Posted on 08/26/2003 8:08:07 AM PDT by mountaineer
State Democrats are nervous.
It's not anything we are being told or even something substantive we can put our finger on that makes us think that. But if the reaction of state Democratic Party leaders to recent news releases and speeches from the state Republican Party is any indication, then they aren't sleeping well lately.
Two examples just this month tell us reams about who's starting to crack. On Aug. 6, in a state GOP news release, the media was informed that Gov. Bob Wise had informed some cabinet heads and other staffers he would not seek re-election in 2004.
Just stirring the pot or seeing if it would stick was our first thought. And the immediate reaction of the governor and his staff gave us good reason to think either.
The governor's spokeswoman denied this "rumor" within hours of it being faxed and e-mailed to state media outlets. A day later the governor made it more emphatic: "That is so incredibly off-base, totally unfounded and absurd that I don't want to comment on it except to say it's absurd."
Five days later, guess what happens? The governor announces he won't run for re-election in 2004. Imagine that.
Then in another unguarded moment, within days of Wise's decision, a Democratic legislator complained to the media he had not received a letter from the state GOP inviting him to switch sides.
That insecurity was in reference to a speech that state Republican Party Chairman Kris Warner made in July calling on Democrats to join the GOP before they had to face a steam locomotive in the 2004 election.
According to the Democratic lawmaker, whose name we will reveal to expose the innocent, state Sen. Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, Warner vowed to send out formal letters attesting to that invitation. In response to Bailey's whining about the lack of a formal letter asking him to jump ship, Warner immediately ordered letters mailed to him and all Democratic legislators.
Republicans had their best electoral showing in 30 years in 2002, upping their House ranks from 25 to 32, almost a third of the seats, and their Senate ranks from six to 10 of 34 members.
Warner is a Morgantown native, and his brother, Monty Warner, is running for the Republican Party nomination to vie for the governor's office.
That being said, it also should be noted that we do not blindly favor our native sons or their party casually. There are Democrats this newspaper has endorsed in the past and may endorse in the future.
And we are not above disputing policies or candidates of the state GOP. But we believe what the state GOP is accomplishing now is an extension of what it was able to do in 2002 and we encourage that.
Democrats have controlled both houses of the Legislature for more than 70 years, not to mention most state and federal offices.
We think a two-party state is a noble idea and deserves our support. It also helps to keep us all honest. Why would that make anyone nervous?
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