Replies

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.

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.