Who ya liking for governor???????

[CrownPrinceBandar]

I think Manchin is the candidate folks around here are backing. He seems the logical choice being SOS and all. Anyone know anything about Lloyd Jackson? I know very little about many of the other candidates (there was 17 at one point).

When comparing endorsements, Manchin has labor frimly behind him. Joe III has garnered accoldes from many of the unions as well as several newspapers. Jackson is also firmly backed by labor, and was given the nod by former governor Gaston Caperton.

[laruemtt]

1. wow, i'm glad you posted this!

i wanted to bring up the governor's race yesterday but was afraid i'd sound too ignorant as i haven't been paying enough attention. for me the fact that caperton has endorsed jackson is a plus in his column. manchin has the vitality. i just want somebody who'll grow our economy here in a clean way and quit cow-towing to king coal. hope i'm not offending anybody here......

[davidinalameda]

2. watching from a distance

and I'm so glad that I am

I don't think I could handle Manchin as governor. If I was still living back home, I would probably be supporting Jackson because Gaston is backing him

Manchin is going to be as bad for the state as Uncle Cecil was

[MountainLaurel]

3. Manchin and Uncle Cecil

Wasn't Manchin the leader of "Democrats for Underwood"?

Former Marion Countian here, and I think in a lot of ways, Manchin is a DINO, particularly when it comes to social issues. That whole family just makes me twitch.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

4. I have to agree...

Overall, the Manchin's have done a lot of good for the state, but they have had their fair share of scandal as well. For example, Manchin claims to support health care programs such as Medicaid, but according to an editorial in the Charleston Gazette (5/12/93):

"There's plenty of blame...Much of it belongs to the interim committee that had a year to develop a way to raise Medicaid matching money but failed to produce anything...Co-chairman Joe Manchin, D-Marion was appointed last may but didn't bother showing up until December, missing the first five meetings."

I know this was over ten years ago, but I've yet seen where Manchin has answered these charges. I think this is the biggest issue facing WV right now. Substandard to non-existent health care is what many residents face right now (myself included). This should be the #1 issue of the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Also, I have yet to see any of the candidate's views on natural resource conservation. Is the new governor going to let lumber and coal companies run rough-shod over the desires of the large portion of the state that sees the virtue of tourism, and the natural resources that bring those visitors to the state.

I have to find answers to alot of questions before I can make an informed choice.

[Hubert Flottz]

21. Manchin is for the right to work law, or was a while back!

That's all I need to know to say NO! I saw Manchin speak at Capitol High when he ran against Pritt and I went straight and voted for Pritt! The GOPers turned on the dirty trick machine when Cecil won for sure! I knew Moore would beat Humphreys last time and I can't believe the Democrats backed him! I think Jesco White would be better than Moore!

Edit}}BTW I've been a member of the AFLCIO for 30 years and I DON'T Back Manchin! Most of the guys at my local don't either!

[laruemtt]

5. where would you guys suggest

getting unbiased data on the candidates? i've been here since 10/1992 and although i've heard all the stories, i'd like to get a better handle on and overall picture of state politics. i've heard the horrors of cecil. i know i liked gaston when i came here and couldn't stand underwood. thanks for the info about manchin - didn't know these details.

[Eccho]

6. WV NPR

radio is hands down the best source of news for WV. I was listening on the way home tonight and they talked about how Manchin tried to get Jackson to sign a no attack ad paper and was refused, so as of 5 pm today, he will be forced to 'start defending himself'

On another candidate, I was listening to some of the debate between McGraw (running for WV Supreme Court Justice) and Rowe from last night. I wasn't sure who I was supporting (McGraw seems like a bit of a character), but it was clear from some of what they were saying that McGraw is more someone who would represent the state, and Rowe more like republican light.

But anyway, NPR is an excellent source for info. Check it out.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

8. The WV GOP is encouraging it members to vote in the dem primary

and vote against mcgraw. it was in the gazette.

that should tell you who the real dem in the race is.

[WildClarySage]

11. The Parkersburg News

(aka The Republican Talking Points News) has been attacking McGraw tirelessly, but I've never understood quite why they were so threatened by him. I haven't seen them this ass-over-tit since Byrd said that he wasn't going to vote for Clinton's impeachment.

[kispoko]

12. ye olde parkersburg news

hardly a day goes by, where that rag's editorial, doesn't piss me off.... and i've caught them lying on numerous occasions about things, and got so fed up one time i called up to wheeling to see exactly who it was (anonymous punk) that put together those prevarications we shell our money out for.


at least in charleston, they have the gazette to counter the daily mail. here, the sentinel (our evening/weekday rag) is merely republican-lite, and the news is one of the official propaganda outlets for der fuhrer..... it's disgusting.

[WildClarySage]

14. Aren't they the worst! I had

a LTTE in last sunday's (or was it week before? anyway) and they cut half of it out and made me sound like a ranting idiot instead of the well-thought out, and, more importantly, well-transitioned writer I was.

Actually, I don't subscribe anymore, I just go by what's on their website, but my letter was online except that there were just pieces of it. Bastards.

[kispoko]

19. .....

-a LTTE in last sunday's (or was it week before? anyway) and they cut half of it out and made me sound like a ranting idiot instead of the well-thought out, and, more importantly, well-transitioned writer I was.

they always do that to me.... 350 words is a joke, and they pick and choose whom to enforce that on.

i write the colombus day letters every year, and they always find some way to cut them off just before i really drive the point home and conclude it..... i have had to tell them before if they were going to edit, just not to print my letters at all.


but yes, the sunday idiot parade is entertaining, if nothing else. but i always read 'em.


-Actually, I don't subscribe anymore, I just go by what's on their website, but my letter was online except that there were just pieces of it. Bastards.

we get the sentinel, which, i guess, is supposed to counter the news' extremist conservative bent..... heh. and of course, we get the news on weekends and, i read it here and there on weekdays....

i dunno, i guess i just like to check in and see what the devil's up to :P away from the editorial section, it overall isn't too bad. but i'd slap a puppy for a rag like the gazette.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

7. Manchin betrayed the party and the state in 1996

when we had a true progressive/populist candidate for the first time in decades in Charlotte Pritt. Manchin decided to be petty and threw his support to ulta-rightwing Cecil Underwood, giving us 4 of the worst years of governance in WV history.

Manchin is aself-serving republicrat scumbag and is the lowest form of politician imaginable.

Jackson does nothing for me. Just a lackluster legislator.

I'm backing Lees. He'll stand up to the coal companies.

[laruemtt]

9. i liked lees when

i saw him in a debate here in huntington.

[kispoko]

10. was going to pose the same question.....

basically, i think we all know manchin is like a lot of democrats in this state..... basically a republican. after he started with that garbage about fighting to have the 10 commandments placed in the schools, all doubt was totally wiped away......

so if ya don't, now ya know.


manchin is also tied into the energy bidness.... and i was for jackson, until i discovered he had even *bigger* energy interests himself (and i'm having difficulty finding much of anything to gauge his general issues, particularly social ones).... and i'm sorry, but that just doesn't seem to bode well, nor sit with me very well, in a state married to a king (re: coal) that's raped and beaten her their entire relationship, and looks to continue doing the same.

so, was disappointed there..... lookin' like lees, and you'll have to excuse me if there happens to be some legal eagles here, but lees just seems like a typical lawyer to me..... but better he than them.


so, we don't really have a viable candidate this year for our party..... a sentiment expressed by others i've talked to.



am thinking of joining the mountain party.

[davidinalameda]

13. don't abandon the party

there are some good Democrats still left

I have a friend who serves in the House of Delegates and SHE is one of the most progressive members in there

Having said that, she's probably doomed to stay in the House for the rest of her career

[kispoko]

17. hmm....

it's not so much about "abandoning the party," but it seems as though the mountain party actually mirrors more of what i'm about than does the democratic party.... and i suspect the same could be said about most of us here.

see, i never really took time to look much into the mountain party. but there was an article on them in last sunday's paper i believe, and they posted some of their platform.... and so i'm reading this and i say, goddamn.... that's *me*.


even if i did, i would still vote the same, so nothing would change from that angle.... the mountain party though is a true progressive party, centered more around local and regional issues as well, and it would appear, without the flaws of the greens (such as a poor, but well-meaning economic policy).

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

15. check out lees' monthly column in graffiti

you might like what you see:
http://www.grafwv.com/showstory.php3?id=1619&x=19&y=15

[davidinalameda]

16. too funny

shame he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell to win

he would do pretty well

[kispoko]

18. heya

thanks for postin' that ann coulter is a man (damn, i need to find another way to address ye).... i appreciate it.

ya know, even if just for conscience sake, lees is gonna have to be the guy in may.

[MrSandman]

20. Don't count him out...

He received 38% of the vote in 2000 against Wise. With Jackson and Caperton both in the race, that 38% is strong.

[MrSandman]

22. Lees..n/t

[Eccho]

23. Ok, I'm gonna put my neck on the chopping block....

Manchin called a lot of party loyalists and asked if he should run last Fall. They are behind him, and it seems to me that he is the only hope for a win. I know he hasn't been perfect in the past, but I honestly believe that he has improved, and he has a lot of important support. I can't remember a lot of great Dem. choices for Gov. in the first place, but I really think he has the backing to win, and could really do a good job.

[davidinalameda]

24. but he's the worst kind of Republicrat

the whole Manchin family makes my skin craw

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

25. Joe's an ANTI-CHOICE tool of the religious right

and he wants to FORCE schools to post the ten commandments.

yes, force them.
not defend a teacher's right to post them.

he wants to REQUIRE teachers to shove religion down your kids' throats.

and i'll never forgive him for what he did to charlotte pritt, the democratic party, and the state of wv - when he signed on to support the rightwing extremist republican underwood in '96

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

26. and I wouldn't put it past him to switch parites officially after elected

if the GOP takes the legislature (as many are predicting), he'll think it's safe

manchin is an self-serving,opportunistic arsehole and we'll be yet the latest in long string of corporate puppet governors

[Eccho]

27. I hear what you are saying

Philosophically, no. I'm not for him. However, I know enough people who know him personally, that I feel safe in believing that he would never switch parties. I'm willing to trust their judgement, in that, he is the best hope for a win. I'm concerned about numbers.

And as a secondary issue, I'm very concerned about Robert Byrd. Don't you hope that he will run again, and should he have to step down, that we have a Dem Gov in office to name his replacement?

[WildClarySage]

28. I wouldn't trust Manchin

to actually replace Byrd with a dem, though. Not after he supported Cecil Underwear.

[Hubert Flottz]

29. RE: "if the GOP takes the legislature "

If that happens and Joe Manchin is the gov, Wv will be a right to work state in 6 months! Wise let us down! Wise put himself before every other thing in this state when he did what he did! After seeing what happened to Clinton he still couldn't wait until he was out of office to do the STUPID shit he did! Wise was not so damned Wise after all! Wise was almost as bad as Underwood overall! The people who are hooked on cigarettes are paying everyone's taxes now! The overweight coal trucks are junking every road and bridge in the state and we are stuck with the bills to repair them!

The coal companies are getting wealthy and we are paying their operating expenses and clean up bills! Our mountains are being trashed by BIG COAL, Walker and AEP, for a handful of nonunion jobs and soon the tourists will just say no to WV! I would have HATED to vote for Wise again, but would have done it! I just about gag thinking of voting for Joe Manchin though! The future of WV looks like Hell any way you slice it! If Joe Manchin is the best our party has to offer I'll not vote for governor! I'm tired of the lesser of two weasel choices we have pushed down our throats here every election! I hate Joe Manchin worse than Jim Humpyees! I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!

[WildClarySage]

30. So tell me,

how do you really feel? :)

[Hubert Flottz]

31. The only thing that keeps me going is fishin'!

And now they are screwing that up too! I don't know whether to Shei'ite or wind my watch anymore! I'd go to church, but I'm skeerd of snakes!

[kispoko]

32. heya hubert

where ya go fishin' at?

[Hubert Flottz]

33. Woodrum lake!!!

Caught 16 bass Friday and the dude with me caught 11! I fish all over though! I like Summersville lake the best! May is the best month of all at Summersville! I fish the lake at Hawks Nest a lot but it's staying muddy! I catch some nice bass and tiger muskie here behind the house on Coal river! Guess I'll fish Coal a lot if gas goes up to $3.00 a gal! I've got a pedal boat in the river here at the house, so Bush's Pals can't stop me from fishin'!

Where you fishin'? Maybe we'd better start a WV fishin' thread???

[kispoko]

34. eh....

i think mebbe this thread has died, so some fishin' posts could bring it back to life :P


i mostly just trout fish, ya know.... my grandparents live in elkins, so i was spoiled fishing in the cheat river. and we have a piece of property bordering a trout stream in fayette county we were able to get last summer. mill creek. felt blessed to have that, always wanted something like it, and it's so beautiful down that way..... it's not far from hawk's nest lake (isn't that just behind the damn?), about 10 minutes mebbe. and it just happens to be right where they stock the trout, which is good and bad, because there's a nice fishing hole there, and that's where everybody comes..... so, ya get all kinds of stuff with that many people, but met some good people too and conversation, so far, which was good, since that's 'bout all i 'caught' :)


how's the coal river? i'll bet it's beautiful down there, what parts the mining companies and some of the people haven't trashed.... is the water pretty clean though? clear even, maybe?

[Hubert Flottz]

35. I like to trout fish too!

Caught 2 rainbows about 8 pounds each and a 6 1/2 pounder and one 5 1/2 pound golden trout so far this year, but I caught them all out of a put and take lake in Nitro! I caught them all on jigs that I made myself! I've fished the Cheat some from Bemis up to the falls and caught some nice Browns a few years back! Love Bemis on a Saturday night!!!!

I've fished about all the streams running into the New and they are nice! I've fished the New and Gauley rivers all over since I was a kid! Some great small mouth bass fishing, but snaky! I worked on the Gorge bridge, so I have a soft spot in my heart for the New that matches the soft spot in my head! The proof of the soft spot in the head is evident by the fact that I worked on the bridge in 76-77!(needed money badly) The lake at Hawk's Nest goes from the dam almost up to the Gorge bridge, about 4 miles!

I said in another post that the reason I like WV is the great people here! The truth is, the great fishing water is the REAL reason! My Dad always told me, "Son if Gawd made anything better than fishing he kept it for himself!" Together we tested about every fishing hole in the state when I was growing up and I know he'd be broken hearted to see what the Coal Barons are doing to his mountains and streams now!

[Hubert Flottz]

36. RE: The Coal river................

The Coal river seems peaceful and pretty now days and the water condition is far better than it was thirty years ago, when the river ran black with coal sludge every day! The clean water act that Bush is now gutting, has done wonders for the river over the past three decades! The fish on the lower end of the Coal are still unfit for eating, but at least there ARE fish now! The trouble with the Coal river is, that there are TERRORISTS at work upstream! * Here is what I mean:::::::::::::::

Razing Appalachia

SNIP>

Judy Bonds, her daughter and grandson were the last ones out. They packed up and left Marfork hollow early last year, the rear guard of more than 50 families in a community that had existed for nearly a century--until the A.T. Massey Coal Co. arrived on this stretch of the Big Coal River in southern West Virginia.

The company mined in Marfork around the clock as if no one lived there, blasting their way into coal seams, noisily loading more than 100 railroad cars at a time, blanketing the town with black coal dust and discharging blackwater coal residue into the stream that fed the water supply. "Living in a hellhole," neighbors used to say to Bonds.

Above them, like the Sword of Damocles, stood a dam taller than the Grand Coulee, holding billions of gallons of coal waste. Its collapse would have sent a wall of blackwater to drown them. Much More..................

http://www.citizenscoalcouncil.org/news/razingAp.htm

I came home one day and found this scary flier in my mail box! It hit me then like a Lead Pipe, why A.T. Massey Coal Company had been spending so much money on their TV ads trying to clean up their image and trying to get the public to think that they were doing everyone in the state a great favor by creating a few nonunion jobs here in West Virginia! The fact that A.T. Massey Coal Co. is one of the worst polluters and enviornmental law breakers in the coal industry, is what they wish to bulldoze under the rug of public opinion, with their multi million dollar TV PR Blitz!

Here is a link to the same flier titled, "Remember Buffalo Creek!" that the UMWA sent me! I understand that you may now pick up one of these fliers at your nearest UMWA office or union hall!

"Remember Buffalo Creek!"

http://www.ohvec.org/issues/slurry_impoundments/articles/umwa_brushy_fork.pdf

BTW, sorry about hi-jacking the thread, but when you asked how Coal river is, I just had to tell you!