(From the diaries – promoted by James L.)
There has been a flurry of developments in WV-02 during the last two weeks. All of them point to one conclusion: State Sen. John Unger’s challenge of vulnerable incumbent Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is a top-tier pick-up opportunity for the Democratic Party in 2008.
Unger–recruited by both netroots and the DCCC–has emerged as an early, well-positioned challenger to Capito. The major recent developments include:
* Potential challenger Anne Barth (W.Va. State Director for Sen. Robert Byrd) ended speculation and stated she is not running. This clears the path for a single strong Democratic Party nominee–it’s all but certain now that Unger will face no significant Democratic primary opposition.
.jpg)
* Unger held a successful fund-raising event in Washington, D.C. hosted by a Who’s Who of W.Va. and DCCC Reps. The event was officially hosted by our two W.Va. Dem. Reps. Mollohan (WV-01) and Rahall (WV-03), along with DCCC Chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen and DCCC Recruitment Chair Rep. Artur Davis.
* As part of their July 4th week campaign hitting vulnerable Republicans, the DCCC announced a series of radio commercials targeting Rep. Capito’s poor record of supporting veterans. This level of support from the DCCC is highly significant–this is a strong signal that WV-02 is a key target for 2008. (James L. has more details here.)
* Not long after the DCCC announcement, Pres. Bush announced he was visiting John Unger’s hometown, Martinsburg, W.Va. on July 4. Providing a safe harbor to her good friend Rep. Shelley Moore Capito greeted Bush with open arms at his time of need. Bush held a private, closed door morning speech with National Guard members and their families.
* Wasting no time after getting setup on ActBlue, Unger sent out his first email fund-raising appeal. Using Pres. Bush’s visit to show how out of touch Capito is with West Virginia values in “Bush and Capito Stick Together!“, Unger called for bringing our soldiers home from Iraq.
This is shaping up to be an exciting race. John Unger is a good fit for this district. He is similar to Rep. Rahall in that he’s more socially conservative (just like this district) than a typical member of the Progressive Netroots, but he is also adamant about issues of social and economic justice–and, that includes getting out of Iraq.
Written by Clem G., a W.Va. volunteer Netroots activist. Cross-posted at West Virginia Blue, the home of WV-02 coverage.
James L. — Thank you for promoting this diary! Here’s a little more background on the district…
In 2006, WV-02 was the very last race placed on the DCCC Red to Blue list. It was a last minute addition even after the final wave was announced. Unfortunately, that move resulted in no significant influx of funds for the Dem. challenger (Mike Callaghan) and he was never able to make any significant media buys.
Whatever the reason, Capito did panic and bought an easy victory (57% of the vote). Instead of helping other campaigns in the week before the election she held PAC fund-raisers in DC.
Capito outspent Callaghan 2:1 (IIRC, something like 2.5M to .8M). Now in the minority, Capito’s fund-raising is suffering–she had been the single largest recipient of Tom Delay PAC funds.
With a strong well-funded candidate this is a seat we can win. Capito has been cruising on her name recognition and an undeserved moderate reputation.
The early start that Unger is getting in retail campaigning along with DCCC support will help.
Plus, we’re starting this cycle with a progressive Netroots presence in West Virginia. We’ve been filling a missing role for about a year now.
The final ingredient is raising enough money to get the message out all across this geographically dispersed district about how closely Capito supports Bush.
For Unger to be closely associated with organizations like ActBlue and the DCCC. Obviously it helps in terms of money, but the way this district is beingdescribed, is a lot like the other WVa districts. Districts that like West VA. democrats like Rahall and Manchin but do not like natonal democrats.
I assume Capito will try to use the same campaign message that so many Republicans have used in the past, to mixed results, in more moderate to conservative areas where they attempt to tie the moderate candidate in this district/state to a national figure whether that be John Kerry in 04 or Nancy Pelosi in 06.
Knowing how independent Unger has been as a state Senator, I’m sure he won’t tie himself too closely to ActBlue or the DCCC when campaigning throughout the district.
Straight ticket votes could also really help Unger this time. With the ticket being lead by Rockefeller and with Manchin running for governor again, I think many W.Va.’s will vote straight ticket and give Unger an additional boost.