Posted on 03/13/2014 9:08:16 PM PDT by smoothsailing
March 12, 2014
A longtime House Democrat in electoral jeopardy this fall says he supported former President George W. Bush more than President Obama.
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), first elected in 1976, is a top target of Republicans in a state where Obama has long been deeply unpopular. He is facing a state senator, Evan Jenkins, who switched to the GOP to challenge him, and the House Democratic campaign committee recently added him to its “Frontline” list of members that need the most help saving their seat in November.
“There’s no question my critics try to blame Obama-Rahall for everything,” Rahall told The Hill. “I mean, the snow blitz that’s coming tonight is probably Obama-Rahall’s fault. And they won’t have that to do two years from now, so it’s obvious they’re leaving no stone unturned to defeat me this time. Because it’s the last time they’ll have Obama around! It’s that simple.”
Obama’s national approval rating fell to the lowest of his presidency, 41 percent, in an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday. In West Virginia, however, it is much lower. A Gallup study released in January found that during 2013, an average of just 25 percent of West Virginians approved of the president’s performance.
Rahall acknowledged that Obama was deeply unpopular in his district, and he quickly ticked off a half dozen policies where the two have disagreed: coal, trade, immigration, abortion, gun control and the conduct of Attorney General Eric Holder, who Rahall voted to hold in contempt. “That’s just off the top of my head,” he said.
“I will support him when he’s good for West Virginia, and I will oppose him when he’s bad for West Virginia,” Rahall said.
Asked if Obama had been good for West Virginia overall, he replied, “Probably not.”
“I probably have supported George Bush more than I have Barack Obama,” Rahall said. “Am I going to switch parties because of that? No. I’m a Democrat, born a Democrat, am a Democrat and will die a Democrat.”
Rahall spoke a day after Democrats lost a hard-fought special election race in Florida that centered on the president’s policies and the healthcare law.
He downplayed the significance of the result, saying it did not impact how he would run his race this fall.
On ObamaCare, Rahall said he has called on Republicans to work with Democrats to fix it without demanding its outright repeal.
“I don’t think I need to call for more fixes,” he said. “I think I need to call for more bipartisanship from the other side, instead of just repeal, repeal, repeal. Because that’s not going to fix anything.
“I have always said in my 38 years here I have never seen a perfect law, and the [Affordable Care Act] is not a perfect law. But it’s not going to be repealed. Not now. Not never. So let’s face reality, my friends, and let’s try to work together to fix it," Rahall added.
Jenkins on Tuesday highlighted a GOP poll showing him with a 14-point lead over Rahall, 54 percent to 40 percent. Rahall laughed it off. “My poll does not show that, I guarantee you,” he said, without specifying numbers.
He pointed to outside conservative groups that have targeted him with ads and said voters are “getting tired” of the negative commercials. Help from Democratic fund-raisers in Washington, he said, is on its way. “Because of the tactics being employed by the other side, that is coming hand over fist every day now,” Rahall said.
The National Republican Congressional Committee dismissed Rahall’s bid to distance himself from Obama, citing his support for Democratic budget proposals and the original healthcare law in 2010.
“If Nick Rahall is looking to blame someone for his problems he should look in the mirror,” NRCC spokesman Ian Prior said. “His support of Obama certainly isn’t going to help him, but its Rahall’s own record of voting against West Virginia’s economic interests that is going to sink him in November.”
Duck and cover!
Question 2: Did you vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker?
Question 3: How will you spend your retirement?
Finally: Obama’s fault!
Won’t be long and he’ll be saying all the things Obama said were Bushes fault, weren’t.
“Rahall: I supported Bush more than Obama”
He has to have someone to blame after he loses.
Next it will be: Some of my best friends are #1. Tea Partyers, #2. Christians #3.Hetro-friendly #4. Employed. #5 Not in jail #6. Global Warming Deniers.
GOP poll: Longtime Rep. Rahall (DW.Va.) down double digits
Washington Post (blog) - by Aaron Blake - 2 days ago Congressman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) chats backstage with drummer Bill Kreutzmann before the Grateful Dead's concert at the Verizon Center.
“And now Rahall’s using an Obama activist to claim he’s pro-coal? That’s flat-out offensive, and Nick Rahall should take down this false ad,” Smith adds.
He concludes: “Take it from a West Virginia coal miner who’s never campaigned for Obama: Nick Rahall’s helped Obama kill our coal jobs, and now he’s lying about his record.”
Rahall was recently added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s program for vulnerable incumbents, and a survey from Jenkins’ campaign earlier this week showed him down by 14 to the Republican. Coal, which makes up a large portion of West Virginia’s economy, has been a central focus of Republican attacks.
“Finally: Obama’s fault!:”
Actually, this guy pulled off a twofer, HE supported Bush and Obama, two of the least popular presidents since Nixon and Carter.
LOL!!!
Rahall was born in Beckley. He is of Lebanese descent. His father was a business owner, including radio stations in West Virginia. Rahall graduated in 1971 from Duke University. He attended graduate school at the George Washington University. He then went to work for the late U.S. Senator Robert Byrd.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Times ran an article about Rahall and his sister, lobbyist Tanya Rahall. They reported that she made $15,000 per month as a lobbyist for Qatar and that “the person she frequently lobbies is...her older brother and one of Qatar’s biggest champions in Washington.” Rahall said “our paths cross professionally, but not across any lines appropriately established by law or House rules.”
Rahall has expressed concern about America’s relationship with Israel. He said, “Israel can’t continue to occupy, humiliate and destroy the dreams and spirits of the Palestinian people and continue to call itself a democratic state.”
In March 2008, Nick Rahall endorsed Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for president, saying Obama understands the needs and aspirations of West Virginians.
In an interview with Keith Olbermann, Rahall said that Obama had the courage and conviction to win the presidency, and that the then-senator was a true agent for change.
Rahall accepts the scientific consensus on global warming, saying to the Register-Herald that denial of climate change is “to just put your head in the sand.”
In March 2010, Rahall voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare. In May 2013, Rahall voted against a resolution to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Well, if he wants to “die a Democrat”, he will be remembered as one, which is not positively.
In February 2005, Rahall used congressional stationery to write a letter to a Fairfax County judge asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing felony robbery charges. Rahall III has a long record of criminal arrests and drug charges that began with his 1998 drug arrest. Another defendant in the same case was given a sentence of 11 months in prison. It also noted that according to the house ethics manual, “Official stationery...may be used only for official purposes.” Rahall said that he should not have used congressional stationery for letter but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall added he may have drawn the wrong paper “[i]n the emotions” and that he would reimburse the Treasury for the cost. The House Ethics Committee did not launch an inquiry into the incident.
In July 2009, Rahall jumped out of a plane to show his support for the coal industry. The event was intended to show the importance of the coal industry to both West Virginia and the United States as a whole. The act confused some, who questioned the reasoning behind the jump. It was noted that Rahall is involved with coal lobbyists and also receives contributions from the airline industry.
LOL, Bush fault!!!
Well, as my dear grandmother used to say;”The only good Democrat, is a dead Democrat.”
Rotten to then core.
The LIB/DIM bum should be in prison.
History will be hard-pressed to find a single good one from that party. I can’t see any that were really for anything that the USA was founded on.
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