This is just what West Virginia needs:
Top GOP strategists are plotting ways to force WV to hold a special election this year, in hopes of giving the party a better chance to pick off the seat of the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), according to several party sources.
The RNC and the WV GOP are exploring ways to bring a lawsuit that would force the Mountaineer State to hold an election earlier than planned, the sources said. That could be the best option for the GOP, which believes it can win Byrd’s seat in this favorable political climate.
But it will involve compelling the state to actually hold the contest. WV Sec/State Natalie Tennant (D) said last week that Gov. Joe Manchin’s (D) eventual appointee would be able to serve until the ’12 elections. And election law precedent appears to be on Tennant’s side, given a WV Supreme Court decision from ’94.
The RNC has already transfered money to the state GOP, according to a committee source.
I hope Natalie Tennant and Jake Glance understand the flash mob of hate that is about to descend on them, eager to inspect their countertops. Tennant is pretty much a straight shooter and is just following established law, but that won’t matter a bit.
Chad S
I’m sure they’ll sue, but it’ll be hard to explain to a judge why he should overturn state law unless they have an email from the governor saying “I’m going to stall so that the special election won’t happen until 2012.”
jwb
I can’t say I’m surprised. What’s the WV State Supreme Court look like these days?
schrodinger's cat
Can Tunch run for the Senate seat?
General Egali Tarian Stuck
West “by gawd” Virginians, like east Kentuckians don’t cotton to outsiders coming in and agitating for anything. That usually is a kiss of death for such an enterprise the GOP is contemplating. Hillbilly blowback isn’t New York or Massachusetts blowback. The “mind yer own beeswax’ spittle is high velocity.
Josh
John, didn’t you know?
Only commie hippie fascists follow the rule of law. True American Patriots are rebels who Go Rogue and damn the rules and partisan rancor.
Legal precedent be damned! The voice of the people demands TO BE HEARD!
stannate
This may be more relevant for the Open Thread, but I spent quite a few days last week in different parts of West Virginia, which was capped off by off-roading with a Russian Orthodox monk on his monastery near Wayne. Christ, those are some steep “hills” you have in your state
Other highlights (and “highlights”) included being freaked out at how twisty the Turnpike is–though I-68 through Maryland is nearly the Turnpike’s equal–eating really good Kenyan food in Morgantown (though it was a shame that the PRT was closed for the summer), boggling at the sheer number of strip clubs just outside of Huntington, and wondering why it looks like none of the state’s high-rollers want to live or work right next to the State Capitol.
Hunter Gathers
Hate to break this you Mr. Cole, but Tennant has already bent on this, and wants the Legislature to change the law to have a special election this year.
John Cole
@Hunter Gathers: I’m fine with them dealing with things through the legislative process. That is how things are supposed to work. You interpret the law, and if it is not working, you change it.
John Cole
@stannate: I used to live a mile from the Kenyan Cafe- they have great teas.
burnspbesq
@Hunter Gathers:
Yeah, but special sessions are expensive, and like all state and local governments West Virginia isn’t exactly rolling in dough. They should be fiscally responsible.
;-)
jwb
@Hunter Gathers: I don’t necessarily read this as Tennant bending. I read her action as sending it to the legislature, where, if the pols decide they want to do so, it can be halted through normal legislative procedures while dispersing responsibility for the decision. If the legislature chooses not act, that would also strengthen the legal case for the longer appointment. But I don’t know enough about internal WV politics to know if that is a reasonable reading.
Wilson Heath
Isn’t that a bit too close to the nonsense that the Dems pulled in Massachusetts so they could hand Ted Kennedy’s seat over to Scott Brown?
Sorry, I forgot. IDIYAR.
Hunter Gathers
@John Cole: I just don’t get why the Sec. of State would insert herself into a purely political situation like that. The law states that the appointee serves until 2012, why should the Sec. of State give a shit? Unless the Gov’s administration is looking to avoid the situation that occurred in Mass. when Kennedy died, and Manchin is under a shit-ton of pressure to appoint himself. I am totally ignorant of WV politics, but Tennant’s statement last week about this makes no fucking sense. To me at least. Perhaps I is a moron.
stannate
@John Cole: Yes! In fact, that was the first thing we sampled when we walked in. We also ate lunch the next day not too far from there at Slight Indulgence, as we were warned that if we were to get anything at Blue Moose Cafe, we may still be standing in line right now.
BTW, there was a really odd person inside the Kenyan Cafe asking the owner a whole series of questions based off of a survey on his laptop–primarily religious and political questions. Neither my wife nor I could place whether the guy was with a church, a PAC, or some other organization. He certainly wasn’t a census worker, that’s for sure.
JasonF
The Republicans ought to have Haley Barbour and Roger Wicker take point on this one.
Kryptik
@stannate:
You didn’t end up passing through Cumberland Gap by any chance, did you?
Again…that is always the most terrifying part of the trips to and from home there. Especially in winter.
Brian J
I have to say, I don’t fault them from trying to find a loophole or some legally valid way of getting what they want. In one of his state senate races, Obama forced the incumbent off the ballot because she didn’t have enough and/or the right kind of signatures. Some called it playing dirty, but he was able to do it, because he had the law on his side.
That said, if the Republicans manage to do it without buying some off, I will have to tip my hat to them, however miserably. They will no doubt try everything, which is why the Democrats need to fight this and make sure they win. They appear to have the law on their side, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans in the past.
And in a larger sense, if they lose the House and/or the Senate, it’s going to take a lot to convince me that it wasn’t something that could be avoided. They will certainly lose seats in the House, and might drop down a few in the Senate, but I simply don’t understand why, at this point in time, so many seem to be throwing in the towel or simply not caring. Perhaps it’s me and there is a lot more being done that I just haven’t heard about. (If that’s the case, I hope someone can fill me in.) I’m almost thinking that there is work being done, but because it’s summer, we are hearing a lot less now and will be hearing a lot more once it’s fall and the election season really kicks in.
Joshua
Remember the shit-fit the GOP threw over MA’s screwing around with special elections? The GOP sure doesn’t.
stuckinred
OT, Rachel Maddow is doing a highly intelligent tour of Afghanistan. She’s hanging with a 2 star and the All American Division right now.
Bordo
I hate Republicans, but they may be evolving. They waited until Byrd’s corpse was cold before making their move. Fucking bastards.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Bordo:
I would go with mutating, like Marburg. But that’s just me.
Brian J
@stuckinred:
How can you be sure she isn’t up against some sort of fake background? Wouldn’t it be irresponsible not to speculate?
kommrade reproductive vigor
State’s Rights! Except sometimes! Because shut up! That’s why!
Comrade Javamanphil
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: As an outsider who had to spend an unfortunate year in Eastern Kentucky, I must say this was certainly my experience. First question asked by every single person I met was “Who’s your daddy?” (i.e. should I care who your family is?)
Mr Furious
@Comrade Javamanphil: Was the second question, “Who let the dogs out?”
J.W. Hamner
@Joshua:
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I don’t particularly fault them since I think a Senator is clearly worth crass political maneuvering and healthy dose of some hypocrisy… but it’s still kind of funny in a not HaHa! way.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Comrade Javamanphil:
Once they get to know you, they might even take you rabbit huntin’. Of course, after they get to know you, they may not like you and then you are the rabbit. Hard to predict such things.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
Maybe this explains a lot about me. I am an Obot, I like the president we have, though not perfect. Criticism is ok, but without a factual case, it is time to hunt rabbits.
Charlie is an Obot too, I think. Long as the free Puppy Chow is in the bowl. Otherwise, I be deer meat.
celticdragonchick
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
Win!
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Fox 4 in Dallas is spending nearly half their 9-9:30 slot talking about gun laws because they say it’s one of the most important things being talked about. You know, because the economy is doing fine and all.
victory
I think a better title for your post would have been “GOP ISO Activist Judge”
NobodySpecial
Actually, I support the RNC throwing money at a special election, because that’s less money they’ll have for a real election. Classic CEO behavior; win a quarter, lose a year.
jeffreyw
Thread needs more food.
Bill Murray
@Comrade Javamanphil: in my years in Utah, the first question was usually what ward are you in?
Hunter Gathers
OT – I just watched something that truly pissed me off. From the mouth of a so-called ‘progressive’ at that.
Olbermann did a segment on the DOJ filing a lawsuit against Arizona’s bigoted ‘Papers, please’ law. KO made the assertion that the DOJ should not do anything about it, and let people get arrested under a complete bullshit law to win a political argument, because it will make the GOP look bad. Fuck that and fuck him and Fineman for agreeing w/him. That’s right, Keith, we should let people be put in mother fucking jail to win a political argument. Mr. Olbermann has obviously never been arrested for anything. If he did, he’d know how shitty it is, how it fucks up your life (especially over something as stupid as that racist ‘law’), and can cost you your job when you don’t show up to work because you’re in fucking jail. But we should let Hispanics be discriminated against, so it will help Democrats win a political argument.
Keith Olbermann can go fuck himself.
khead
LOL
Clif Moore is dreaming.
Brian J
@Hunter Gathers:
I’d agree with you, except that I’m pretty sure it’s a case of him not thinking things through and seeing the situation from the perspective of someone else. I’m not trying to be cute, but imagine you had the chance to speak with him and mention what you just described. He seems like he would agree with you and admit he was being boneheaded. A lot of other people wouldn’t do that.
Chris
Oh, John, “just following established law”?
As our former A.G. A.G. would say, how “quaint.”
As Glenn Beck would say, “Isn’t that a Nazi defense for big government?”
As the media will say, “Oh, no, now we’ll never know what the law is, since reasonable people can disagree! If only Democrats hadn’t politicized it by staking out a position!”
As some Democrats will say, “This proves we should never take positions!”
And as H.L. Mencken would say, “Same shit, different century.”
(note: only the snark is genuine; the quotes are imagined. Except for the “quaint” reference. Funny how we had a guy in charge of the Department of fucking Justice who thought it was a sufficient legal defense to ridicule laws for being inconvenient to his boss. Hell, funny we had an AG who thought the president was his boss.)
Mark S.
Paul and Conway in dead heat, which is pretty ridiculous considering how red Kentucky is (Obama has pretty bad numbers there). I’d be a bit pissed if I were a Republican. But as I’ve said before, one teabagger is bound to win, and the story will be that we’ve always been a teabagging nation. Hell, maybe our own Nick will get that assignment.
The Truffle
@Mark S.: I predict the teabagger in question will be the dude in Utah, where Mr. Ed would win if he were running as a Republican.
Can’t someone in the Dem party pull a Scott Brown?
Litlebritdifrnt
Oh my great FSM Harrahs in Cherokee is no longer “dry” great googly moogly! Huzzah! (Long story, great New Years Eve weekend planned, motel in Cherokee, night at the casino thought it would be fun, arrived and asked for the bar WHAT? next hour spent driving to next county for beer and gas station sandwiches for dinner, I had ham and cheese, I think DH ate beef jerky)
stannate
@Kryptik: Nope, we stuck with interstates while in WV, with the exception of heading to the monastery. I-64 through Charleston, then south on the WV Turnpike to Beckley, then east on I-64 to Virginia, DC, then Annapolis. On the way back west, due to a stop in Harrisburg and Carlisle, we avoided the PA Turnpike and headed south on I-81 to Hagerstown, then I-70 to I-68. After leaving Morgantown, we headed on I-79 back to Charleston, then back west on I-64 to Huntington.
Two side comments:
1. When I think of central Pennsylvania, I will forever think of old people who are forever crotchety and slow, and being driven stir-crazy by boredom.
2. Huntington can take on the IL suburbs of Saint Louis when it comes to sleazy strip clubs.
Anne Laurie
@stannate:
In my admittedly limited experience, isn’t that kinda the norm for state capitols? Albany and Lansing may (also) be outliers, but sticking the state legislative body in a third-rate town (because nobody wants to give the more successful cities any extra advantage) and then throwing up a bunch of Gubmint Excess Architecture from which all life flees when the lege is out of session seems to be one of those quaint American traditions. So much so that “we” replicated it on a grand scale for the national capital… carved out a whole new non-state, set up grandiose plans for the National Marble Carvers Employment Plan, and spent the next 200 years doing our best to guarantee that the pretty buildings would be encircled by some of the most desparately miserable and poverty-ridden slums.
Little Boots
Let’s hope they vote like they mean it, and don’t, like most of the Bible Belt, pick the nearest fuckwit who promises them that the fucked up Book of Genesis is the God’s honest truth and coal is king and they don’t need to worry about nuthin cause Sarah Palin has got this. At some point, fuckers are responsible for their own fucked up politics.
terry chay
Changing demographics or not, I doubt this strategy stands a snowballs chance in a state as fiercely independent as West Virginia.
Little Boots
So what’s so Independent about West Virginia? Is their legislature not some big fucking whore spreading its legs for big coal, or is their something more noble going on there?
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
Notable exception being Atlanta, which is the state capital and has the requisite noble government architecture right in the middle of the big-ass downtown area. I could see the gilded dome of the state capitol from my seats at Braves games at the Ted.
Little Boots
If a capital’s worth living in, it will be. If it’s full of assholes who are afraid to spend a dime on anything but the most pathetic bullshit, it won’t be. That is why most capitals in this country are second or third-rate. But it is not inevitable.
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: I wonder if that’s how Olympia got chosen as our capitol. Then again the tiny town I went to college in was once considered for the territorial capitol, so it could just be little more than an accident of history. It’s not just a uniquely American incident either: Victoria is much smaller than Vancouver and is the provincial capitol. Not that I dislike Victoria, it’s a wonderful little town. But I think it’s an instinct common to the West at least.
Little Boots
Ain’t just west. We have a long, long history in this continent of fearing anything that resembles civilization. The smaller and stupider, the better. We do this over and over again. It’s how we are, it’s what we do.
BeccaM
Dude — Republicans and ‘Baggers don’t believe in Democracy anymore. They sure as hell don’t give a damn about fairness or rule-of-law.
They remind me of this one kid I knew while growing up. He was cocky, self-assured, and a regular ass most of the time. But while playing games if he was EVER on the losing side, he’d throw the most disturbing tantrums imaginable. He’d demand do-overs, rule-changes, whatever it took, and if he didn’t get his way, he’d get violent.
This is what we are dealing with now. People who have no conception whatsoever of failing to get their way, utterly.
Little Boots
you knew Karl Rove as a child? That’s horrifying.
NobodySpecial
The capital thing is interesting. Sixteen states have the capital in the most populous city.
Little Boots
What are we talking? TWO general stores, or actual population?
NobodySpecial
@Yutsano: Olympia was probably chosen because the US government stuck the customs house there in 1851, so that’s where the business was going to go. Seattle wasn’t even founded at that point.
Little Boots
No, Yutsano’s probably right. The fear that ignorant oafs would not have some huge say in the government led Washington, like almost every other state, to pick some backwater for the capital.
Yutsano
@NobodySpecial: I haven’t taken WA history in like forever, so it’s pretty much all gone from my brain. I do remember that Seattle was a relative latecomer to the territorial cities but exploded not long after the Klondike gold rush started taking hold. Your explanation does make sense, although it might have been kinda cool if the capitol had been in the East. I get why, and Pullman ended up holding the state’s land grant university, but even so it would have been kinda cool.
Little Boots
I prefer my bitter explanation.
Damn it.
Wile E. Quixote
@Comrade Javamanphil:
That sucks, did you get a chance to ask anyone “Who’s your daddy!?” under more exciting and fun circumstances?
Yutsano
@Wile E. Quixote: I feel amazingly neglectful now. There is such a wonderful opportunity to digress into levels of debauchery this blog is famous for…and I discuss state capitols. I must be slipping.
Wile E. Quixote
@NobodySpecial:
And if the Great Northern Railway had terminated in Everett and not been extended to Seattle Everett might be the largest city in the state and Seattle would be, well, Everett.
Wile E. Quixote
@The Truffle:
I keep waiting for someone in the Republican party to pull a Ted Kennedy or Robert Byrd.
fucen tarmal
@Anne Laurie:
jeez, you can’t have legislatin without whorin, its almost one in the same, and after a long day of whorin in the legislature, what do you think these guys wanna do? go whorin! thus, you put the legislature in a town the upstanding wife wouldn’t live in, and you are, or were free to go whorin….
occam’s razor.
Yutsano
@Wile E. Quixote: Too soon?
Wile E. Quixote
@fucen tarmal:
So then we should relocate all of our state capitals to Amsterdam and Thailand? Works for me.
Wile E. Quixote
@Yutsano:
Nahhhhhhhhh!
fucen tarmal
@Wile E. Quixote:
i think we can compete, i understand the impulse to outsource our whorery, but we can keep those jobs at home. besides if we ran the senate in bangkok, it would only lead to neil bush for senate….
Spaghetti Lee
@Wile E. Quixote:
It would be convenient, and enough of our guys have passed on recently to say it would be fair, but someone has to be really odious for me to wish death on them. Rush Limbaugh is the only person who I can honestly say I’d be overjoyed if he croaked.
Wile E. Quixote
I agree, I think it’s time for America to introduce some industrial policy in this area or we’re going to face a serious whorery gap with the Chinese, and lest anyone bring up the entire Republican party and Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson as fine and outstanding examples of American whorery let me be clear that I’m talking about whores that you’d actually want to have sex with. Sure, if you work in the insurance or finance industries you probably find the thought of having Joe Lieberman strip naked and go down on you in his office arousing. Sure, you probably find the idea of grabbing him by his jug ears and trying to jam your turgid love muscle* through the back of his head and then leaving a campaign contribution in a plain brown envelope on the dresser on your way out of the office to be incredibly erotic. Indeed, if you work in finance or insurance the phrase “Joe Lieberman/Ben Nelson double Bukkake extravaganza” fills you with erotic glee while reducing the rest of us to a state of disgust that borders on sheer terror. But, shit, where the fuck was I going with this?
*Some people might find the mental image of someone jamming their turgid love muscle through the back of Joe Lieberman’s head disturbing. It could have been worse though. I could have written “trying to jam your veiny, throbbing purple-headed fuckstick through the back of his head”. But I didn’t, because I was thinking of the children.
Spaghetti Lee
OK, and Ron Paul. Also, Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps. Jim Demint, too. And, uh, James Inhofe. Oh, who am I kidding. I hope 219 meteors fall on Washington DC and each one hits a Republican congressmen in the skull.
Spaghetti Lee
@Wile E. Quixote:
And comment number 69, no less.
Wile E. Quixote
@Spaghetti Lee:
One of the many reasons why neither one of us will ever have a job at the Washington Post. Well that and the fact that I like to use phrases that aren’t in the incredibly out of date WaPo style manual such as “veiny, throbbing purple-headed fuckstick” or “cock-craving, conservative cum-dumpster” and from what I’ve heard Kathleen Parker is the only person at WaPo who’s allowed to say “fuckstick” or “cum-dumpster”.
fucen tarmal
of course there would be an upside to moving our congress to thailand, for example….our christian right orgs your donations to take our message that america must remain a christian nation to phuket….
goatchowder
You’ll love this. The reason why capitols are in rural areas, not major cities, IS TO GET THE GOVERNMENT AWAY FROM THE INFLUENCE OF BANKS AND WEALTHY URBAN INDUSTRIALISTS!
Ha ha ha ha! Isn’t that funny? How quaint!
The founders wanted to keep the influence of corporate money out of government! So, they made sure state capitols– and DC– were placed way out in the sticks, near the farmers, not near the major banking and industrial centers! So that governments would be less likely to get corrupted by money!
DC was built on a swamp next to Washington’s farm. There was nothing there. It was specifically moved away from NYC and Philly, where it was previously, to get it away from major urban centers of the time. Most state capitols were moved accordingly, i.e. from NYC to way out in Albany, etc., and new states subsequently had their capitols placed in rural areas, i.e. Sacto not SF. All to keep the greedy clutches of the banksters away from the government, back in the days when letters and business trips took weeks.
Isn’t that a hoot! Why, it’s worked out so very, very well!
bago
Kentucky:
http://www.examiner.com/x-12278-Louisville-Independent-Examiner~y2010m7d3-Yup-Im-a-racist-tshirts-sold-at-Lexingtons-July-4th-Festival
Pat
The DNC better be on top of their game this November, as I see the GOP already plotting victories in a not so voter-friendly way. I expect the GOP to cause as much obstruction and confusion as they can in addition to challenging state election laws because that is what sore losers do to win seats back. There is a good reason we are not seeing Karl Rove on FOX three times a week anymore. He’s busy plotting.
The Truffle
@Pat: Oh man. You tune in to see Karl Rove’s mug? My condolences.
Honus
@stannate: you think I-64 and I68 are twisty, you ought to get off the 4 lane sometime and take say 20 through Wetzel County or Rt. 7 over through Hundred to Morgantown.
And yeah, we got some hills. I laughed like hell when I saw what they call the “hill country” in Texas.
Honus
“Tennant is pretty much a straight shooter”
Well, she did used to be the WVU Mountaineer, in that buckskin suit with the black powder rifle. The first female one if I recall.
stannate
@Honus: The closest I got to that was on the drive from Huntington to the Russian Orthodox monastery that’s “near” Wayne. The roads devolved from two-lane, to one-and-a-half-lane, to a hilly gravel path leading into the monastery. My car was defeated when trying to drive into the monastery, as we were driving too slowly up the hill. Another car full of people heading inside the monastery helped us out, and told us that in order to climb the hill, we’d have to be traveling at at least 20-25 MPH. In winter, the monastery road is closed, and all those attending the liturgy park by the gates and walk.
Honus
@stannate: I’ve never been there, the next time I visit my sister in Huntington I’ll have to check it out.
If you get a chance, drive to Helvetia some time. They have a web site, helvetiawv.com. It’s just what the name says. It’s almost impossible to get there, so it’s still pretty nice.
Nellcote
@Pat:
RoveCo’s been busy raising money for his shadow RNC, thanks to the CU decision by the supremes.