"Young In Spirit" (yeah, right) Robert Byrd Seeks Nineth Term In WV

Roll Call ^ | September 27, 2005 | Mark Preston

[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.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Byrd Seeks Nineth Term In WV

So thats why he is giving Roberts thumbs up...now I got it.

[maggief]

"Young In Spirit?"

FGS, he's got sheets older than me!

[Past Your Eyes]

ROFLMAO!
I saw him playing his fiddle on RFD-TV the other day. This was taped back in the '70s.
:(

[F.J. Mitchell]

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.

[Roccus]

1) Capito ain't runnin. 2) I don't know about any coach, but it's WVU, not WV State. 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.

[manwiththehands]

[najida]

Good lord,
He's three days older than dirt.

[Roccus]

Ooops!

02 = 04

[Kuksool]

KKK Byrd is losing his sanity each time he speaks on the Senate floor. My uncle, who lives in WV, voted for him many times in the past. Now he finds him to be an embarrassment. Byrd is definitely vulnerable. If Shelley Capito does decide to run, then she will 2006 to be a "Pretty, pretty, pretty year" for her.

[zbigreddogz]

1) Capito ain't runnin.

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.

[Roccus]

Capito doesn't want to risk WV's only Republican presence in Washington. Catlett, although there is name recognition, is a non- starter. Lewis, with his recent service, will be the best shot. Don Blankenship (sp?) from Massey Energy, has been spreading big $$$ for ads here in WV for Republican causes. In '04 he spent a lot to get rid of an old time Dem. SC justice and got a Rep. elected in his place. He also spent big $$$ defeating Gov. Manchin's bond issue. (This was a beaut of a deal. Manchin wanted to borrow $5.5 billion and invest it in the stock market to pay off the state's unfunded liability for pensions.) With Blankenship around, the Reps. may not have to worry too much about $$.
Byrd's age, IMO, means nothing here. We are one of, if not the oldest state in the Union. Many people here love him for all the pork he's brought in. If the Rep. leadership shows support for Lewis, thereby showing WV voters that he will be able to do things for them in DC, his opposition to Byrd's stand on the WOT and Iraq may be just the ticket to unseat Sheets. As for the RNC or NRCC running ads here, I ain't seen anything in North Central WV.

[ChefKeith]

Oh man! I hope this doesn't mean we gotta keep listening to his fillibuster stories about his dog...

Please SOMEBODY run against this guy!!!

[jdhljc169]

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.

***

He's a good Dim. Cutting taxes among other things. Local Dems in this area tend to be more conservative. It would be good if he appointed himself (can you do that?).

Check this:
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=104&subid=116&contentid=253185

And this:
Governor: Please vote for Joe Manchin. Manchin has a 100% pro-life voting record and a 22 year public record of standing up for the rights of unborn children.
http://wv.conservatives.org/prolife/2004prolife.htm

[jdhljc169]

Thanks, talking about jack asses, maybe West Virginian's continue to vote for Byrd because of all the inbreeding.

***

Hey yahoo, I resent that remark. Typical liberal sterotypical statement. Are you one?

[MAD-AS-HELL]

To use the words of Sgt. Hulka, "Lighten up, Francis"