Tag: WV-02

I know we often make fun of lawyers in this country (“What do you call a smiling, sober, courteous person at a bar association convention? The caterer.“). On the other hand, there’s a lot to be said for the value of training in law for political leadership. The Clintons (Bill, Yale; Hillary, Yale), Barack Obama (Harvard), John Edwards (UNC), and Harry Reid (George Washington U.) all have law degrees.

Then we have our Republican mis-leadership. There’s George Bush with an Master’s in Business Administration. That’s the same degree that Duke Cunningham and Jeff Skilling have. There’s Rep. Shelley Moore Capito with a Master’s in Career Counseling. That’s the same degree as… well, actually, no one comes to mind. Bush and Capito share a mis-understanding of the law, too. Whereas Bush missed the week in high school civics class about constitutional checks and balances, after six years in Congress Rep. Capito still hasn’t figured out the basic mechanics of when a law is needed.

Case in point: Rep. Capito is crowing about her success in using an obscure legislative maneuver to outlaw something that is already illegal!

West Virginia Democrats had no problem getting it right (emphasis mine):

West Virginia?s other two congressmen?Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall?voted against the measure. Rahall says he opposed the amendment because the program already includes ID requirements and toughening up the standard would be burdensome to many rural and elderly citizens and raise privacy concerns. Mollohan?s office said the amendment was “nothing but political chicanery.”

You know, it’s hard to counter the negative stereotypes the rest of the country has of West Virginia. Rep. Capito isn’t helping any. They noticed up in New York, too: Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens) said “It’s all demagoguery.” As Albor Ruiz of the New York Daily News put it:

While the fate of 12 million people, thousands of families and the future of the nation’s economy wait for Congress to do its job on immigration reform, some of its members would rather play games.

[snip]

“Loopholes in current law, like this housing assistance loophole for illegal immigrants, act as a magnet and invite people to enter our country illegally,” Capito is quoted as saying. “We should not be rewarding those who have come here illegally by awarding them taxpayer-funded services intended for law-abiding citizens.”

Wow! Is she tough! She’s cracking down and closing loopholes! No “illegal” will take advantage of taxpayers on her watch!

Not to rain on her party, but there is one small problem: What loophole is she talking about? Undocumented immigrants already are ineligible for housing vouchers. Under current law, all recipients of assistance are required to be citizens or to prove their lawful immigration status.

Capito can do all the chest-thumping she wants, but there is nothing to crack down on.

Here in West Virginia, the coverage is a mixed bag. Tom Searls article reads like a Capito press release. Yet, he did prominently mention his inability to get a quote from Rahall or Mollohan. Loopy Kercheval’s opinion piece does include quotes from Rahall and Mollohan but it distorts the issue even worse than Capito did.

Capito should be called out for immigration race-baiting and class warfare. Her arguments are full of lies and distortion. Here’s a just a few ways her actions are deceitful:

1. The HUD reform is benign at best and an assault on poor people at worst. It is already illegal for illegal residents to get section-8 benefits. As Rahall noted, her additional ID requirements create an additional burden on those who can least afford it.

If this legislative action has any effect it will be to make it harder for those who are entitled to the benefits to get them. This is an assault on poor people. Republicans like Bush and Capito believe that government cannot help people–this is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy as they make it more difficult for the government to help those who most need help.

2. She provides no evidence whatsoever that there is a problem with Section-8 housing that needs “reform”. The one statistic she quotes in support of this bill has nothing to do with Section-8 housing.

You can be sure if she had any examples of illegal residents receiving Section 8 housing she would have mentioned them. As Mollohan said, this is “nothing but political chicanery.” It is a waste of time, money, and resources.

3. In her floor statement she repeatedly says the tax dollars paying for Section 8 housing come from hard-working Americans. That’s a misleading statement. Tax dollars are paid by not only by hard-working Americans but also by legal immigrants and illegal immigrants who reside and pay taxes in this country.

She knows this. She’s using misleading inflammatory rhetoric to score cheap political points. Rep. Joe Crowley is absolutely right, “It’s all demagoguery.”

This is yet another example of Bush-Capito style mis-leadership. There’s a reason why 75% of West Virginians feel that the country is headed on the wrong-track. Passing do-nothing legislation doesn’t help.

West Virginia need leaders who put their energy into solving the many difficult, significant problems that we face–ending the occupation of Iraq, providing universal health care, and providing social and economic justice for all of us, not just the wealthy few.

It’s time for Bush and Capito to leave office. We can do better.

Cross-posted at West Virginia Blue

Crossposted at West Virginia Blue.

I’ve watched with bemusement at the effort by supporters of vulnerable Rep. Shelley Moore Capito to throw mud at State Sen. John Unger only to have it splash back on Capito.

The latest effort by Capito’s supporters to protect their vulnerable Rubberstamp Republican has been to criticize what Unger does for a living and make it sound like there is controversy where none exists.

Now considering how badly the last effort by the right worked, you would think they would learn.  Of course, they don’t. They’re rightwingers.

Jake Stump of the conservative-leaning Charleston Daily Mail does a good job debunking the latest smear effort by the rightwingers.

Unger acknowledges he has what some might consider a vague, confusing job title. He’s senior adviser of homeland security and economic development for the National Energy Technology Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Energy with offices in Morgantown.

But he is an employee of EG&G, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based national defense contractor that provides engineering and technical services. The company provides direct-labor employees who are paid based on their performance with contracted clients.

Now some of Unger’s critics are too stupid to understand the complexities of federal government contracting. But others are simply Republican political hacks who know they haven’t found any dirt to throw at Unger so they have to make it up through implication.

But like an earlier effort, see here for an example – their efforts end up unintentionally making Capito look bad.

Here’s Stump on how Unger got the job:

An employee at the National Energy Technology Laboratory recommended him for the EG&G job, Unger said.

“I’m not a federal employee, but I work with federal officials,” he said. “The reason I don’t talk much about the particulars of the job is because we’re dealing with sensitive materials and homeland security.”

The senator said he believes the company tapped him not because of his political background, but for his experiences overseas.

He has worked with Mother Teresa in India during monsoons and riots in 1990. There he coordinated the distribution of relief supplies.

Before that, he worked for the United States Refugee Program in Hong Kong and helped Vietnamese refugee children there.

He’s also aided in disaster relief efforts in Turkey and Iraq, where he has traveled twice.

Unger said those experiences provided him with knowledge concerning international relations and security.

“Part of our training in Iraq dealt with security,” Unger said. “When you’re working with government in the area of human relief, there’s a large component of security.”

In other words, the Rhodes scholar Unger not only can speak knowledgeably on homeland security issues, he already has experience at international issues. Plus he did missionary work which shows he cares compassionately about people.

Compare that experience to Capito’s, whose only qualification before her election in 2000 was she was former Gov. Arch Moore’s daughter and she has a pleasant smile.

In an earlier smear attempt, Republican strategist Gary Abernathy tried to put words in the mouth of Unger’s friend and WEPM cohost Chris Strovel to make up dirt on Unger even though Strovel had said nothing critical about Unger.

Just like before, there is nothing there.

You don’t  have to take my word for it. Thanks to Stump’s reporting you can hear it from Unger’s employer:

Brent Armstrong, vice president of the Energy, Environment and Health Services Department at EG&G, confirmed Unger’s employment with the company.

“He is earning a living,” Armstrong said. “I’m not sure what the confusion is.”

Two specific projects Unger is contracted to work on with the laboratory include the modern grid initiative, which updates the nation’s electricity system, and ensuring that infrastructure is in place for securing energy supplies.

Armstrong said he’s heard no complaints from the laboratory regarding Unger’s job performance. Unger is required to submit monthly progress reports on each project.

“I don’t care who they are,” Armstrong said. “If they’re not cutting the mustard, they won’t have a job. He’s been doing a job the client is very pleased with.”

Unger makes his employer happy. He’s knowledgeable and experienced at national security issues, energy issues, and international issues.

Capito has a pleasant smile. She’s probably quite personable to talk with. People say she’s quite devoted to her family. I’ve never questioned that. But as a Rubberstamp Republican, she has shown poor judgement time after time and as a continued supporter of occupying Iraq in the midst of a complex sectarian civil war that is bankrupting the country and making us less secure, she has blood on her hands. She has failed to show the wisdom of our other Congressional representatives Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall on Iraq. She has floundered as a Congressional representative, allying herself with suspected criminals like Republicans Tom Delay (she was the largest recipient of his illegal PAC contributions) and Mark Foley (she formed a political action committee with him even while he cyberstalked underage male pages and she served on the Page Board that was to protect them). Did she intentionally ally herself with so many Republicans now caught up in criminal scandals? Real scandals unlike the ones the rightwingers keep trying to make up about Unger. I don’t know what is in her heart.

I do know that Unger is knowledgeable and makes his employer happy with the work he does and as a constituent of WV-02 I want to hire him to represent all of us in the District in Congress in 2008.

(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.

* 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.

According to The Hill, the DCCC has targeted 14 Republican incumbents for web/phone/radio hits starting on Monday. Here’s the full list, including each district’s Presidential vote in the last two cycles:

State	CD	Incumbent	Kerry ’04	Bush ’04	Gore ’00	Bush ’00
AK	AL	Young	36	61	28	59
CO	4	Musgrave	41	58	37	57
IL	10	Kirk	53	47	51	47
MI	9	Knollenberg	49	51	47	51
MO	6	Graves	42	57	44	53
NC	8	Hayes	45	54	46	54
NJ	7	Ferguson	47	53	48	49
NM	1	Wilson	51	48	48	47
NV	3	Porter	49	50	49	48
NY	25	Walsh	50	48	51	45
NY	29	Kuhl	42	56	43	53
PA	3	English	47	53	47	51
VA	2	Drake	42	58	43	55
WV	2	Capito	42	57	44	54

However, only seven districts (NC-08, MI-09, AK-AL, NV-03, NY-25, WV-02 and MO-06) are getting the radio ads. But this is a good indicator, perhaps, of the districts that the DCCC plans to aggressively contest next year. While many of these look tough, dynamite candidates in State Senator John Unger and Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes (MO-06) could very well be map changers.

Last Friday evening, West Virginia State Sen. John Unger held an Eastern Panhandle campaign kick-off event in Martinsburg, W.Va. (lots of pictures here). After reading so much about Unger–both good and bad–from fellow Democratic activists and Republican concern trolls trying to Draft Anne Barth, I really didn’t know what to expect. Maybe all that ink-spilling had lowered my expectations… whatever the reason, I was pleasently surprised. It was an impressive start for his campaign for WV-02.

Follow below the break for my full report.

A late start

We all waited a while for Rep. Alan Mollohan (WV-01) to arrive from D.C. [As any of us who regularly drive from DC can tell you, arriving at Martinsburg at 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon is a tricky driving task!] I did heard Mollohan made it later in the evening for the Berkeley County Democratic Woman’s Dinner (at the same venue).

The event opened and closed with a prayer delivered by a local clergy (I didn’t catch the name). Perhaps because I grew up in the bible belt, this outward display of religion doesn’t bother me. More importantly, these prayers offered were prayers of inclusion, not exclusion. [Even though the religious beliefs of this progressive appear to differ (quite a lot!) from those of Unger, many of our core values overlap. In a 2005 profile he named his heroes as Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Jesus and Thomas Jefferson.]

On to Unger’s speech

He’s starting with a stump speech that is already better than many politicans ended their 2006 campaigns with. I rate the content as very good (I’ve minor quibbles I share below) and the delivery is… well… let’s just say it’s still early in the campaign season. Unger was very comfortable in front of this crowd, he can speak from his heart, and he showed potential for a great speech. Once Unger has this material memorized–after he throws away his notes and just talks to the audience, he’s going to have a top notch stump speech.

About the content

The theme for his speech is “we can do better”. He spoke frequently of working for “common good.” The key issues he stressed are: universal access to affordable health care, improved educational opportunities, milestones / removing troops from Iraq, veteran’s support, infrastructure upgrades and United States energy independence.

Here are some lines that stood out in particular (not exact quotes):

– America has not kept its promise to its people… let’s return government to the people.

– We can import food from communist China, import cooking oil from a dictatorship in Venezula so why can’t we import affordable prescription drugs from a democracy in Canada.

– We’re building schools in Iraq, we need to build them here.

– Removing troops from Iraq equals a healthy Iraq.

– If not now, then when? If not us, then who?

I really like the one about “removing troops from Iraq = a healthy Iraq.” The line about importing drugs is great populist rheteroic, too. Considering the only phrase in the whole speech I found a little off was calling Venezula a dictatorship, I’d say he did quite well. Even with that, it’s still a great line.

Some minor quibbles

As many others have said around the progressive blogosphere, the Democratic Party is too slow in realizing that the Iraq War is the issue of the 2008 election (just as it was for the 2006 election). I liked what I heard Unger say about Iraq, it was just buried a too far into the speech. He can say the same things more prominently. [If he truly listens as he tours the district, he’ll figure this out on his own. After all, “getting out of Iraq” was probably the loudest applause line on this night.]

The electorate wants out of Iraq. This is a huge vulnerability for incumbent Republicans. Despite anything he might hear otherwise from the DCCC back in Washington, this is one place not to be timid.

My second quibble has to do with energy independence. I have some concerns about that framing of energy policy. I’ll reserve judgement until I know more details about Unger’s positions. [Unger was sole sponsor of legislation that recently created a Department of Energy in West Virginia, so he’s certainly well-informed on the topic.]

In all, there’s a lot to like

Unger comes across as authentic in his compassion for those who are less fortunate in society. Unger comes across as authentic as someone who believes that government can help promote the common good. His signature issues of universal health care, education, getting out of Iraq, veterans, our nation’s infrastructure and energy indepenence are winning issues in WV-02 that progressives can also rally around. He is running on issues of inclusion, not division.

Yes indeed, John Unger is showing us “we can do better”.

No doubt there will be at least one primary challenger in this race. The allure of press coverage for a Congressional seat is too much to keep challengers at bay. Still, anyone with serious political aspirations will think twice before taking on an impressive candidate with strong support from fellow West Virginia Democrats (and the DCCC). Unger is going to be a formidable candidate.

Thankfully for all of us in WV-02, State Sen. John Unger is already showing that a Democrat does indeed have a prayer to win this seat in 2008.

Cross-posted at West Virginia Blue

I have to announce the good news of yet another recruiting coup for Congressional Democrats. After other successes very early in the cycle, particularly getting outgoing Kansas City mayor Kay Barnes to run against Sam Graves in what has traditionally been a swing district that Bush has won easily, and that was held by a Democrat long before Graves won it in an open seat in 2000. However, Talent lost this district to McCaskill by four percentage points, shwoing a strong Kansas City Democrat can win this. A small portion of Kansas City, and it’s suburbs make up almost 40% of the district, and the libral leaning St. Jospeh metropolitan area makes up another 10%. So, altogeter half the district leans Democratic, but the other half is highly rural, and mostly Republican.

Another early success was getting State Sen. John Boccieri to run against 82 year old 18 term incumbent Ralph Regula. His weak fundraising and age, make him vulneralbe to retiring, ahving a candidate like Jonh Boccieri, a former three term state rep, who was elected to the State Senate last year with 97,000 votes, the most of any candidate that year. As a major in the Army, who flew C-130 cargo planes for four tours of duty in Iraq. He’s Paul Hackett with legislatire experience.

But, the latest coup is that of getting 38 year old State. Sen. John Unger to run against Shely Moore capito in WV-02. He’s a fantastic candidate, young, a Rhodes Scholoar, and one of the youngest people ever elected to the West Virginia State Senate. He has a great deal of experience in the State Senate, having been elected in 1998, at age 29. He has since been reelected several times, and he represents what is considered a highly conservative, Republican leaning District in the state’s Eastern Panhandle, an area that votes more like parts of western Virginia, prominently Robet Goodlatte’s district.

Let’s handicap this race. Sen. Unger has been elected handily three times in this conservative district. His entre district is located in Capito’s district, giving him a strong base to start with. He represents all of rural Jefferson County, an extremely rural district of 42,000 people, whose county seat, (it’s largest city), Charles Town, has a population of just over 2000. Capito took a little less there than she did districtwide, taking 54% compared to 57% in the district. He represents part of right wing Berkeley County, which gave Capito 64% of the vote.

West Virginia has an interesting system. Each district has two State Senators elected to the same district. Sen. Unger’s district, district 16, his fellow State sneator is a Republican, Sen. John Yoder. That should be a testament of this district’s Republican lean, that in state where Democrats hold a supermajority in both houses of the legislature.

West Virginia, despite Bush’s successes, is a very Democratic state. Sen. Byrd has never won reelection with less than 64%. They tend to like moderate Republicans, and have elected two of them in the twentieth century, none so far. Cecil Underwood and Shelly Capito’s dad, the only Governor to serve four terms, (his career was completely tarnished when he got sent to jail on corruption charges). The only Republicans who have success in this state are so liberal they’re almost at the same level as the most conservative Democrats. Anyway, back to the point, Democrats had held all Congressional districts and both Senate seats for nearly eighteen years before Capito broke through in 2000, beating  self funding candidate Jim Humphrey’s narrowly.

She’s definitely liberal for a southern Republican. She’s the somewhat pro-choice, (that means less extreme whacko pro-life tghan most Southern Republicans), she’s pro-stem cell research, did vote to raise the minimum wage, and is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. So, on the surface it would seem like she’s not the worst Republican in the house, and truthfully she’s not, there’s a lot worse congressperson you could have, like Virgil Goode. Sen. Unger could take some ground immediately with his populist appraoch and persona, that is backed up by ardent social conservatism, something very important in this state, one of the most socially conservative in the country. That’s one of the main reasons Gore and Kerry lost the state.

Of course he would need money. Capito always raises ungodly sums and wins by outspending her opponents twenty to one. She’s horrible on the stump the woman cannot speak in public cannot debate, and appears cold and stiff, therefore her her advisors actually tell her not to do retail politics. Instead she bombards the airwaves with falsely positive ads, and attack ads.

Her record is horrendous. She’s been a nonstop supporter of the Iraq War, and despite the support she gets from labor, she’s a business Republican. Her career score for the far right Chamber of Commerce, as I’ve tabulated it, 89%. Now, compare that to 65% for Tennessee Democrat John Tanner, arguably the most Economically Conservative Democrat in the House. Her score with the strongly Republican National Federation of Independant Business is even higher, (and this organization that endorsed such incubents as Curt Weldon and others).

The point I’m trying to make is that we need to take her out. As a somewhat pro-life Democrat, this isn’t an issue to me, but her NARAL rating is only 50%, not great. She’s very pro-business, but still gets the support of labor, which is infuriating at times.

But, the main reason to tkae her down would be to deal the West Virginia Republican party a major blow. Capito, along with Secretary of State Betty Ireland, (who only won 52-48 in 2004 becuase her opponent was 90 year old Ken Heckler, congressman from 1959-1977, and SoS from 1985-2001), is their major figure, their only rising star. She’s a threat to both our Senate seats or the Governorship if we can’t take her down this time. Not to mention she does the state a poor service. It’s four Democrats are far more powerful than her, in fact she, according to a Knowlegis non-partisan group’s Power Rankings, is ranked 421 out of house of 435, and she’s a four term incumbent. She should have the hangof this now. For someone whose a rising start in the State Republican Party, she certainly has no power whatsoever with Republicans in congress. In fact the only people she has more power than are mostly Repubican freshman, that and Tom Tancredo, Pete Sessions, and Ted Poe.

Sen. Unger sounds like my kind of Democrat, the kind I’ve been advocating, socially conservative, and economically populist. These are the people who do the best with rural voters, at least from my experience. Plus, the stronger are majority is, the stronger is our mandate. That’s why this race is an interesting new development, and should be one of our top targets next year. Let’s see if she survive when we’re bombarding the air waves with even more money than her. Bush only got 55% here, and it has been a historically Democratic district, let’s take it back and show we can still be winners in rural areas and in the South. Let’s prove to the nation and beltway pundits who lable WV as a conservative state because of Bush’s margins against two Democrats who didn’t go over well with rural voters, (Clinton won the district with huge double digit margins, both times), just how Democratic it really is.

Anyone else who has a better idea of this race, please state it in the comments, because I don’t know much, all I know is what CQPolitics wrote, what’s on Sen. Unger’s Senate Profile and and the West Virginia Legislature’s site.

Anna Jarvis organized the first Mother’s Day service in May 1907 in Grafton, W.Va., to honor her mother — a tireless advocate for peace.

Anna Jarvis’ mother had spent most of her life working to bring reconciliation between mothers whose sons had fought for the Union and Confederacy in the Civil War.

Anna Jarvis’ mother had spent most of her life working to bring reconciliation between mothers whose sons had fought for the Union and Confederacy in the Civil War.

She was inspired by Julia Ward Howe, the famous peace activist who wrote in 1870:

Julia Ward Howe wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870, as a call for peace and disarmament. An excerpt follows:

“From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…”

The audacity of Rubberstamp Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito — who continues to vote for endless war in Iraq — to claim sponsorship of a coin to commerate Mother’s Day is outrageous.

How many mothers in the United States and Iraq are in mourning on this day because their children are dead due to the actions and support of war by people like Capito?

She completely ignores the roots of the Mother’s Day movement — roots well known by Anna Jarvis and a major factor in the original Mother’s Day service.

Capito has blood on her hands.

Today’s story in the Martinsburg Journal is nothing more than a press-release for Capito and the Republican Party.

These war whores try to hide their guilt but they cannot escape the fact that they represent everything that Howe and the Jarvises vehemently opposed.

Howe and the Jarvises worked for peace their whole lives.

They knew that the labors of mothers should never be squandered on the senseless violence of war.

Call Journal Junction at 1-800-448-1895 ext. 333 and ask why they left out the message of peace behind Mother’s Day and whether it was because it would have embarrassed a supporter of endless war like Capito by pointing out her hypocrisy.

You might also want to ask the reporter Lauren Hough at 304-263-8931 ext. 163 and politely leave a message asking her how Capito’s war stance squares with Jarvis’ love of peace. You might also email her at lhough@journal-news.net.

Originally appeared at West Virginia Blue.

Now that vulnerable Republican Rubberstamp Rep. Shelley Moore “Stay the course” Capito chickened out from challenging Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D), we know who our opponent will be in WV-02 in 2008.

I’m looking forward to it.

The newspaper pundits who have consistantly failed to report on vulnerable Republican Rubberstamp Rep. Shelley Moore “Stay the course” Capito’s frequent flip flops and lack of stature in Congress keep trying to tell us she’s doing a “good job.”

A woman who continues to support PResident George W. Bush’s unpopular war with a blank check to keep the troops in Iraq forever is doing a “good job,” they claim. A woman who has handcuffed herself to PResident Bush — now at 28 percent approval — is going to win re-election easily, they claim. I guess since they’ve said Capito does a “good job” they’re not going to bother to report on the reality of Capito and look into her record.

Here’s what Capito said in the Charleston Daily Mail:

“One thing I’ve learned over four campaigns is that I’m going to have an opponent,” Capito said. “I’m sure it will be a tough race. I have no idea who it’s going to be. Again, I don’t spend time thinking about it. If I do a good job, everything will fall into place.“

How “good” of a job is she doing? Here’s her ratings on the nonpartisan Congress.org:

Rank in Chamber: 421 (out of 439)
Rank in Party: 185
Rank in Class of 2000: 38 (out of 38)

Even last year when her Republican party was in power, she was ranked 311. Democrats in the minority party had more stroke in Congress than she did. Heck, she has been nothing but a reliable rubberstamp for crooks like Tom Delay and others.

Here’s how she compares to the rest of the West Virginia caucus:

Senate:
Byrd: 3 out of 100
Rockefeller: 13 out of 100
House:
Rahall: 22 out of 439
Mollohan: 64 out of 439
Capito: 421 out of 439

So, if she does a “good job” everything will fall into place? The only place she is considered to do a “good job” is in the friendly confines of newspaper columns. The rest of us live in reality and Democrats smell blood in the water.

Cue the music.

From Rep. Shelley Moore Capito’s web site (up today, but strangely with tomorrow’s date listed):

“However, those of us who have the privilege to serve in Congress would do well to remember that it is acceptable to disagree as long as we remain agreeable. Too often, debate moves away from the respected differences we hold and evolves into overly partisan vitriol that serves no one.”

Also from her web site:

Instead, we were presented with a bill that gives the enemy our playbook while adding billions of dollars of budget-busting spending that has nothing to do with providing for our troops. 

“By giving our enemy a date-certain timeline for withdrawal, we are simply asking them to duck into the shadows and wait for us to leave.  Such timelines hog-tie the hands of our commanders in the field and essentially hand our enemy a roadmap to victory.

Saying that Democrats are aiding the enemy because they call benchmarks for the Iraqis to provide their own security is “civil” debate? Calling a bill that provides billions in additional health care dollars for U.S. veterans injured in the Iraq war “pork” is civil?

Shelley Moore Capito preaching civility is like her old friend and fellow Republican Mark Foley calling for tougher laws to stop online sexual predators of children.

If she wants more civility and less “partisan vitriol” in Congress she should begin with herself.

We really like State Sen. John Unger here in the Eastern Panhandle.

He’s done a great job at the State House. Now we’re hoping Unger runs for Congress to represent us in the House of Representatives.

Here’s 5 reasons why he’d make a great representative for West Virginia’s District 2.

(Public domain photo from the West Virginia legislature site.)

* He’s a Rhodes Scholar and a Truman Scholar as well as the first in his family to graduate from college. It’d be nice to have a Congressional representative in WV-02 who was highly intelligent.

* He worked with Mother Teresa to help the poor.

In Calcutta, the work was long and back breaking, but Unger found it very rewarding until about six months in. It was then that a monsoon swept through the City of Joy, where he was working. Mother Teresa put him in charge of a six block radius coordinating relief efforts. But try as he might, he was overwhelmed. Finally he went to his mentor with a confession. “Mother, I don’t think I’m making a difference. Maybe you need to find someone else.” Mother Teresa smiled at him and said “God does not call us to do great things, but small things with great love.” He has tried to live by those words ever since.

* He did extremely well against Republican candidate Jerry Mays despite the fact Mays received considerable support from the Martinsburg Journal and coal baron Don Blankenship. Despite the odds, Unger received 19,640 votes in Berkeley and Jefferson counties to Mays 10,790. Unger won despite being in heavily Republican counties. (PResident George W. Bush won Berkeley 21,293 to Senator John Kerry’s 12,224 and Jefferson 10,059 to 9,301).

* He’s effective. In seven years, he’s had more than 230 of his bills passed.

* He already has an extensive background in how the federal goverment works (he worked with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory on homeland security and economic development issues) and international affairs (he’s worked with refugees from Vietnam in Hong Kong and for the International Rescue Committee as well as Kurdish refugees in southern Turkey and northern Iraq after the first Gulf War).

Let’s compare his biography to his potential opponent’s Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (Rubberstamp Republican).

From her own web site:

Before beginning her years of public service, Capito worked as a career counselor at West Virginia State University and as the Director of the Educational Information Center for the West Virginia Board of Regents. Her volunteer activities include being a Past President and Board Member of the YWCA, a member of the Community Council of the Kanawha Valley, and a member of the West Virginia Interagency Council for Early Intervention. She has also been an active participant in Read Aloud and Habitat for Humanity.

Capito graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in Zoology, and also holds a M.Ed. from the University of Virginia.

What her bio leaves out is that she first won office in 1996 to the House of Delegates riding the coat-tails of her father, former Gov. Arch Moore and maintained her office through the political machine her father built and through receiving huge campaign donations from the political machine built by Tom Delay (her fundraising has plummeted since he left Congress).

When you compare Unger’s life and work experiences to Capito’s, it’s easy to see why we’d rather have Unger representing us in WV-02.