On October 24, 2010, Gov. Joe Manchin went to a "Friends of Coal" rally in Logan, WV, where he was greeted by protesters from the local tea party -- the West Virginia Coalfield Tea Party Patriots. They said opponent John Raese, a business mogul and three-time failed candidate in statewide races, was the real friend of coal and waved signs with slogans such as "Obama says vote Democrat," "Obama, One Big Ass Mistake America," and "Kill Liberalism." Shaun Adkins, a lumber yard manager and founder of the local tea party chapter, said Manchin could not be trusted to support the coal industry in Washington.[59]
The protests came despite the fact that Manchin has sued the U.S. EPA over new regulations on mountaintop removal coal mining, and his campaign is running an advertisement opposing the cap-and-trade bill the House passed last year, the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill. Manchin has the endorsement of the West Virginia Coal Association and the United Mine Workers of America in the race to complete the term of the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D). But Raese has been campaigning saying the governor will be a "rubber stamp" for the Obama administration's attempts to regulate the industry's mining and carbon dioxide emissions.[59]