Posted on 11/02/2010 9:15:21 AM PDT by Qbert
One can only imagine the behind-the-scenes stresses accompanying West Virginia's Governor, Joe Manchin, these days. For starters, Manchin finds himself in a surprise, neck-and-neck race with Morgantown businessman John Raese, now the political contest of the Governor's life.
But unlike Raese, Manchin also has to deal with the serious legal and public relations problems associated with a federal investigation into his administration that is getting increasingly close to the Governor himself. The Charleston Gazette's Phil Kabler put it succinctly in last Saturday's piece, "Two factors could play key role in election":
"From the administration's perspective, two troubling events took place last Monday:
1. A federal judge agreed to postpone sentencing for Clark Diehl over his plea to make bogus bids related to a contract to redecorate gubernatorial offices, because of Diehl's cooperation in the ongoing federal investigation; 2. The investigation expanded with new subpoenas for Aviation Division Director Keith Wood and for Aviation Division documents."
Kabler goes on to mention that 70% of the airtime used on the state aircraft is done by the Governor's office. Manchin has already come under scrutiny for some questionable flights that don't seem to be completely necessary for state business, like trips to the NCAA Final Four basketball games with family and friends. Kabler notes that federal investigators may wonder why guests of the Governor didn't have to reimburse the state for such free trips.
"Let's be clear," said Jack Ellis, Senior Political Analyst for Huntingtonnews.net. "We're in a recession. Everyone has to scrimp and save. So for the Governor of a cash-strapped state to be out joy-riding on our dime is at least insulting and possibly illegal. Governor Manchin appears to have used the state's aircraft as if they were his own private property. He has a kind of imperial approach to his administration, doesn't he?"
"But what's worse is that, if the feds get enough evidence together to indict Governor Manchin, whether he is a new U.S. Senator or remains as Governor after Tuesday's vote, we may be looking at yet another national embarassment in a few months," said Ellis. "These kind of investigations have been known to be career enders for many politicians in West Virginia. When a former Governor was taken to federal prison, at least he was already out of office. But if Manchin goes down, we're talking maximum bad publicity for West Virginia, especially if he is in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Senate."
"Nothing may come of this investigation, but you have to admit, this is getting pretty interesting," said Ellis. "The Obama Administration is very friendly towards Manchin for all the help he's given them on Obamacare, the Stimulus package, and Cap-and-Trade. And yet Obama's own Justice Department has thought this federal investigation was important enough to pursue, even in the middle of a Democratic Governor's election campaign for U.S. Senate. Now what's up with that?"
"West Virginians have gotten very few answers from Governor Manchin about this investigation, and that makes many nervous about what's coming next," said Ellis. "This federal investigation is getting hot now with the Governor's aircraft logs being examined by prosecutors. I think even a lot of Democrats are thinking twice about whether to give Manchin that U.S. Senate seat about now."
"They may not agree with Raese on everything, though they do like his pro-jobs, pro-coal stands," said Ellis. "But hey, at least Raese isn't facing a possible federal indictment. That's a real plus about now."
Saw a brief live interview of him this morning, and he looked bad. He’s just one step ahead of the law, and he knows it.
“Let’s be clear,” said Jack Ellis, Senior Political Analyst for Huntingtonnews.net. “We’re in a recession. Everyone has to scrimp and save. So for the Governor of a cash-strapped state to be out joy-riding on our dime is at least insulting and possibly illegal. Governor Manchin appears to have used the state’s aircraft as if they were his own private property. He has a kind of imperial approach to his administration, doesn’t he?”
Is he speaking of Obama or his Governor.
Sounds to me like either of them could be the subject of that Statement.
“Saw a brief live interview of him this morning, and he looked bad. He’s just one step ahead of the law, and he knows it.”
Interesting- thanks kittymyrib.
“I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for that. Raese appeared to have peaked in early October. Now, I want Raese to win as much as anyone here does but the trend of the polls is clearly against him winning. Here’s hoping for a high turnout in WV.”
It’s one of the most watched races- anything could happen. Just get people out to vote.
Low early voting in southern coal counties could doom Manchin:
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/political/101102-staff-politicalmanchin.html
Clearly these announcements have been delayed as they try desperately not to affect the election.
I’d love to see Manchin go down, but I suspect that he will get elected, then get hit by the law, and then get replaced by another Democrat.
The Democrats have bought and paid for West Virginia for decades, unfortunately, and that is going to be very hard to break.
Still, let’s hope!
“Low early voting in southern coal counties could doom Manchin”
Good report. The thought of Manchin going down for lack of support in McDowell, Mingo, Logan, Wyoming, et al. Counties is music to my ears.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.