Free Republic

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...

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) is an unabashed proponent of labor laws foisting union monopoly bargaining on public employees and government agencies. As recently as this June, in an interview with the Charleston Daily Mail, Mr. Manchin endorsed a state law forcing local school boards in West Virginia to grant a single teacher union the power to speak for all teachers in their district, including those who don’t want to join.According to the Daily Mail’s account, the governor actually said that such a monopoly-bargaining law would constitute a “solution” to “West Virginia’s education woes”! Fortunately for independent-minded public employees...

(Martinsburg, W.V.) West Virginia governor Joe Manchin once supported Obamacare, saying days before it passed in March that he'd vote "for it" if he were in the House of Representatives. Now, in the midst of a tight Senate race with Republican John Raese, the very popular Manchin has run away from the very unpopular health care law. He's called for for "repealing the things that are bad," such as the individual mandate, the federal funding for abortion coverage, and the 1099 reporting requirement for businesses. But he hasn't gone into great detail about what, exactly, he supports in the law.  Asked Friday night if he wants...

Here is video of University of Virginia Professor Larry Sabato this morning saying he believes the GOP will win the House by “a wide margin.” Sabato said the latest polling shows the Washington Senate race is going to be “extremely close,” and may be trending Republican, which would be an additional GOP gain to what he had as his final projection last week. Sabato said only West Virginia seems to be moving in the Democrats’ direction. He said that early on Election Night, if West Virginia winds up going to the GOP, he believes the GOP “will win the Senate...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Raese continues to enjoy large crowds, upwards of 400 at a recent event in Martinsburg and 250 in Charleston. Raese seems to have surprisingly enthusiastic crowds in the southern coal counties, too.   On Saturday, campaign organizers expect a very large gathering in Charleston to cap off Raese's ten-week barnstorming campaign across the state. Rock legend and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent will be on hand to lead a rally for Raese at Haddad Riverfront Park, beginning at 1:00 p.m.   Another crowd pleaser will be the appearance of former New York City Mayor Rudy...

Sarah Palin says Democrat Joe Manchin is a good governor - but she says West Virginia voters should keep him in the governor's mansion and out of the U.S. Senate. Palin, the former governor of Alaska and one-time vice presidential candidate, was in Charleston on Saturday to support Republican John Raese (RAY'-see)'s Senate bid. She drew cheers when she said Manchin was a better fit as governor.

Having both former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and rock legend Ted Nugent in state over the weekend has created some serious ripples, including one from the Manchin campaign. In response to the overflow crowd of 2,700+ at Charleston's Haddad Riverfront Park for Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Raese this past Saturday, the Manchin staff hastily announced that former President Bill Clinton would return to campaign for Manchin on Monday, this time in Beckley. Still, Raese has one more rabbit to pull from his brown Stetson in the form of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who will campaign with...

CHARLES TOWN - From the Ohio River to the Eastern Panhandle, West Virginians are fed up. They're disappointed in their politicians and disgusted with how they're behaving. They're frustrated their taxes helped fund bailouts they'd never get. They're tired of career politicians, yet wary of those who want to replace them. But that anger makes them unpredictable: Interviews with dozens of would-be voters from Parkersburg to Charles Town suggest that many are just as likely to cast a protest vote on Election Day as they are to stay home. "We need some Americans, instead of Democrats and Republicans,'' says Ed...

The Senate contest in West Virginia is between Joe Manchin's popularity and Barack Obama's unpopularity and in the end it looks as though Manchin's popularity will win out. Manchin leads John Raese 51-46 in PPP's final look at the race. Manchin is the most popular politician we've polled on anywhere in the country this year and it's by a wide margin. On this final poll his approval rating hit the 70% mark with only 22% disapproving of him. Usually you would expect someone with those kinds of numbers to have an easy time of it but Manchin's been hampered by...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, provided a last-minute surprise visit to the Ted Nugent rally for Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Raese in Charleston Saturday afternoon. The crowd present for the event was the largest of any event held by either Raese or Governor Joe Manchin this year. An estimated crowd of 2,700 came out on a clear, sunny October day from across West Virginia and sang the "Star Spangled Banner" with Nugent, the rock legend from the late 70s who has emerged as a leading voice for sportsmen and women across America. The event--part political...

Sarah Palin took to the campaign trail today in a final push before election day, headlining a rally for Republican Senate candidate John Raese. "I'm seeing all these 'mountain mamas and wondering, 'Mountain mamas? Is that anything close to the 'mama grizzlies'?'" the former Alaska governor asked. "I've been traveling a lot of country roads these last few months especially, trying to get people to understand how important it is that we do elect the right people on Nov. 2 to turn this country around," Palin said...

News of an ongoing federal investigation of West Virginia Governor and Senate-candidate Joe Manchin breaks in a Huntington News editorial: A growing number of media outlets across West Virginia are beginning to cover the federal investigation involving Governor Manchin and his administration. This is a significant development in and of itself. After all, many media outlets are reticent to cover a potentially criminal matter in the midst of a candidate's campaign for Governor, lest they look like they are "attacking" the candidate unfairly. Plus, we live under the dictum that a man is innocent before proven guilty. That is especially...

Democratic Governor Joe Manchin has been in overdrive in recent days to distance himself from President Obama and congressional Democrats, and now he’s edged back into a three-point advantage in West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely West Virginia Voters finds Manchin with 49% support to Republican John Raese’s 46%. Two percent (2%) like another candidate in the race, while four percent (4%) remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) This is the first time Manchin’s had any edge in the polling since mid-September, and the race now moves from Leans Republican...

Organized labor is holding its nose and spending money to protect key Democrats in the Senate, hoping to create a bulwark to hold back Republicans in the House. But labor has abandoned 26 House Democrats who did not support the union agenda in the 111th Congress, leaving them to be pounded by corporate-funded third party groups. Two of the nation’s biggest labor unions, AFSCME and SEIU, have spent generously on independent expenditures to help Democratic House candidates. But Blue Dog Democrats and other Democratic centrists who did not support healthcare reform or the Employee Free Choice Act are facing a...

The federal investigation of West Virginia Governor and Democratic Senate candidate Joe Manchin's administration is spreading but still not all the way to the mainstream media. What began in August with subpoenas issued in connection with the state's Department of Highways has grown as more subpoenas have been issued for West Virginia's Aviation Division director along with flight logs and records for official government aircraft.

Democratic Governor Joe Manchin has been in overdrive in recent days to distance himself from President Obama and congressional Democrats, and now he’s edged back into a three-point advantage in West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely West Virginia Voters finds Manchin with 49% support to Republican John Raese’s 46%. Two percent (2%) like another candidate in the race, while four percent (4%) remain undecided.

Republican John Raese has again taken the lead over incumbent Governor John Manchin in the Senate race to replace Robert Byrd. This came after several polls showed Manchin with a small lead (although one had him up by 10%). Raese is running a very hard campaign while Manchin's ties with Obama appear to be hurting him. West Virginia is a heavily Democratic state but filled with conservatives-- even those registered to the Democratic Party. Manchin is very popular at home and many believe that sending him to the Senate will simply reduce the state's effectiveness and give another vote for...

An ongoing federal grand jury investigation of the Manchin administration took a new turn Monday, with sources confirming that federal subpoenas were issued for the state Aviation Division director and for records maintained by the Aviation Division. The subpoenas were issued for director Keith Wood and for division flight records. Department of Justice investigators first issued subpoenas in August 2009, seeking records from the Division of Highway's Right-of-Way Division. That sparked speculation that the investigation might have something to do with then-Manchin chief of staff Larry Puccio, co-owner of Puccio and York LLC, a Fairmont-based real estate appraisal firm. The...

The new Fox News poll of the West Virginia Senate race has Republican businessman John Raese holding on to a narrow lead against Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin. The numbers: Raese 48%, Manchin 46%. The survey of likely voters has a ±3% margin of error. In the previous Fox poll from last week, Raese led by a similar 48%-45%. This race has been neck and neck, as two factors compete against each other: Manchin's profile as a relatively conservative Democrat and his very high approval rating as governor, at 69% in this particular poll, compared to President Obama's similarly high disapproval...

The Spirit of the Wild is coming to the West Virginia Senate race. Rock guitarist Ted Nugent will campaign for Republican John Raese this weekend, days before the GOP nominee and Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin face off in the highly competitive race to succeed the late Sen. Robert Byrd. Nugent, a controversial gun rights advocate, is scheduled to headline a rally for Raese and perform a concert Saturday in Charleston, W. Va. After years of being outnumbered in the solidly Democratic state, West Virginia Republicans are pulling out all the stops for Raese’s campaign – which is widely regarded as...