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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

WV-02: Up Next

Posted by DavidNYC

Here are the next batch of filing deadlines:

WEST VIRGINIA - January 28
KENTUCKY - January 31
NEW MEXICO - February 14
OHIO - February 16
INDIANA - February 17
NORTH CAROLINA - February 28

In West Virginia, despite the fact that Bush won in double digits, most of the top elected officials are Dems: both Senators, the Governor, and two of three Representatives. The lone GOP sore thumb is Shelley Moore Capito, who had enough sense not to take on WV super-legend Robert Byrd in a senate race - but is still facing a tough challenge in her own second congressional district from Democrat Mike Callaghan.

Capito is a Tom DeLay clone - she's voted with him 93% of the time recently. Hardly a surprise given that she's taken $48,500 from DeLay's corrupt-to-the-bone ARMPAC - more than any other member of Congress. Capito's not returning that tainted cash, but she was forced to disgorge $6,000 she snarffed up from ex-Rep. and current felon Duke Cunningham (R-San Quentin). (The company you keep, ay?)

She also likes to play the dirty game of wasting taxpayers' money on "newsletters" to constituents (over $80,000 in 2005 alone). Her fellow WV reps, Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan (both Dems) haven't spent a penny on that kind of crap. Like Howard Dean says, you can't trust Republicans with money. While perhaps a small sin in the overall scheme of things, the abuse of franking privileges is precisely the sort of activity which is a hallmark of entrenched corruption. And I love this justification from a Capito spokesbot:

"The congresswoman would rather exhaust resources available to members of Congress informing West Virginians rather than leaving them in the dark."

The comebacker to this one is, "Does Shelley Moore Capito think her constituents aren't capable of watching TV news, reading a newspaper, or using the Internet?" Combine that with the always-potent "wasting taxpayers' money" charge and you can paint Capito as badly out-of-touch with her district. Like I say, franking isn't a huge big deal - but just remember how much mileage Newt Gingrich got out of a few bounced checks.

As I say, Callaghan is a strong challenger. He was head of the WV Dem Party and previously ran the state's environmental protection agency. I also wonder if Capito will once again get the endorsement of the United Mine Workers, despite her past efforts on behalf of miners, given her coziness with the anti-safety Bush White House. If you're interested in getting involved with Callaghan's campaign, click here.

Posted at 05:55 PM in 2006 Elections - House, West Virginia | Technorati

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Comments

Just wondering where you got these deadlines - I thought North Carolina was in May.

Posted by: chuckles at January 4, 2006 07:07 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The DCCC website. It's possible that they are wrong. I will try to double check as soon as I can.

Posted by: DavidNYC at January 4, 2006 07:24 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

If my geography's right, the Sago mine is in Capito's district. It might be interesting to dig into Capito's campaign contribution short list and see where the sleazy International Coal Group ranks. Proudly non-union ICG appears guilty of criminal malpractice, and with all they were able to get away with, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Capito has ICG blood on her hands.

Posted by: Mark at January 4, 2006 08:06 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Capito was on the cable news after the report regarding the miners being alive.

Ben Hatfield gave the RNC $1000 in 2004.

And the FEC says 2/28 for NC.

The primaries in 2002 and 2004 were later due to various lawsuits. In 2002, the primary was in September. In 2004, it was in July. In 2006, it'll be back in May.

Posted by: RBH at January 4, 2006 08:26 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

IN is 02/14 or 02/17?

OH is 02/16 or 03/01?

One date's probably for incumbents & the other is for challengers.

Posted by: Philosophe Forum at January 4, 2006 10:01 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Great breakdown by Davidnyc and a cogent oberservation by RBH.

Capito was the lone official to trot out there and tacitly confirm the rumors the miners were still alive. Note that Joe Manchin had the sense to make sure he knew the score before going on air.

Capito's reckless performance raises very real concern about her judgement. Granted she was passing on the bad dope she got from GOP contributor Hatfield and the ICG crew, but scurrying the 50 yards or so down the road to do a stand-up with CNN when she didn't know her facts is shameful and inexcusable.

I do not blame her her the extra pain caused to the families bu the falsely raised hopes. That was clearly the company's responsibility. Where she is at fault is enabling the MSM firestorm to snowball. The incumbent Congressperson from the district tells them on air "all 12 still alive" and they aren't supposed to run with the miracle angle?

Where Shelley Capito erred was giving in to ger eagerness to be the bearer of good news (and thus the beneficiary of being the messenger). In her haste to get on air first, she raised the hopes of a state and nation. She set us all up for a fall because she couldn't be bothered to check her facts first.

You do not put your PR interests ahead of fulflling your duites as a leader responsibly. Shame on Capito.

Posted by: pinhickdrew at January 4, 2006 10:44 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

update on Capito's key role in the firestorm:

On the top of the hour, CNN cited Capito's "all 12 alive" remark as the moment when the story broke loose.

The WV media is ablaze with "who's to blame" action on the story getting out of control. So far, they haven't keyed in on Capito's role. Expect that to change Thursday, especially after CNN keeps pounding this angle overnight.

Posted by: pinhickdrew at January 5, 2006 01:47 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment