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I guess Manchin sees this as his way out of DC. Still, he’s going to face an ever-increasingly GOP WV legislature, which I believe no Democrat Governor has had to contend with (other than the present one), and I can’t imagine why he’d want to go back to Charleston to encounter a mini-version of DC with he playing the role of Zero for 4 or 8 years.

Add to that, if Tomblin or Manchin name a Dem to the vacancy, it is almost certain to go GOP in 2018. The question is which Republican it will go to. David McKinley will be almost 72 at the start of the 2019 session, too old. Alex Mooney will be just 47, but unless he increases his performance, he’ll still wear the badge of carpetbagger (despite having only moved some 20 miles from his old home in Frederick, MD to just across the Potomac). That leaves Evan Jenkins, he’ll be 58. Lacking Mooney’s baggage and age-wise, he may be the best fit.

I had high hopes for Atty Gen Patrick Morrisey, but he easily capitulated on gay marriage, so I have no use for him.