Jim Justice keeps his distance from Philly

Eight years ago, Democrat Joe Manchin easily won re-election as Governor, capturing a whopping 70 percent of the vote against Republican Russ Weeks and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson.

Several months before the election, Manchin spoke at the Democratic National Convention in his role as Chairman of the Democratic Governor’s Association, where he outlined his support for Barack Obama.

But the political landscape of West Virginia has shifted dramatically since 2008.  Obama is wildly unpopular in the state.  A MetroNews West Virginia Poll taken last September showed 71 percent of West Virginia voters disapproved of the President.

In 2012, several of the leading Democratic candidates strained to distance themselves from Obama. Manchin, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Congressman Nick Rahall (WV-3) all stayed away from the Democratic National Convention to avoid being associated with Obama and the leftward tilt of the party.

Naturally, Republicans have spent a considerable amount of time and money in the last several elections trying to link West Virginia Democratic candidates with an unpopular President.  Democrats were hoping that with Obama finally leaving office the yoke would be removed, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Hillary Clinton lost to Bernie Sanders in the May Primary 51 percent to 36 percent. The Republican presidential candidate has carried West Virginia in the last four elections and that trend is expected to continue this year, especially after Clinton’s comment about putting coal miners and coal companies out of business.

Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole’s campaign wants to tag his Democratic opponent, Jim Justice, as a Clinton supporter. The Cole campaign sent out a release Monday saying Justice “refused to come clean with West Virginia voters about his support for Hillary Clinton and for the liberal national Democratic Party that supports the Obama/Clinton agenda.”

The Justice campaign doesn’t believe the tactic will work, pointing out that Justice “voted for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.”  Justice colorfully called the contention that he supported Obama “complete dog snot.”

But just to make sure, Justice is staying away from the Democratic National Convention. The last thing the Justice campaign wants is for their candidate to be pictured in a crowd surrounded by a bunch of Hillary for President signs.

Still, the press will continue to quiz Justice on whether he supports the Democratic nominee.  He and his campaign can continue to equivocate until November, which keeps him vulnerable to Cole campaign attacks trying to link him to her, or he can simply say that as a businessman who owns and operates coal companies he cannot in good conscience support Clinton.

Of course, Justice could also endorse Clinton, but that’s the least likely option, especially considering the recent history of West Virginia Democratic candidates keeping their distance from the increasingly leftward leaning National Democratic Party.

 





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