With Honesty and Open Government for All

Since falling head over stilettos with Twitter, it’s a known fact I strongly advocate open government and increasing government transparency (especially via social media).

But tweets, Facebook posts, and Youtube videos alone obviously aren’t enough. Government transparency begins with the most simple of principles: always tell the truth. Sometimes the truth isn’t always the prettiest thing in the room, but it takes someone with integrity and a strong moral compass to do the right thing.

Over the last two years, I’ve observed several politicians and candidates across this state and across this nation in regard to their stand on open government. Some are pretty disappointing… but with West Virginia’s 2011 special gubernatorial election, one candidate stands out from the pack with a strong record on increasing government transparency: Jeff Kessler.

“We’re going to tell the people the truth,” he constantly says, referring to anything from why he’s running for governor to issues with legislation to any questions that arise from the press.

Not only is this principle ingrained in his character, he has an exceptional record for open government. Kessler sponsored and passed legislation that put West Virginia on the map as the first state in the U.S. to regulate 527 political groups requiring them to disclose sources of political funding.

Furthermore, this past legislative session, the West Virginia State Senate was able to pass ethics reform legislation requiring disclosure by paid public officials and prohibiting public office holders from lobbying for twelve months after they leave office.

Now I’ve heard many a tall tale from politicians in my sky-high stiletto days, but Jeff Kessler is grounded in honesty, integrity, and transparency.

Your vote is a terrible thing to waste

Ghandi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

We have an opportunity in 47 days to take the high road and put West Virginia on the map to be one of the leading states in the nation.

I’ve been traveling quite a bit in the last couple weeks, and there is a repetitive phrase I keep hearing, “Your candidate is the best guy for the job… He’s the most qualified for the position…”

And then there is a pause, followed by, “…but my daughter works for Candidate X and she needs to keep her job, so I guess I have to vote for them.”

West Virginia, your vote is not something to waste, nor is the future of your children and grandchildren. This election is a game changer for our state, and to vote for someone you don’t have faith in is nothing short of unacceptable. It puts West Virginia’s future at a disadvantage.

When you go vote, be it on Election Day or for early voting, think about who you’re voting for and why. Don’t think of today, think of where each candidate will lead us ten, even twenty years from now.

Your vote is a terrible thing to waste.

First Official Female 2011 Gubernatorial Campaign Manager Named By Democrat Jeff Kessler

Gubernatorial candidate Senator Jeff Kessler named Kathy Brown as his campaign manager earlier today, but who on earth is Kathy Brown?

The first official female campaign manager on the Democratic side, Brown currently maintains her own law firm, located in Charleston. Inheriting her work ethic, stubbornness, and determination from her father, she paid tribute to him by opening her own law firm on what would have been her father’s 88^th birthday, March 8, 2009. Not only have l admired Brown for her amazing organization skills and variety of talents (from law to the news), but it would seem we’re both daddy’s girls.

Prior to starting her own practice, Kathy formerly worked at WSAZ, moving to West Virginia in 1980 to take the noon news anchor position. She also worked as an investigative reporter. (And just a piece of advice, you can tell her you remember her face, just don’t say you grew up watching her on the news.)

All that investigating must have turned on a light blub in Brown’s head, as she attended WVU Law School while continuing to work at WSAZ. In addition, she clerked for West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman, when Workman had a private practice. Brown received her law degree in 2001.

Not only does the first official female campaign manager on the Democratic side have a solid background in law and broadcast journalism, she’s worked on several campaigns, and is someone this Politico in Stilettos cannot wait to work with.

Disclaimer: While I am aware that Natalie Tennant hired Julie Sweet, I haven't officially heard if Sweet is her Campaign Manager or not. If so, then Senator Kessler hired the second female campaign manager. More power to politicos in stilettos in West Virginia!

The battle for the Governor's Mansion begins!

UPDATED!

Rainmaker,Inc. speaking with independent expenditure against major 2011 gubernatorial candidate!

With the West Virginia GOP announcing they chose a Georgia real estate developer to run their party, and Senate President acting as Governor Earl Ray Tomblin hiring all of Senator Joe Manchin’s DC political and media consultants, I realized I hadn’t posted much lately.

Since I love political campaigns more than shoe shopping…

Natalie Tennant is officially kicking off her gubernatorial campaign tomorrow at 11am at Colasessano’s Pizza located in Fairmont. This Marion County native hired former Rockefeller state director Lou Ann Johnson to handle all the Secretary of State’s media relations. That being said, will Rockefeller endorse Tennant?

Rick Thompson hired Mike Plante as his campaign manager, and chose Michael Perry and Bob Shell to serve on his finance committee. For more on those two, check out Alison Knezevich’s post.

Treasurer John Perdue chose Chuck Smith, former state Democratic Party chairman, as his campaign manager.

Looking at a much larger campaign in 2012… I cannot help but wonder if Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis will choose the same person who ran her previous campaigns to run her United States Senate campaign, Linda Arnold.

Kicking through the political glass ceiling, one stiletto at a time

With the official announcement of Betty Ireland running for governor in the 2011 special gubernatorial election just moments ago and with Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s hat already in the ring, it seems only appropriate to discuss how female candidates will fair in upcoming West Virginia elections.

Yesterday, The Economist posted an article that piqued my interest, “The glass elevator in American politics.” Long has the belief been held that in the American political arena, women continually keep hitting their hair-sprayed heads against a glass ceiling, however, I’m happy to report that with the help of the spikes on our stilettos, we’re breaking through now more than ever.

Ronni Marie Abney of the University of California and Rolfe Daus Peterson of Mercyhurst College, studied down-ticket races in California and found “that voters are, if anything, biased in favor of women.”

“In the Democratic races, women fared much better than men. This might be expected, because voters seem to associate women with more 'liberal' issues…and Democratic primary voters tend to be liberal.” Regarding Republican primaries, voters tended to be more focused on issues like law and order and defense, which seem a little more “manly.” Even this did not put female candidates at any sort of disadvantage. According to the study, “A male name carried no advantage.”

That being said, we have two females running for West Virginia governor in 2011. One was the first female Secretary of State, and one is the current Secretary of State. How do you think both will fair against their male opposition and possibly against each other?

Special Election, State of the State, and Stilettos

Today at 2pm, the State Supreme Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in favor of and opposing a special gubernatorial election in 2011. It’s no secret that Acting Governor Tomblin believes that current laws “clearly provide” that the election to replace Manchin as governor should be in 2012, according to an article in the West Virginia Record. Tomblin also stated his position at his most recent press conference last week, where he called for a Lt. Governor position. Speaker Thompson, who would run against potential gubernatorial candidate Tomblin, believes that waiting until 2012 to elect Manchin’s successor is too late. Tomblin, Thompson, and Secretary of State (and potential gubernatorial candidate) Natalie Tennant have all filed election briefs.

Interestingly enough, Robin Davis recused herself from this case. Rumors are running wild that she may run against Manchin if he decides to run for re-election for United States Senate, or would run for governor. However, I’m hearing she most likely will not run for governor.

So what will the Supreme Court do? I bet they throw the case back down to the legislature, where the House will send an elections bill over to the Senate. If the Senate does not pass the bill, it’s also rumored that the House will not pass any other bills until a special gubernatorial election bill is passed and signed off on by the Acting Governor.

Needless to say, tomorrow’s State of the State will be nothing short of intensely interesting… and I’ve got a stellar pair of stilettos for the occasion.

WV needs solutions, not problems.

Will we have another very special election in West Virginia? That’s all the buzz from the panhandles to the southern coal fields. The great legislative battle has begun between the House of Delegates and the Senate, with the Speaker and President going head-to-head. While the issue is whether or not we should elect someone as our governor for two years, after all the campaigning is said and done and the general election won, it’ll be one year that person will actually be governing the great state of West Virginia. Yes, succession and special election law and code is ambiguous. But the problems our beloved Mountain Momma faces going forward are not ambiguous in the least.

We’ve got massive economic and financial issues to tackle, and it’s going to be a rough ride. Starting with continuing to diversifying our energy portfolio, the OPEB liability, carbon capture, and investing more heavily in infrastructure, bringing targeted industries to the state, how to decrease the school drop out rate....these are the issues the legislature needs to be focusing on developing solutions to. And it starts by putting West Virginia and her residents first.

Can we afford another special election? While that’s the $10 million dollar question, what will be the fall-out from spending that money? Will state, county, and city jobs be cut? Does any current or potential 2011 gubernatorial candidate have a feasible solution so the second very special election won’t be such a burden on tax payers? (Now there’s a great campaign idea.) Moreover, what immediate, tangible results will the next governor (in 2011) be capable of providing West Virginians as an incentive to re-elect that person in 2012?

Have any of the 2011 gubernatorial candidates outlined a specific strategy to move our state forward?

Special Election 2011: Let the battle begin!

According to the West Virginia Constitution, Article 7, Section 16, & the West Virginia Code Section 3-10-2, we’re having a special election for governor, where party conventions choose the candidates. According to some, Tomblin could say the nearest election day would be in 2012, but several agree that’s precluded by the current statute.

After acting-Governor Tomblin’s press conference yesterday morning, Speaker Thompson issued a press release stating that we need an election sooner than 2012.

“If Gov. Manchin’s replacement is not chosen until November 2012, for the next two years, more than one half of the term, the people of West Virginia will have a governor they did not select, while the counties of the 7th Senatorial District will be represented by only half of their senatorial delegation,” Thompson says in his press release. (Full version here: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/House/Speaker/news_releases.cfm).

Tomblin told Phil Kabler in this morning’s Charleston Gazette that, “I am aware of the strong desires of some wishing to have an election prior to 2012. If my fellow West Virginians express an overwhelming desire to have a quick election, I will work with the Legislature to make that a reality.” (Full story here: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201011081053).

For what it’s worth, I say all this “mess” goes to the Supreme Court who then rules we have a special gubernatorial election prior to 2012. Needless to say, the next year in West Virginia politics could be quite a headache.

So who all will run for governor? We already know several names (see previous blog posting), but for some reason, and I could be wrong, I have a strong feeling some dark horse could come out and pull a Caperton on the wild, wonderful West Virginia political scene....

To have or not to have another Very Special Election? That is the question!

Senate President and now acting Governor Tomblin (@Senator_Tomblin) held a press conference this morning to clarify what West Virginians can expect to see as he takes over Manchin’s mansion. Not surprising to hear that, according to Tomblin, there doesn’t seem to be a need to have an election for governor until 2012. After all, he’s been saying that for quite some time now. But that opinion comes with several objections from state Democrats and Republicans.

Kanawha County attorney and former candidate Thorton Cooper called for a special gubernatorial election in 2011, threatening to sue moments after Tomblin becomes governor. State Senate (@wvsenate) Minority Leader Mike Hall states that the State Constitution calls for an election sooner than 2011. Speaker of the House (@wvhouse) Thompson (@RT4WV) stated in a Charleston Gazette (@wvgazette) article by Lawrence Messina (@lmessina) this morning, “Clearly, acting governor is not governor. We would be without a governor until we have an election. The constitution envisioned a reasonable election date... It could be very costly for us not to have the election.” (Full article :http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201011080268)

Having an election in 2011 bears one major burden on us all: the amount of money it will cost the state. Overall, the decision to have or not to have a special election is in the hands of the Supreme Court. But when will we know the outcome?

Back to Tomblin, he plans to run for Senate President again, but will not draw a salary form the Senate, only from being acting governor. His agenda includes education as a top priority, but then again didn’t Manchin’s? (We all saw how successful the June 2010 special session was.) Overall, chaos 2011 here we come!

*While trying to link some twitter names stated above, Twitter failed on me. I apologize and will update later this afternoon.

Excuse me, Mr. Bruner, it’s “Teflon Joe” Not “No-Show Joe”

In Phil Kabler’s column in today’s Charleston Gazette (@wvgazette) one GOP (@WVGOP) hopeful (very, very hopeful), calls out United States Senate candidate Joe Manchin (@JoeManchinWV) for not participating the in the August 19th debate in Charles Town.

Ken Hechler, one of Manchin’s opponents in this Saturday’s very special Primary joined Bruner in the call for Manchin to debate.

Several candidates and constituents are shocked at just how little campaigning Joe Manchin has done, but there are a few things I should point out: his website is finally up, it appears he’s had some professional photography shot, and I’ve received almost three times as many Google Alerts for him than ever before. But there must be a method to this madness. After all, he’s called “Teflon Joe” for a reason.

During one gubernatorial primary, it seemed he was the easiest candidate to beat. But Manchin proved that speculation wrong, becoming West Virginia’s own “Come Back Kid.”

Also, did we stop to think that maybe he’s not heavy on the campaign trail for a reason? After all, he is our Governor. Campaigning takes so much time, so much energy, and the campaign itself takes over your life until the election. But the people of West Virginia elected Manchin to be our Governor. Even though he contradicted himself by saying he would fulfill this term as such, it could potentially be even more devastating if all Manchin did was campaign and neglect the job we elected him to do in the first place.

It’ll be interesting to see how he campaigns after the Primary that’s only four short days away.

Read Phil Kabler’s full story in the Charleston Gazette: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201008230849

$160,000 for shoes? I’m in!

The lights keep flashing, the camera keeps rolling, but the movie just isn’t turning out the way he thought. And with West Virginia in the national spotlight, I bet Governor Manchin (@JoeManchinWV) wishes we could cut to a commercial break.

One bad camera angle: At a rate of approximately $30,000 per day, the West Virginia Legislature (@wvlegislature) failed to pass a bill both the state Senate (@wvsenate) and the House (@wvhouse) agreed upon. Overall, this special session cost approximately $160,000, http://bit.ly/dx8T6Y (story by Daily Mail (@charleywest) reporter Ry Rivard (@ryrivard).

Another bad angle: Today Manchin is expected to make a proclamation for a special election. If he had done this originally, West Virginia could have saved almost $200,000. While it’s obvious the Governor attempted to go about this with as much legislative support as possible, it just didn’t happen. So W.W.M.D (What Will Manchin Do)?

Please understand that I am not bashing Governor Manchin, I deeply respect the man, worked for him when he was Secretary of State, volunteered on his first gubernatorial campaign, and dated a close member of the Manchin family. But from a PR perspective and as a tax payer, I’m just confused. And I would rather my tax dollars be spent on shoes than four days of a session with no real solution. Speaking of shoes, Senator Chafin (@Senator_Chafin), Senator Browning, and Delegate Doug Reynolds (dougreynolds16) have the best shoes of any legislators I’ve seen.

Taking a step back, with an obvious constituent outcry for an election to fill Senator Byrd’s seat, I can’t help but wonder if Governor calls for a special election and runs (which we know he will), how much the very special session that didn’t produce any very special succession legislation hurt him? Guess we’ll find out in the coming weeks and months!