Joe, Washington is no West Virginia

By now we all know that newly elected Senator Manchin skipped out on two key votes, DADT and the DREAM Act. As a former Secretary of State, Manchin was the Chief Elections Officer of West Virginia. In that role, one of his duties was to increase voter turnout. Imagine if we all decided to do something else this past Election Day and skip out on the very special senate election!

We’re told Manchin had an extremely important family Christmas party to attend to that had been planned for over a year. Why couldn’t he have just voted and flown himself home? Maybe he was scared his plane would have another tire blow out on the runway. Other options? As Ben Smith from Politico and Brandon Kiser from the Daily Caller point out, “the vote was held at 3:00 pm, and Manchin could have taken a United Airlines flight at 5:40 and been in Charleston before 7:30.” (Although, the party was supposed to be at the home of his daughter in Pittsburgh.)

Some have mentioned that the way he would have voted on these two issues would not have been favorable with his constituents and fellow senators, so skipping out was the best option. But I disagree. Not voting and giving a party as an excuse is unacceptable, unsenatorial-like behavior. It shows lack of respect for his constituents and his position in my opinion.

While the press, blogs, and constituents in West Virginia have been pretty easy on Manchin, he needs to realize that Washington is a horse of quite a different color.

Divided Government: Can it help West Virginia?

During the first #polwv tweet up, (yes we West Virginia political junkies in Charleston had a tweet up at the infamous Red Carpet last night), I said that it’s time we look beyond party lines and have real conversation about how in the heck we are going to keep people working in this state tomorrow, ten years from now, and beyond. Let’s face it, coal is hanging in the balance, and Senator Rockefeller’s legislation only gives us about two years before the EPA cuts off coal jobs.

On Tuesday night, we watched as Republicans earned a few more victories, putting them in control of the House. This, I feel, is a good thing, (and yes, I’m a Democrat). Why? Because when one party has total control of the White House and one or both chambers of Congress, only one agenda gets pushed. When government is divided, like it is now, we have a better chance of getting legislation passed that will actually do some good. When one party controls everything, legislation is either to the far left or the far right, and someone gets blamed for things when they go wrong. That being said, having a balance allows us to develop more effective solutions for our country’s issues that will, hopefully, trickle down to the states.

While that’s just my personal opinion, what do you think? And since trends in wild, wonderful West Virginia occur about two years behind that of the rest of the nation, how does Tuesday’s election foreshadow what will take place in the mountain state in 2012? (Or maybe 2011...)

Was there an actual debate?

Was there an actual debate?

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

Last night we watched as the four candidates for United States Senate “debated.” It might have been called a “debate”, but according to WSAZ’s Jessica Ralston (@JessicaRalston), the Gazette’s Kathryn Gregory (@kitgregory), the Daily Mail’s Ry Rivard (@ryrivard) what happened on TV last night was anything but. Where were the hardball questions? No one raised their voices, no one debated. So I’m calling for a Twitter debate between the candidates. No, we all know it most likely won’t be them doing the tweeting, but since their campaigns cannot pick a mutually beneficial date to debate in Charleston, this seems like the most logical solution. Thoughts?

Changing the subject a little, the most surprising candidate last night was the Constitution Party’s Jeff Becker. Whoever prepared him for that debate should have given him a xanex. Someone tweeted asking if he even spoke English. Another tweep said he would be the Daily Show’s dream. Needless to say, he won’t be our next United States Senator.

Winners and losers from last night’s debate:

Winning moments:

-John Raese (@RaeseforSenate) had two quotes I rather enjoyed, the first one being “We win, you lose.” The second one being “It’s called demand.”

-Joe Manchin’s charisma, calmness, appearance, and perfect sound bites. The quote that ended the debate, was nothing short of cheesy perfection: "I believe in you, and I'm asking you to believe in me."

-Manchin taking on the “rubber stamp” tag and owning it.

Big fat fails of the so-called debate:

-Raese wearing his Rolex and black suit. It’s not a funeral.

-Becker’s inability to speak coherently (I appreciate nervousness but there are pills for that).

-Johnson waisting half of his closing “minute” to speak fussing about how he didn’t get to respond to previous questions.

And moments I was lost:

-Becker talking about physics

-Johnson asking “Are you sick enough yet?”

-Raese’s statements on global warming

-Johnson dwelling on penmanship

-No one asking about subpoenas

I think West Virginians need to see a the candidates speak for two hours and it needs to be an actual debate. You can call what happened last night a debate, but for many of us it wasn’t.

Manchin’s Campaign: Recommendations from the Politico in Stilettos

I believe it was Mic Jagger who said, “You can let yourself go, just as long as you can bring yourself back.” The United States Senate campaign between Manchin and Raese has many politicos across the nation wondering if Manchin can bring himself back in and come out on top.

It’s without question that his campaign has made mistakes, and this Politico in Stilettos is not only learning from those mistakes, but moreover trying to learn how to spin them and come out on top. But how to you spin the GOP’s “rubber stamp for Obama” angle?

Simple. You rebrand Manchin’s relationship with Obama, with a little help from Ringo. Who do you go to for advice? Who do you trust? Who helps you in times of need?

“Oh I get by with a little help from my friends...”

Manchin is a friend of Obama, someone who can most effectively teach him about the very special needs of our very unique wild, wonderful West Virginia. Obama surrounds himself with friends, meaning people he respects and trusts. I’m sure he doesn’t trust someone who slams everything the man has or hasn’t accomplished since he ran for office. Would you give someone the time of day if all they told you was how wrong you were? I know I wouldn’t. We all know Manchin is a “Friend of Coal” and, especially based on some of the GOP’s ads right now, he’s a friend of Obama. Thus, Manchin is the man who can make Obama a friend of coal.

Next problem: NRSC’s ad about “DC Joe”, how do you spin that?

Joe Manchin will not be the “DC Joe” the GOP has attempted to brand him as. Rather, he’s West Virginia’s Joe. Nobody knows West Virginia’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats like a full-time West Virginian. How many similarities does West Virginia have in common with Florida? As a legislator and as Governor, Manchin has been there for the people of West Virginia, and he will continue to be there because he’s West Virginia’s Joe.

If I had a hand in his campaign, these are what I’d propose to do on TV with corresponding direct mail and social media. But, that’s me.

From the Manchin to the White House?

With Capito out of the race for Senator Byrd’s seat, Governor Manchin must be thrilled. Now that Manchin heads to DC, I predict his term as United States Senator will only last for two years. With his eye is on the White House, Manchin for President in 2012 is very possible. But will America allow another man in the White House who has only served one term in Congress? Manchin does possess more charisma than Obama, heck he’s the man who made me fall in love with politics.

But President Manchin? I think Vice President Manchin is more like it. If Obama wins the Democratic Primary in 2012, he’ll need someone with an extremely high national approval rating as his Veepee: and that man is soon-to-be Senator Manchin. Another option? Obama doesn’t go past the primary and someone else wins the Democratic nomination for President, and they select Senator Manchin to join them as Vice President.

With the highest approval rating of any elected official in America, maybe “President Manchin” isn’t too far out in left field after all. West Virginia House of Delegates member Tiffany Lawrence said during a speech at a fundraiser that Manchin greatly inspired her to go into politics. If he make me fall in love with politics, he just might make America fall in love with him.

My fashion background begs me to ask one question of the soon-to-be Senator and his first lady ...who is going to be your stylist? I just might have a couple recommendations.