Election 2008: Governor

• Gov. Joe Manchin outlined his energy policy to The Register-Herald of Beckley.
  

• The libertarian Cato Institute ranks Manchin among only three governors, and the only Democrat, deserving of an "A" for fiscal policy. As The Associated Press reports, Cato says Manchin "has enacted probably the most pro-growth tax reforms of any governor." The Charleston Gazette also has an item.

• Public Broadcasting has coverage and complete audio from Sunday's debate between Manchin, Republican Russ Weeks and the Mountain Party's Jesse Johnson.

• Weeks talks to The Register-Herald about his bid.

• The Beckley paper also hears from gubernatorial write-in candidate Butch Paugh of the Constitution Party.
  

Registered Voters in W.Va. at All-Time High

A record 1.2 million West Virginians are registered to vote in the general election, the secretary of state reports.

As The Associated Press notes, the last high was 1.17 million voters in 1952, when the state's population peaked at about 2 million. It now has about 1.8 million people.

Both AP and the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington note the influx of unaffiliated voters. "Other" voters now account for 15 percent of the state's total.

"Democrats remain the majority, with more than 675,300. They outnumber Republicans by just under two-to-one," AP notes.

Mason-Dixon: McCain 47%, Obama 41% in W.Va.

Mason-Dixon conducted the poll for NBC, and surveyed 625 likely state voters Oct. 16-17.

The numbers suggest 12% were undecided or chose other candidates. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4%, and a probability of 94.55%.

Update: "Well, scratch West Virginia from the swing state list for the time being," opines FiveThirtyEight.com upon assessing this and the coincidental PPP poll.

"By no means is the state totally unwinnable for Obama," the statistical analysis site offers, "but in all probability, it is pretty far from the tipping point."

Election 2008: Governor

Gov. Joe Manchin, Republican Russ Weeks and Mountain Party nominee Jesse Johnson square off Sunday for the latest debate in the gubernatorial race, this one hosted by The Associated Press and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

The latter will air the debate at 7 p.m. Sunday, and again at 9 p.m. Monday.

Update: AP has a report from the half-hour exchange.

AP recently profiled the three candidates, finding they have "several views in common, but are miles apart on others - including mountaintop removal, abortion, the death penalty and the leadership of the current administration."

Manchin also spoke to the editorial board of the Bluefield Daily-Telegraph about his record and his bid for a second term.

PPP: McCain 50%, Obama 42% in W.Va.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,223 likely voters Thursday and Friday, yielding a margin of error of +/- 2.8%. Undecideds were 8%. The probability is 99.83%.

Among the highlights:

• "Right now in almost every battleground state more than 60% of the electorate lists the economy as its top issue, something that very much plays to the Democrats’ advantage. But only 54% do in West Virginia, with moral and family values placing second at 15%, a much higher share than it is pulling anywhere else.
  

• "McCain’s advantage with those values voters? 87-7."

• Obama "leads McCain with voters in his own party just 62-29, at the same time that McCain is nailing down 85% of the Republican vote. McCain also has a strong advantage with independents, 53-36."

• Obama "is actually faring worse with older voters in the state than John Kerry did in 2004. Among those surveyed, 45% said they supported Kerry but only 41% say they support Obama."

The firm concluded that "Contrary to other recent polls that have found West Virginia too close to call," McCain "is likely to repeat the success George W. Bush had in the state in 2000 and 2004.”

The firm relies on automatic phone calls. "Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify," the polling memo notes.

The memo includes each question as asked and response rates.

Biden Coming to W.Va.

Barack Obama's campaign tells The Associated Press that running mate Joe Biden will campaign Friday in Charleston "to talk about the economy."

AP notes that Biden's planned appearance offers "the latest sign of Obama stepping up efforts in the Mountain State since polling suggested a close race with Republican John McCain."

The belief that West Virginia is in play likely prompted The Politico to accompany state Democratic leaders Saturday "on a winding, eight-county bus tour through the south of the state, " where "in one small mining town after another, they sold Barack Obama to small crowds of Democrats with remarkable directness."

The Charleston Gazette also covered the weekend coalfields trek. MetroNews, meanwhile, reports that "the NRA began advertising statewide against Democrat Barack Obama Saturday."

Update: A new poll puts McCain 8 percentage points ahead of Obama in West Virginia.

Update II: National Public Radio was also in Logan County.

Early West Virginia Voters Report Ballot Problems (Updated)

A trio of early voters who tried to cast their ballots in Jackson County this week tell The Charleston Gazette that touch-screen voting machines "kept switching their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates."

"When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain," Virginia Matheney of Kenna told the newspaper.

Two other voters alleged the same problem while trying to cast their ballots for the Democrat. Matheney and one of these others also reported it occurred while trying to vote for the Democrats running for governor, the state Supreme Court and the local state Senate seat.

"Why didn't she [the polling clerk] tell me before I even used the machine that might happen?" said Calvin Thomas, 81, of Ravenswood. "And how many people, especially my age, didn't notice that?"

Deputy Secretary of State Sarah Bailey told The Gazette that "When we received a call about this, we immediately called the county and told them to recalibrate the machines to make sure the finger-touch [area] lines up with the ballot..."Sometimes machines can become miscalibrated when they are moved from storage facilities to early voting areas. We get a couple of calls about this each election year."

Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright said his workers recalibrated the machines after getting the call, but also said voters may not be touching the right parts of the machine screens.

"People make mistakes more than the machines," he told the paper, "but I went in yesterday and recalibrated the machines. We are doing everything we can not to disenfranchise anybody."

Update: Voters in Putnam County report similar problems to The Gazette.

Judge Blocks W.Va. Election Ad Rules as Unconstitutional. Again.

The bulk of the Legislature's attempted fix of rules regulating political ads failed to pass muster Friday with a federal judge, The Associated Press reports.

"Johnston's order blocks the state from barring corporation-funded ads that use 'express advocacy' as defined as language that 'When considered in its entirety, the communication can only be interpreted by a reasonable person as advocating the election or defeat of one or more clearly identified candidates,'" AP explains.

It does leave a portion of the legislation's "express advocacy" ban intact, but "as with the federal ruling issued in April, Johnston's order rolls back the disclosure requirement for election-time ads to spots that air on radio and broadcast, cable and satellite TV," AP reports.

Legislative Republicans had been almost uniformly against the June special session measure.

"Certainly we had those concerns when the bill was brought before the Legislature," House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, told AP. "I think we all felt we were all for disclosure but we wanted the type of disclosure that would hold constitutional scrutiny."

"Lawyers for the Center for Individual Freedom and West Virginians for Life challenged the law," the article said. "Both groups want to weigh in on the state Supreme Court race, while the center has also targeted state Attorney General Darrell McGraw in prior ads. But each said they would not if they had to disclose their contributors."

The Charleston Gazette also reports on Friday's ruling.

Update: Secretary of State Betty Ireland, as the state's chief elections officer, plans to appeal Friday's and is seeking a stay, AP and MetroNews report. She argues that "The relief granted by the injunction effectively rewrites West Virginia’s election law some 17 days before the general election, which will undoubtedly result in a free-for-all of mud-slinging campaign attack ads by special interest groups that have no duty to report their expenditures or their sources of funding."

Election 2008: Congress - 2nd District

• The Associated Press profiles U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, as she faces Democrat Anne Barth in her bid for a fifth term.

• AP also reports that "GOP leaders in Congress, the finance and insurance industries and health care interests" helped Capito raise nearly twice as much in PAC funds as Barth during the latest filing period.

• The Charleston Gazette reports on the back-and-forth between the two candidates in the competitive race.

• The Charleston Daily Mail looks at the negative ads that each campaign has launched against the other as Election Day nears.
  

Election 2008: Governor

Both The Journal of Martinsburg, WEPM radio and the Herald-Mail of Hagerstown (Md.) offer coverage from Thursday's debate pitting Gov. Joe Manchin against Republican challenger Russ Weeks and Mountain Party nominee Jesse Johnson. The former two helped sponsor the Hedgesville forum.

Obama Buys Ads in W.Va.

The Associated Press reports that Democrat Barack Obama has "extended his front-running campaign into West Virginia, a bastion of white, middle-class voters who rejected his primary season appeals, and confidently broached the subject of victory in a presidential contest playing out on Republican turf."

While noting Obama's lopsided loss to Hillary Clinton in the state's May primary, and President Bush's back-to-back electoral wins here, AP reports that economic concerns "and TV ads meant for neighboring Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia that spilled over onto West Virginia televisions have made the state competitive."

Republican John McCain and GOP forces, meanwhile, "are mostly focused on protecting states Bush won in 2004, including Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia," the article said.

Rating the Capito-Barth Race

The latest rankings from a pair of national political analysts include U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, among GOP House members vulnerable to Democratic gains. Each also offers a caveat.

Larry Sabato lists Capito among 55 House Republicans whose seats are "in play" (as opposed to 144 deemed "Safe/Solid R"). Capito's race is among 17 on that roster rated as "Likely R."

Stuart Rothenberg also includes the 2nd District seat among swing districts that should serve as bellweathers for the Democrats' fortunes on Election Day:

Thinking 30 seats-plus for Democrats? Capito’s district is a good place to look. Polling has shown that the Republican incumbent looks like winner, so if she is upset, you know something huge is happening.

IA: McCain 49%, Obama 47% in W.Va.

Insider Advantage surveyed 522 likely West Virginia voters Monday by phone, with the resulting margin of error at +/- 4%.

Undecideds amounted to 3%. The probability was 67.96%.

"Like all other major polling firms, data are weighted by age, race, gender and political party affiliation," the memo notes.

Election 2008: President (2nd Update)

MSNBC continues to speculate about West Virginia's status on the White House electoral map, this time citing a Tuesday visit to neighboring Ohio by Democratic running mate Joe Biden:

“Which way is West-By-God-Virginia?” Biden asked the crowd Ohio University Eastern Campus, about 10 miles west of that state's border with Ohio. “I want to send a message to West Virginia -- we’re going to win in West Virginia! … We’re going to shock the living devil out of y’all!”

The First Read blog had earlier linked to a sweeping ratings change by The Cook Political Report for the state, from "Solid R" to "Toss Up."

As for the other national political analysts:

• Congressional Quarterly: Leans McCain

• FiveThirtyEight.com: Light Red

• Pollster.com: Toss-Up

• The Rothenberg Political Report: Leans McCain

• Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball: Solid Republican

MetroNews hears from Dick Morris (with audio) and an analyst from Cook (also with audio) on the subject.

Update: Political Wire relays this observation from the blog for Public Policy Polling on the difficulty with querying voters in the Mountain State:

If someone can get me a random sample of people who voted in the 2004 general election, 2006 general election, or 2008 primary in West Virginia then we will poll it. Concern about being able to get a sample of sufficient quality there is what makes us, and I'm guessing other companies that do registration based sampling, hesitant to poll there. That's not a problem with most other states.

Update II: Insider Advantage has a new poll.

Election 2008: Governor

• The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown sets the stage for Thursday's debate in nearby Hedgesville featuring Gov. Joe Manchin, GOP challenger Russ Weeks and Jesse Johnson, the Mountain Party nominee.

• MetroNews recaps Monday's debate between Manchin and Weeks, held in Charleston.
  

• The Register-Herald sought to follow up on Weeks' allegation that "an unnamed Division of Highways official landed a state road contract with the Manchin administration in violation of state law." Citing fear of "retribution"to the latter, "the former state senator refused to identify either the official allegedly involved or name the source of his information," the Beckley newspaper reported.
  

Election 2008 Shorts

• The Associated Press profiles Jay Wolfe, the Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

• The Charleston Daily Mail focuses on their respective stances on the financial meltdown and proposed solutions in the Rockefeller-Wolfe matchup.

• AP also reports that "Optical-scan voting machines in 19 counties need to be reprogrammed to fix errors caused when people who wish to vote a straight-ticket ballot also cast crossover votes in certain races."

• AP and The Charleston Gazette each covered the latest federal court hearing to air challenges to West Virginia's disclosure requirements for certain independent political ads.

• The Journal hears from Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, as he seeks another term.

• The Martinsburg paper also checks in on U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, as her re-election campaign takes her to the Eastern Panhandle.

• The Gazette reports on a Kanawha Circuit Court judge who has "resigned so that he can start to draw his state pension." But as he is on the November ballot and is unopposed, "if he is re-elected, he could legally collect both his state pension and his salary as a judge if he decides to return to the bench," the article said.

Is W.Va. in Play?

MSNBC is the latest to raise the question, in part following the first (and only) published poll showing Democrat Barack Obama ahead of Republican John McCain among state voters.

"Something's happening in West Virginia -- yes, West Virginia -- because of the economic angst," Chuck Todd and others opine on First Read. "Obama's been buying a bunch of TV time in markets that bleed into West Virginia, and the numbers have been closing for a time."

The item also links to the Cook Political Report, which has recast West Virginia as a "Toss Up" state, all the way from "Solid R."

Local Republican operative Mark Blankenship predicts to MetroNews "a big, big victory for McCain or a narrow victory for Obama." With audio.

Election 2008: Governor

C-SPAN2 is among those with footage from Monday's debate between Gov. Joe Manchin and Republican challenger Russ Weeks, hosted by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association.

The public affairs channel is airing all such forums from the 11 states electing governors this year.

Others with coverage include WSAZ-TV, WCHS-TV (with video), WOWK-TV (also with video), MetroNews (with several audio clips), The Charleston Gazette and the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington.

Quote of the Day

“I think this is a trial run. A series of trial runs, to see if they can develop the technology that will allow them to cause a major widespread disruption."

- Delegate Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier, who told fellow lawmakers (and The Register-Herald of Beckley) that the recent jamming of the Legislature's web site could have been the Chinese military "in search of vulnerability in American computer networks."

Election 2008 Shorts

• The Associated Press sets the stage for the advent of early voting this week, and notes that the increase in new voters pales besides the rate seen nationally. Voter registration ends Tuesday.

• AP also reports on the relative absence of third-party ads heading into the home stretch of the state Supreme Court race. But that could suddenly change, according to a national analysis of judicial races.

• MetroNews previews Monday's 7 p.m. debate between Gov. Joe Manchin and GOP challenger Russ Weeks in Charleston. The Charleston Daily Mail and others had earlier reported on Mountain Party nominee Jesse Johnson losing his bid to participate.
  

Palin Coming to West Virginia

GOP running mate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin plans on Sunday to "fly into Huntington, then cross the Ohio River into Ohio," The Charleston Gazette reports.

CNN and The Gazette, citing campaign officials, had earlier reported that Palin had "scheduled a bus tour for Sunday through West Virginia," with CNN viewing that as "another signal that the troubled economy is forcing John McCain’s campaign to play electoral map defense."

But McCain-Palin officials have since described a trip to The Gazette that would instead mirror McCain's previous stops in West Virginia: a brief appearance preceding a more lengthy and involved schedule in the Ohio battleground.

Sunday's appearance follows the first published poll to find Obama ahead of McCain among West Virginia voters.

Update: The Associated Press has an item on Sunday's visit, which lasted an estimated 25 minutes, while it and The Gazette report on Obama rallies spurred by the pit stop.

Hillary Clinton in W.Va.

The Associated Press has details from the former first lady's Friday visit to the University of Charleston in support of Democratic congressional nominee Anne Barth.

"The rally also featured a surprise appearance by Sen. Robert C. Byrd," Barth's former longtime boss, AP reports.

Update: The Charleston Gazette covered the event, as did MetroNews. Both offer photos, while the latter also has audio.

Vote-Buying Figure Denied Pension

The state Supreme Court has unanimously ruled against disgraced former longtime Lincoln County Assessor Jerry Weaver, in his bid for a public pension.

The decision creates new case law by further defining “less than honorable service," the standard for denying public retirement benefits.

The Road to the White House Takes the BBC thru W.Va.

As part of its "Talking America" bus tour, the BBC stopped in Madison and Charleston "to explore some of the dilemmas the new President will have to get to grips with: jobs versus the environment; coal-owner versus union; the need for coal versus the need not to have coal."

Besides the audio report, BBC also offers audio of both coal enthusiasts and opponents of mountaintop-removal mining.

WCHS-TV has a report and video on the visit.

(A) McCain in West Virginia

Joe McCain, a brother of the Republican presidential nominee, was slated to headline the Fayette County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner on Thursday. MetroNews had a preview.

ARG: Obama 50%, McCain 42% in West Virginia

American Research Group's Oct. 4-8 survey of 600 likely voters may be the first poll to find Obama ahead in West Virginia.

Five percent (corrected figure) were undecided, and the margin of error was +/- 4%. The probability was 97.98%.

Among the findings:

• 54% of women favored Obama (vs. 36% for McCain);
• 49% of men favored McCain (vs. 46% for Obama);
• McCain had a slightly larger margin of Republicans than Obama did Democrats (79% to 76%);
• Obama edged out McCain among independents, 50% to 38%.

"(A)n especially odd result," observes Political Wire.

Quote of the Day

"We endorsed the governor four years ago when it really made a difference. At this point it looks like he will be reelected and we will continue to have a relationship with him."

-- West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee, explaining to MetroNews why the teachers' group has declined to endorse his bid for a second term.

W.Va. and the Financial Crisis, Cont'd

• The latest review of state finances by the Rockefeller Institute of Government shows that "West Virginia has bucked the national economic calamity, and has actually led the nation in economic growth since May," The Charleston Gazette reports.

• A canvass of West Virginia's 53 state-chartered banks found that seven are poised to lose a combined $12.4 million from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac stock, "but those soured investments were spread around and the banks remain well-capitalized," the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

• MetroNews gets an overview of the bailout's potential effects from Marshall University Vice President of Business and Economic Research Doctor Cal Kent. With audio.
  

Election 2008 Roundup

• The West Virginia Education Association has declined to endorse the re-election bid of Gov. Joe Manchin, though the teachers' group has also decided not to back his GOP opponent, either, MetroNews reports. The item notes that the WVEA had been the first major labor group to announce for Manchin in 2004, but that the governor "lashed out" at it during the fight over teacher pay raises earlier this year. With audio.

• Public Broadcasting has separate interviews with Democrat Natalie Tennant and Republican Charles Minimah in the Secretary of State's race, and also offers audio of the former broadcaster and the Charleston business owner.

• GOP agriculture commission candidate Mike Teets talks to The Intelligencer of Wheeling.

• State Democratic officials tell The Charleston Gazette that "Sen. Hillary Clinton's visit to Charleston Friday to endorse 2nd Congressional District nominee Anne Barth will be a boost for everyone on the ticket."

• The Journal of Martinsburg hears from Republican Bob Adams in the 16th District state Senate race.
  

Byrd Goes to Nashville

Sen. Robert C. Byrd received the "Dr. Perry Harris Award" during the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville over the weekend. A former longtime player who once perfomed on Hee Haw, the West Virginia Democrat was handed the award by colleague Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., whose staff posted the video.

Hillary Clinton Returning to W.Va.

Sen. Hillary Clinton is throwing her support behind fellow Democrat Anne Barth, planning to stump for the 2nd District congressional challenger Friday in Charleston, The Associated Press reports.

Clinton is slated to appear on Barth's behalf at an open event at the University of Charleston. As AP notes, she "last visited West Virginia just before her overwhelming win in the state's May presidential primary."

The former first lady defeated Barack Obama in that contest, but has since gotten behind his nomination. Update: The Charleston Gazette adds comments from "Tom Vogel, who heads Obama's presidential campaign in West Virginia," and who "said he wasn't sure how much Clinton would stump for Obama during her visit."

Lobbyist Spending on W.Va. Legislature Reaches $318k

Coca-Cola footed the hotel bill while House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, attended NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in May, and Chesapeake Energy Corp. spent nearly $118 per person on a July dinner for Thompson, Senate President Earl Tomblin, D-Logan, other lawmakers and their spouses, according to lobbyist spending reports scrutinized by The Charleston Gazette.

W.Va. Ad Disclosure Law Remains Under Fire

West Virginians for Life has joined the fight against reporting requirements for independent election-time political ads, The Charleston Gazette and others report.

The group has filed a separate federal lawsuit from the one launched earlier this year by the Center for Individual Freedom. The newer challenge seeks a judge's order blocking, at least temporarily, the spending disclosure provisions that became state law Oct. 1.

"James Bopp Jr., an Indiana lawyer who is representing (WVFL), said the new law limits his client's rights to free speech because it is afraid to publicize former state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman's authorship of a 1993 ruling that made the state pay for abortions for Medicaid recipients," The Gazette reported.

"We're objecting to being regulated in any way by this law," Bopp told that newspaper. "We don't want to be prohibited, we don't want to file [financial] reports, we don't want to do anything under this law."

The Times-West Virginian of Fairmont and The Associated Press also have items.

Election 2008: Legislature

Democrats running for the Legislature enjoy a three-to-one margin both for money raised and cash on hand over their GOP rivals for the last campaign finance filing period, an analysis by The Associated Press shows.

"Reports posted by the Secretary of State's office show legislative candidates collected more than $600,000 between May 26 and Sept. 21," the article said. "With most campaigns reporting cash left over from the primary, spending during the filing period left a collective balance of more than $1.5 million."

The Journal of Martinsburg, meanwhile, takes a closer look at the finance reports of Eastern Panhandle legislative hopefuls.

FSU to Host National Pundits

Bay Buchannon, political commentator and sister of Pat, will debate nationally syndicated columnist and radio host Roland S. Martin 7 p.m. Monday at the Turley Center Ballroom of Fairmont State University. The Times-West Virginian has additional details.

They Voted For You: The Bailout, Revised

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted for the Senate-passed version of "historic legislation providing $700 billion in government money to bring stability to reeling financial markets," as The Associated Press reports.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, opposed the measure, which prevailed 263-171.

AP reports that before the vote, "Member after member went to the well of the chamber to voice discomfort and displeasure with many aspects of the bailout legislation. But they also said said they would vote for it anyway. And nearly 30 who voted against it on Monday said they had changed their minds."

Update: Capito was among 108 Republicans to vote against the bill. They were joined by 63 Democrats.

Update II: President Bush signed the measure Friday. Those with coverage include Public Broadcasting (with audio), The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews.

Revisiting The Bailout: Update

Under debate in the House, the Senate-passed version of the bailout bill "advanced past a key hurdle on a 223-205 vote" Friday, The Associated Press reports.

The roll call lists Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voting for "providing for consideration of the Senate amendments." Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against.

Manchin Weighing Wall Street Lawsuit

Gov. Joe Manchin tells The Associated Press that "West Virginia could end up suing investment firms at the center of the national financial crisis, and perhaps some of their former executives."

"Manchin says the firms should be held accountable if they breached their duties to shareholders," the article said. "He says the state may also target firm executives who pocketed hefty exit packages."

The state had holdings in all of the major firms that have been bought out, bailed out or bankrupted in the ongoing financial turmoil: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG and Washington Mutual.

The article also notes that these investments amount to a fraction of a percent of the state's nearly $11 billion portfolio.

In advance of Friday's possible House vote on a revised bailout package, Public Broadcasting (with audio) and MetroNews (also with audio) each hear from different West Virginia University economics professors on that proposal and the roots of the crisis.

Update: Manchin tells the Charleston Daily Mail that the "Wall Street turmoil is hampering the state's ability to raise money for a variety of needs ranging from highway projects to improvements at community and technical colleges."

U.S. House Revisits Bailout

Public Broadcasting reports that "Representative Shelley Moore Capito is signaling she may change her vote on a bailout package, as her chamber takes up the Senate-passed version (audio here).

Capito, R-2nd, has cast the sole "nay" vote among the state's five-member delegation on the bailout issue. But as The Associated Press reports, "Republicans and Democrats were jumping aboard the bailout as the House sped toward a make-or-break vote — a much-anticipated do-over after the plan met with a stunning defeat Monday, triggering a historic stock market plunge."

"It was still unclear, though, whether leaders would have the dozen or so supporters needed to pass the measure," the AP article continues.

That dispatch did not include Capito among those commenting on whether they may change their vote. She also did not appear in a roundup of House member views from Politico, or its earlier list of a dozen representatives who could help pass the revised legislation.

MetroNews hears from both Capito and Anne Barth, her Democratic challenger, in advance of Friday's expected vote.

Election 2008: Shorts

• The Mountain Party's candidate for governor, Jesse Johnson, has sued to get in on the West Virginia Broadcasters Association's gubernatorial debate set for Oct. 13, The Associated Press reports. Its 2004 nominee, "the Charleston actor and director failed four years ago in an attempt to get a court injunction to be included in that debate," AP notes. The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews also have items.

• U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, weighs in on the bailout issue with The Register-Herald of Beckley.

• U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, explains her vote on the bailout issue to a Capital High School audience, The Charleston Gazette reports.

• Public Broadcasting interviews Mike Teets, the GOP nominee for agriculture commissioner. With audio.
  

They Voted For You: Bailout, Part Deux

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., each voted for the latest version of the $700 billion bailout/buy-in/rescue legislation sought to aid the financial services sector.

The measure prevailed 74-25. Fifteen Republicans, nine Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted against it. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., did not vote.

"Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, made rare appearances to cast 'aye' votes, as did Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware," The Associated Press reports.

The Senate Banking Committee has the complete text of the bill, as well as a one-page summary and a section-by-section analysis.

Though dubbed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, what passed the Senate late Wednesday also includes an "Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008," and a "Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008."

As AP explains, "senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners before passing it," including "$110 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance."

But the measure's core contains what helped kill the House version on Monday: language that "lets the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions," the AP article said.

"In the House, leaders were working feverishly to convert enough opponents of the bill to push it through by Friday," AP also reports. "President Bush issued a statement praising the Senate’s move."

Manchin Gets Pro-Life Nod

Gov. Joe Manchin has won the backing of West Virginians for Life heading into the final month of the general election season, the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports.

Having a similar stance on the subject as Manchin, GOP challenger Russ Weeks has sought to raise abortion as an issue in their race. Weeks argues that the governor "has been paying 'lip service' to anti-abortion forces since taking office in 2005," The Associated Press reported earlier.

Update: The Register-Herald of Beckley reports that "Weeks is disappointed the state’s largest anti-abortion vehicle, West Virginians for Life, has snubbed him in this year’s gubernatorial election in favor of Gov. Joe Manchin."

West Virginia & Wall St.

Gov. Joe Manchin and other state leaders have planned a Wednesday press conference at the Capitol "to address concerns over the financial health of West Virginia following this week's failure of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout proposal," The Associated Press reports.

Manchin has repeatedly sought to offer assurances regarding the state's "Rainy Day" fund and its annual budget, as The Intelligencer of Wheeling, the Charleston Daily Mail, WOWK-TV and others have reported.

The executive director of West Virginia's Investment Management Board earlier told AP that the the state's diversified portfolio has helped insulate it from the woes of Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the like.

MetroNews, meanwhile, has interviewed each of the state's U.S. House members about Monday's rejected bailout bill. It offers audio of Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st; Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd; and Nick Rahall, D-3rd.

The Charleston Gazette has the reaction of Democrat Anne Barth, Capito's challenger, to the current economic crisis.

Public Broadcasting (with audio) and The Intelligencer also report on the delegation's votes on the bill.

Looking ahead, AP has details of the pending Senate version of the bailout measure.

Election 2008 Roundup

• Gov. Joe Manchin has nearly $2 million on hand heading in to the final weeks of the election season, The Associated Press reports. AP has campaign finance figures for other Board of Public Works races, while both The Charleston Gazette and WSAZ-TV have items on the gubernatorial contest.

• Manchin's GOP opponent, Russ Weeks, talks to The (Shepherdstown) Observer about his campaign.

• AP also reports that while Manchin may have raised more cash, the candidates for state Supreme Court have spent more in that two-seat race. Republican Beth Walker begins the home stretch with a 2-to-1 cash advantage over both Democrats, Margaret Workman and Menis Ketchum.

• MetroNews interviewed Ketchum about that contest, and also hears from GOP agriculture commission candidate Mike Teets and (update) GOP candidate for attorney general Dan Greear (with audio).
  

They Voted For You: The Bailout

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, helped defeat the $700 billion bailout proposal meant to help Wall Street weather the latest financial crisis.

Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted for the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," which failed 205-228.

As President Bush had proposed the original bailout language and championed the bill's passage, "Monday's mind-numbing vote had been preceded by unusually aggressive White House lobbying," The Associated Press reports. "When the critical vote was tallied, too few members of the House were willing to support the unpopular measure with elections just five weeks away. Ample no votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle."

Update: The House Rules Committee offers both a summary and the full text of the failed measure.

Update II: Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette, MetroNews and WOWK-TV.

Judge Allows W.Va. Electioneering "Fix" -- For Now (UPDATED)

A federal judge has agreed to rescind his earlier order blocking West Virginia's reporting requirements for certain independent political ads.

Secretary of State Betty Ireland had asked U.S. District Judge David Faber to dissolve the April decision, citing the recent special session legislation that aimed to address his constitutional concerns.

(Update) But as The Associated Press reports, "Monday’s order does not say the legislative fix passes constitutional muster. It instead notes that a Virginia group fighting disclosure can seek a new ruling."

The electioneering communications law mandates spending reports for individuals and groups not already covered by such requirements, for ads in an array of formats that refer to a clearly identified candidate.

Though the requirements cover ads within 60 days of the general election, the recent legislation does not take effect until Wednesday.

The Charleston Gazette also report's on Monday's ruling from Faber.

W.Va. and The Bailout

The Associated Press queried each member of West Virginia's congressional delegation about a dozen of the more prominent provisions of the various Wall Street rescue proposals under discussion on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., proved the most specific with his responses. Of the rest, there appeared a consensus that any bailout plan "should require independent oversight of its spending, and impose some limits on executive compensation at the banks seeking rescue," AP reports.

Of the challenger candidates this year, only Republican Marty Gearheart answered each question posed.

AP also details the bailout (or "buy-in") agreement, with a House vote expected Monday and the Senate's on Wednesday.

The Parkersburg News also hears from Rockefeller about the pending legislation.

Friday Election Roundup

• The Associated Press finds an almost-unheard of 25 write-in candidates approved for West Virginia's general election, including 14 for president. While their names won't appear on the November ballot, votes for them will be counted if they're written in. AP's Tom Breen found the write-in roster included an imprisoned felon, a Pennsylvania man "whose platform includes requiring all public businesses to have restrooms," and a man who has legally changed his name to Santa Claus.

• Secretary of State Betty Ireland has sounded the alarm over hundreds of bogus voter registrations submitted to clerks in at least three counties. As AP reports, the likely culprits are workers hired to register new voters who forged registrations to up their pay. The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews also have coverage (the latter with audio).

• Public Broadcasting interviews Marty Gearheart, the Mercer County businessman challenging U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd. With audio.
  

Energy in W.Va.

• Environmental groups have commissioned a statewide poll that found a majority believing in climate change and favoring "solar and wind power and more conservation over coal, oil and nuclear power," The Charleston Gazette reports.

• A left-leaning state think tank is raising questions about the value of recent special legislation that will freeze an upcoming scheduled increase to the state's gas tax, The Associated Press reports. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy calls the move a "short-term solution, and in part cites "similar freezes in Indiana and Illinois, where the bulk of savings from gas taxes went to gasoline vendors in the form of higher profits," the article said.

Rasmussen: McCain 50%, Obama 42% in W.Va.

Rasmussen Reports surveyed 500 likely voters Wednesday, with 4% undecided and a margin of error of +/- 4.5%.

Among other highlights:

• 63% viewed McCain favorably, while 61% did for running mate Sarah Palin.
  

• Obama garnered only a 50% favorability rating, and Joe Biden only 46%.

• 54% considered Palin the "right choice," compared with 33% for Biden.
  

• Half ranked economic issues as their primary interest regarding the presidential race, followed by 24% for national security.

• President Bush's favorability rating was 36%, with 49% rating his performance as "poor."
  

Election 2008 Shorts

• The Mountain Party's candidate for governor, Jesse Johnson, has been shut out of an Oct. 13 debate hosted by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association, but "hopes to use the courts - or the court of public opinion - to crash the party," The Charleston Gazette reports.

• Debate inclusion was also the topic of Ralph Nader, an unaffiliated candidate for president, during his Wednesday appearance in Morgantown. The Associated Press and MetroNews have coverage.

• MetroNews also reports on a visit to Charleston by the " Bush Legacy Tour," a 45-foot bus that seeks to chronicle "what Americans United for Change call the president's failed policies and misdeeds." Bush supporters picketed outside the bus, MetroNews said. The Gazette has photos.

• Democratic congressional candidate Anne Barth is questioning the pacing and details of the proposed Wall Street bailout legislation now on Capitol Hill, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

• Public Broadcasting interview U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, as he seeks re-election. With audio.

• U.S. Sen Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., "is applauding the Senate for passing a measure that extends the alternative fuels credit another three years," The Register-Herald of Beckley reports.
  

They Voted For You: Drilling

All three of West Virginia's U.S. House members voted for a $630 billion government spending bill that would "end a quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts," The Associated Press reports.

The measure passed 370-58 with the help of U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd.

AP reports that extending the oft-debated ban on offshore drilling was kept out of the bill in the face of a veto by President Bush and the specter of a resulting government shutdown.

"The decision to avoid a fight with the White House over offshore drilling marks a major shift by Democrats on energy policy and a reflection that the GOP argument for more domestic energy production had found a support among voters this election year, even though coastal states long have worried that offshore drilling might cause spills, soil beaches and threaten their tourist businesses," the article said.

W.Va. Media: McCain 52%, Obama 41% in W.Va.

The survey of 600 likely voters, conducted "this week" by Orion Strategies for W.Va. Media and W.Va. Wesleyan College, found 51.7% for McCain and 40.7% for Obama.

Another 4.5% said neither and 3.2% were undecided.

When asked about Hillary Clinton, 52% said they would have voted for her.

The poll also found such Democratic incumbents as Gov. Joe Manchin, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller and state Attorney General Darrell McGraw ahead of their GOP challengers.

Update: From the article: "When asked what accurately represents Obama's religious beliefs, 49 percent of those polled believed he was a denomination other than Christian."

CNN/Time: McCain 50%, Obama 46% in W.Va.

Conducted with Opinion Research Corp., the Sept 21-23 survey of 694 likely voters by telephone found 3% undecided and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.

The polling began with 876 registered voters, and also apparently asked about third-party candidates.

That part of the survey broke: McCain 49%, Obama 44%, Nader 5% and McKinney 1%.

CNN has a story on the results and that of other state polls.

Presidential Campaigns Scramble over Coal (Updated)

Republican John McCain and Democratic Barack Obama are each trying to assure voters that they support "clean coal," The Charleston Gazette reports.

After McCain recently expressed qualms about mountaintop removal mining, his campaign was joined by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and fellow Republicans to attack the other ticket on the topic.

In a Tuesday conference call with reporters, the group seized on comments made by Obama running mate Joe Biden at an Ohio campaign appearance.

Biden said "We're not supporting 'clean coal," and "No coal plants here in America," when asked about the issue.

The Obama campaign has sought to explain Biden's comments, while touting its proposal "to invest $150 billion over 10 years on a variety of energy programs - everything from plug-in hybrid vehicles to biofuels and 'low-emissions coal plants,'" the article said.

The McCain-Capito conference call, meanwhile, touted the need to protect coal jobs. "But both (campaigns) provide few details for their plans, and have not explained how they would overcome a long history of hurdles that have hampered the government's clean-coal program for decades," the article said.

The Gazette had earlier noted that both McCain and Obama had "agreed that mountaintop removal coal mining should be stopped," but that "no one really attacked them for saying so."\

Update: The Charleston Daily Mail follows up with reaction from West Virginia Democrats to Biden's comments. MetroNews does as well, with a separate item (and audio) quoting Obama's in-state director.

MetroNews also reports on the McCain-Capito coalition, while offering audio of Biden's remarks.

Manchin on Bloomberg

Gov. Joe Manchin talked to the financial news network about West Virginia's economy, the current Wall Street crisis and the federal administration's proposed bailout.

Election 2008: Tuesday Roundup

• For the first time since the May primary, Republican John McCain attracted more West Virginia cash than Democrat Barack Obama last month, The Associated Press reports.

• AP also reports that a National Rifle Association film crew sought to include West Virginia miners in a national anti-Obama ad campaign deemed false by FactCheck.org. Alleging the NRA tried to coerce its members into "bad-mouthing" their endorsed candidate, the United Mine Workers Union has called for a localized work stoppage for next week in protest. MetroNews also has an item, with audio.
  

• The State Elections Commission has balked at certifying additional touch-screen voting machines that had been ordered by Ohio, Hancock and Summers counties, The Charleston Gazette reports. The manufacturer had said "the new machines have different parts than the machines ordered by the state in advance of the 2006 elections."

• Democratic Congressional candidate Anne Barth stumped in the 2nd District's Eastern Panhandle corner, with the help of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., The Journal of Martinsburg reports.

• The GOP's candidate for governor, Russ Weeks, has joined critics of the state's bid to revamp its Medicaid program, The Register-Herald reports.

• (Update) All three candidates for state Supreme Court opined on its workload and other topics before the editorial board of the Charleston Daily Mail.
  

More on W.Va. Foreclosures

After finding five times as many foreclosure sales in West Virginia as had been reported by a national marketing outfit, The Charleston Gazette reports that "big out-of-state lenders carried out" most of them.

In comparison, West Virginia community banks foreclose rarely, Joe Ellison, CEO of the West Virginia Banking Association, told the newspaper.

Large national lenders hold the majority of the state's mortgages, the article said.

Public Broadcasting has details from The Gazette's weekend special report on foreclosures, with audio.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, reports that "West Virginians pay the lowest housing costs in the country," with a median monthly housing cost of $881 compared to the national median of $1,464.

But the the state's median income level is also low, as is the value of its housing stock. "West Virginia tied Mississippi for the lowest median home value, at $96,000, while Hawaii had the highest, at $555,400," the article said. "The national average was $194,300."

Election 2008: Governor

While race has emerged as an issue among state residents in the presidential contest, "quietly, discreetly, with practically no one paying attention, the West Virginia gubernatorial race has swept away the last remnants of some old and ugly notions," The Associated Press reports.

"For the first time ever, both major party candidates for the office are Roman Catholics, members of a church whose members make up barely 4 percent of West Virginia's population," AP's Tom Breen reports. "(Gov Joe) Manchin, the first Catholic elected governor of the state, is running for a second term against former Raleigh County state Sen. Russ Weeks, a fellow Catholic."

Their shared faith also contributes to their views on such issues as abortion, though "Weeks argues Manchin should do more to limit the procedure, such as supporting legislation to reduce Medicaid funding for abortions."

West Virginia's Hidden Foreclosure Problem

Nearly 4,500 West Virginia homes and properties were amid or beginning foreclosure proceedings last year, a rate that puts it in the middle third of states, according to Mortgage Bankers Association figures cited by The Charleston Gazette.

The numbers starkly contrast often-cited figures from online foreclosure marketer RealtyTrac, which had ranked West Virginia as the third-lowest for foreclosure sales, counting just 473 that year.

"That ranking is widely cited by state officials," The Gazette said. "Lobbyists have used it at the Legislature to help kill anti-predatory mortgage proposals, arguing that it proves West Virginia has no foreclosure problem. Federal dollars for housing relief are increasingly keyed to foreclosure rate."

But the actual rate of foreclosure sales is at least five times higher, the newspaper found, after it collected numbers from the state's 55 county clerk's offices to find that "at least 2,550 West Virginia homes and businesses were sold in foreclosure in 2007."

That equals about one out of every 344 housing units in the state (or about one out of every 217 owner-occupied housing units, according to Census estimates; either figure reflects less than 1 percent of total or owner-occupied units)

The article notes that "the courthouse count does not include homes lost to bankruptcy, homes sold or given back to the bank to avoid bankruptcy, mortgages tied up in court proceedings or, for the most part, mobile homes."

RealtyTrac explains that as it starts with the most densely populated counties to perform its research, "West Virginia - and other sparsely populated rural states - are low priority."

"West Virginia's foreclosure situation, while it's not terrible, is not as good as everybody has been claiming it to be," Edward Prescott, vice president of research for the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, told The Gazette. "It's generally in the middle."

The Gazette's special report also offers a map with county-by-county details, a graphic the highlights RealtyTrac's underreporting, and a chart showing a doubling of mortgages since 2000. There's also audio.

Weathering Wall Street

The most recent figures from West Virginia's investment portfolio suggest that "the estimated exposure from stocks in the likes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG amounted to $10.9 million by Friday's market closing," The Associated Press reports.

That's a fraction of a percent of the state's more than $11.2 billion in invested assets, and the state Investment Management Board has told Gov. Joe Manchin and other state officials that its widely diversified holdings help insulate from such turmoil.

"That is important in times like this, because diversification is the primary means of protection for a long-term investor when markets go south." Craig Slaughter, the board's executive director, told AP, adding that ""We also know that the U.S. economy is not going to be in a permanent recession. There will eventually be a recovery, and you have to be invested in the markets when that happens to accrue the benefits."

The article also notes that this month's tumult among Wall Street institutions "comes on the heels of a disappointing fiscal year for West Virginia's investments. The year ended in June with a $643 million decline in portfolio assets, a 6 percent loss. The target had been, and remains, a 7.5 percent return on investment."

Echoes of Keystone

West Virginia is home to the nation's 12th failure of a federally insured bank so far this year, The Associated Press reports.

"Federal regulators have shut down Ameribank Inc.," based in McDowell County, "saying it overextended loans for the rehabilitation of distressed properties," AP reports.

Appointed receiver of the bank, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "said Friday the bank's insured deposits will be assumed by Pioneer Community Bank Inc. of Iaeger, W.Va., and Citizens Savings Bank in Martins Ferry, Ohio," the article said.

The Charleston Gazette notes that Ameribank had previously taken the assets and branch offices of The First National Bank of Keystone, which "collapsed after federal investigators discovered massive embezzlement and risky investments there" in 1999.

"No one is accusing Ameribank officials of wrongdoing, but risky investments brought down both banks," The Gazette added.

Keystone remains among the top-1o worst U.S. failures to tap the U.S. Bank Insurance Fund. Three top executives were convicted and sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms. They included the then-longtime mayor of Keystone, the late Billie Cherry, whose former properties outside Keystone are the subject of an entirely different Gazette article.

Race, West Virginia and the Quest for the Presidency

Marshall University hosted a weekend forum on race and politics that explored the possibility that West Virginians rejected Barack Obama in May -- and will do so again in November -- because he is black.

Panelists included former Delegate Arley Johnson, D-Cabell, who "advised the Obama campaign after the primary that to bring the candidate back to West Virginia would be a waste of time," The Associated Press reported.

The article said Johnson and "other panelists said the primary laid bare the uncomfortable fact that many West Virginians will never vote for a black presidential candidate simply because of his race."

But AP's Tom Breen also noted that "About 50 miles away, state Democratic Party Chairman Nick Casey was roaring out at a crowd of party faithful at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Charleston, 'Do you have a problem voting for him because he's part black?,' to which the crowd yelled back, 'No!'"

And the Herald-Dispatch, in covering the Marshall forum, reported that some panelists "spoke about the education levels of West Virginians:"

Gerald Beller of West Virginia State University said the determining factor in Sen. Hillary Clinton's easy win over Obama in the state's Democratic primary was voters' education levels. When Clinton campaigned in the state, she reinforced her connection with the white working class, Beller said.

The younger generation with either a college or high school diploma has favored Obama while Clinton received strong support from the white working class. West Virginia, Beller said, is not unique in its voting preferences.

But the Huntington newspaper cited comments as well from panelist Simon Perry of Marshall, who said three forms of racism, "blatant, modern and invisible, "all affect the perception of Obama in the state.

Meanwhile, AP is reporting on its national poll conducted with Yahoo News and Stanford University, which "found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them 'lazy,' 'violent,' responsible for their own troubles."

The survey "suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about two and one-half percentage points.," that AP article said.

An accompanying graphic charts the findings that "more than a third of all white Democrats and independents — voters Obama can't win the White House without — agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, according to the survey, and they are significantly less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't have such views. "

The article notes further that "Republican John McCain has his own obstacles," listing several, and notes that "lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president — white, black or brown. "

Politico has also tackled the race factor. Noting the AP poll results and some of the reactions to it, it reports that "the national conversation appears to have arrived. Racial considerations that have long been palpable in southern Ohio and other crucial regions are again in the foreground."

Politico has a separate article more focused on the poll results.

Election 2008: Roundup

• Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and other high-profile Democrats sought to drum up enthusiasm for presidential nominee Barack Obama and other candidates on the party's ticket in West Virginia, during Saturday's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. Those with coverage include The Associated Press and The Charleston Gazette.

• The Gazette reported earlier that "fewer tickets sold for this year's Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner and the lack of a national candidate as speaker at the dinner don't mean national Democrats are writing off West Virginia this year."

• Public Broadcasting set the stage for the weekend's forum on race and politics by asking random West Virginians "who do you support for president and what do you like and dislike about Obama and the GOP candidate, Senator John McCain." The resulting article drew from 12 of those interviews that "represent the people we met. Seven supported McCain, four wanted Obama, and one was leaning toward McCain but basically undecided. The reasons they give are as complex and varied as the people of our region." With audio.

• ABC News talked to Mountain State residents earlier in the week to ask them their views on the presidential contest, and also offers video. MetroNews noted the national visit.

• (Update) The Register-Herald of Beckley takes an early look at pre-election voter registration figures, and notes the growing ranks of the unaffiliated.
  

Election 2008: Congress

• Politico marked the debut of a new television ad by Democrat Anne Barth, in which she enlists her former boss, U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, to aid her challenge of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd. "Byrd doesn't say much, but he offers an endorsement, a powerful message from the longest-serving senator in U.S. history and one of the most recognized figures in his home state," the article notes.

• But political analyst Stuart Rothenberg includes the Barth-Capito race among several in which the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "is running a risk by promoting some candidates who have little or no chance to win in the fall, and by lumping together very strong contenders with second-tier campaigns." Rothenberg calls Capito "wildly popular," and refers to an as-yet-unseen polling he says shows she "holds better than a 2-1 lead over Barth. And to no one’s surprise, McCain is clobbering Obama in the district."

• Barth is expecting a boost next week when House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., visits Martinsburg to stump with her, The Associated Press reports.

Crime in West Virginia

The latest FBI figures suggest West Virginia has the nation's 14th lowest crime rate, but "19 of the state's municipalities have violent crime rates higher than the national averages for cities and towns their size," the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports.

Charleston topped that list of 19. "Charleston's mark and Huntington's rate of 754.07 (per 100,000 inhabitants) surpassed the crime rates of Louisville, Ky., Los Angeles and New York City," the article said.

Local and state officials responded to the newspaper about the statistics.

Statue Approved to Honor W.Va. Women Veterans

Nearly a decade after sculptor P. Joseph Mullins was commissioned to craft the monument, the third committee to be involved in the process has approved both the design and a Capitol siting for a female veterans' memorial, The Associated Press reports.

AP notes that "the project has been held up by criticism that the statue was too masculine and should be wearing a skirt instead of fatigue pants and a T-shirt," but that at Wednesday's committee meeting, "Mullins explained the thinking behind the design."

This latest committee, featuring women who range from World War II veterans to active service members heading to Iraq, will now weigh in one some of the statute's finer details and help find it a specific spot on the Capitol campus, state officials said.

MetroNews also has an item.

Election 2008: Governor (Corrected)

• Gov. Joe Manchin was the target of his GOP opponent, Russ Weeks, at a Capitol press conference Wednesday, The Associated Press, The Charleston Gazette and WSAZ-TV (with video) report.

• Manchin's unsuccessful challenger in their party's primary, Delegate Mel Kessler of Raleigh County, has followed through on his pledge to support the Republican by starting "Democrats for Weeks," The Register-Herald of Beckley reports. "Kessler said he is attempting to attract the 90,000 Democrats who voted for him in the primary," the article said. (Correction: Kessler was about right with his figure; the previously posted certified results contained a typo, and undercounted his Kanawha County tally by 10,000 votes. The corrected figures make that county Kessler's best showing, more than double what he received in his native Raleigh.)
  

ARG: McCain 49%, Obama 45% in W.Va.

American Research Group surveyed 600 likely voters on Sept. 14-16. The results have a 4 percentage point margin of error.

Among the key findings: 31% of Democrats said they would vote for McCain, while only 9% of Republicans would cross over to support Obama. But Obama had 53% of independents, to McCain's 39%.

Overall undecideds totaled 7%.

Election 2008 Roundup

• As he runs for a fifth term, "Attorney General Darrell McGraw plans to explain the differences in fuel prices to the Raleigh County Commission on Aging" on Sept. 25, in response to the perception of disparate treatment in that region, The Register-Herald of Beckley reports.

• Republican Jay Wolfe discusses his challenge of U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., to Public Broadcasting. With audio.

• The Charleston Gazette hears from the Democratic nominees for Kanawha County's two state Senate seats up this year, Sen. Dan Foster (corrected. D'oh.) and Delegate Corey Palumbo.

• Candidates from both parties in the county's 32nd House District spoke to the Charleston Daily Mail.

• WSAZ-TV continues its coverage of a 911 call from the home of Huntington Mayor David Felinton, a Democrat seeking re-election this year. Public Broadcasting also has a piece, with audio.
  

McCain Endorses End to Mountaintop Removal Mining (Updated)

The Charleston Gazette cites (and posts) video from a recent campaign stop by John McCain in Florida to report that the GOP presidential nominee said "I do" when asked whether he supports "eliminating mountaintop removal mining and the practices like that."

"McCain went on to say that he's 'seen a dramatic improvement in the behavior of the coal companies,'" the article also said.

Update: Public Broadcasting has a story, with audio. It also reports that "Now, his campaign won’t say whether McCain stands by his statement supporting an end to that controversial mining practice."

"McCain’s stance on mountaintop removal mining has been a mystery for most of this campaign," that report said. Ditto that of Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama: "Tuesday, a woman at the Obama headquarters in Charleston declined to say what his position is on the practice."

Update II: The Gazette expands its article, and reports that a McCain spokeswoman "confirmed McCain's support for ending the practice" while also touting his support "of coal and that clean coal is a vital part of his energy policy."

An Obama spokesman told The Gazette that "the Illinois senator has said publicly that he does not support mountaintop removal," adding that he "comes from a coal state and understands its importance to our economy."

Update III: U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, tells MetroNews that McCain's response "caught me off guard," and said "such a stance could hurt McCain in West Virginia."