "the grace to go" (point shaking finger).
LOL! And other crosses left to double.
When we say "As old as the hills," we don't mean Byrdbrain. He's older.
He really does.
Byrd is afraid that Bush might have a chance to appoint a black person to the Supreme Court or to the Cabinet in the last two years of his term, and he wants to be in the Senate so he can vote "no."
I will say this in defense of the old Klothesline: he can play the fiddle better than me... and Laura Ingraham's lute-enhanced version of his senate floor Chaucer reading was - amazingly - simultaneously humorous and soporific.
Hey, look at it this way, we're saving money if he remains in office...we don't have to pay him retirement and pay another to fill his seat! Just fiscally responsible voters...bahaa!
miserable, pompous old toad. Period!!!! Should be ashamed of his backround.
I was thinking he might volunteer to withdraw the pork he got for West Virginia back in the pot to help pay expenses for Katrina and Rita? I suppose that is a non-starter now.
So thats why he is giving Roberts thumbs up...now I got it.
"Young In Spirit?"
FGS, he's got sheets older than me!
ROFLMAO!
I saw him playing his fiddle on RFD-TV the other day. This was taped back in the '70s.
:(
Sometime back in the seventies, I remember him fiddling on some Grand ol' Opry special of some kind. I switched channels faster than I can do it now with a remote in hand.
I remember he was wearing a vest as red as his political persuasion.
Good lord,
He's three days older than dirt.
Ooops!
02 = 04
You know this how?
2) I don't know about any coach
Read about it in a recent Robert Novak column at http://realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-9_24_05_RN.html
Going After Byrd
Republican leaders have a strong backup candidate to challenge Sen. Robert Byrd's election in West Virginia to a ninth term: former West Virginia University basketball coach Gale Catlett.
The GOP's first choice is still Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, but she has shown reluctance to run. Catlett remains a popular figure with instant recognition in West Virginia.
The 87-year-old Byrd, the Senate's senior member in both age and service, is a living legend in the Mountaineer state. But Republicans believe he is incapable of waging a vigorous campaign and would be vulnerable to a strong challenger. Catlett is 64 years old.
but it's WVU, not WV State.
My bad.
3) Hiram Lewis, a 34yr. old lawyer, former Army Ranger and Iraqi war vet has his hat in the GOP ring. WV is 2-1 Dem but elected Pres. Bush by 6% and 13% in 00 and 02 respectively. The people of this state are very patriotic and the kind of stuff that Byrd has been spouting against the war was one reason for the increase in Pres. Bush's wins here. The fly in the ointment is the state Rep. party. They are in disarray and in debt. I am not holding my breath waiting for the RNC to set things straight cause it ain't gonna happen. It's a shame, Byrd is ripe for the pickin' but the Reps. are gonna let it slip through their hands.
The RNC has already started to get involved. They have already been running ads (actually, it might be the NRCC, but same thing in terms of the nationals getting involved) against Byrd, and are obviously on top of recruiting. The bench is shallow in WV, but I think that any credible R with the right campaign message can make it a tough race.
Let's face it, Byrd can't run a tough race. He can raise money, sure, but can he go out and give speeches all over the state? Can he work the crowds? No. Far too old. Matter of fact, I'm a little worried that a vigorous campaign will kill him, which, in spite of my disagreements with him, I obviously don't want.
Any candidate who runs a credible campaign can beat on Byrd's vulnerabilities to death (his liberalism, especially on the WOT, and his age), and hope for the best. It's worked before when the state changes on you a'la Carper vs. Roth in Delaware 2000. Roth was from the ice age as well, but his state was shifting more and more D, and when he got a credible challenger with the right message, he got his clock cleaned.
Granted, Carper was a great candidate, an equivilant to Capito here, but Carper won 56% of the vote. It's hardly inconceveable that a generic D could hace scraped out a 51% victory. So with Captio or without, I wouldn't count it out entirely. It won't necessarily happen, but it's far from impossible.
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