WV-02, a DCCC Red to Blue seat, is definitely in play this cycle -- it's our best chance yet to unseat ineffective Bush-McCain Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. We've got a great candidate in Anne Barth -- a 20 year veteran of Sen. Byrd's office.
First, Anne Barth needs to win the West Virginia Democratic primary on May 13. Read further for an overview of the candidates and learn why Anne Barth is the only viable candidate for West Virignia's second congressional seat.
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WV-02 Democratic candidate forum sponsored by the Berkeley County Democratic Assocation of West Virginia
For a rainy Monday night in April, there was a great showing at WV-02 Democratic primary candidate forum sponsored by the Berkeley County Democratic Association. From the front steps to the auditorium stage, Martinsburg High School was abuzz with campaign energy as candidates enter the final weeks of the primary season.
My major take-away of the night was, Anne Barth clearly showed why she is the only viable Democratic challenger in the race to unseat ineffective Bush-McCain Republican Shelley Moore Capito. The contributions that Thornton Cooper and Richie Robb can best make to the Democratic Party in West Virginia -- and there are many -- are not in running for the House of Representatives.
Here, in no particular order, are some of my many impressions of the event:
- Anne Barth consistently had the tightest, most polished, best prepared answers to questions. (Of course, like any candidate her challenge will be to make sure her consistently "on message" responses still sound fresh and spontaneous after the 100th time she gives them.) Even better, not only were her responses well delivered, they also made sense. She has used her full-time campaigning experience these last few months, including candidate forums like this one, to really hone her message. In fact, I thought she did a better job at stating a sharp contrast with Capito yesterday than Callaghan did in his final debates in Oct. 2006.
Barth does have two challengers in the primary...
- My advice for Thornton Cooper. As Steve Martin's character said in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - "When you tell a story, have a point." I think I might agree with you on any number of policy issues, but I'm not really sure. In almost half of your answers I wasn't sure what your point was. Stop trying to look smart, succinctly make a point and be done with it. It's impossible to connect with voters if they can't figure out what you are talking about.
- Carnacki already nailed in on Richie Robb... oh, how I wish he had run for State Senate. Again, I found myself largely in agreement with Robb on the issues. We need more progressive voices in the legislature. Despite having been a Republican mayor for 32 years, Robb would be to the left of many State Senate Democrats on many key issues.
More general observations
- Two best lines from Thornton Cooper: first, he stated that whoever wins the primary, we all need to support that person to beat Capito; second, he reminded the audience that we need to beat McCain in November because McCain has crazy ideas about the economy.
- Biggest unforced error of the night... Thornton Cooper, trying to out-do the other candidates in his personal connections to teachers... "my ex-wife was a teacher". I know being divorced is not a disqualification for office holding these days, but no need to flaunt it.
- Second biggest unforced error... Richie Robb tacitly endorsing a 91% tax rate for the wealthy. He forgot to mention it was a 91% marginal (not total) tax rate. This was in response to a question about what he would do to specifically help the three Eastern Panhandle counties, making the comment all the more perplexing.
- None of the candidates have really figured out how to address issues specific to the Eastern Panhandle. Anne Barth came the closest by talking about providing high quality jobs here to decrease commuting time. Cooper and Robb failed to even engage in the question. Land use and teacher pay are two other big issues around here -- one can argue that both are state legislature issues... still, there is a role that the federal government plays in each, too.
- Robb's strategic error... Richie Robb engaged the really annoying political tactic of saying, I can attack Capito better than Barth can attack Capito. What's annoying about it? Instead of doing it, he talks about doing it. When he was asked questions about how he would attack Capito, he didn't answer them very well.
- Barth's effective come-back: Anne Barth really shined in her final answer of the evening. She gave a passionate defense of the coalition of Democratic Party activists and stalwart supporters who have endorsed and are supporting her. The idea that she cannot engage or withstand "rough and tumble" politics was completely debunked by her able demonstration to the contrary. She had by far the best answers on how she'll get her message out across the large district and how her positions differ from those of Capito. She didn't have to say she can attack Capito better, she showed it.
In all, it was a great night for building momentum here in the Eastern Panhandle for the electoral defeat of Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito in November. A big thank you to Anne Barth, Thornton Cooper and Richie Robb for their participation.
Finally, the Berkeley County Democratic Association is to be congratulated for pulling off a great event. The moderator did a great job -- kudos to everyone involved in staging this event.
Update: I forgot about this humorous picture from before the event began. Thornton Cooper was admiring a Richie Robb sign. He was saying something or another about how the sign should say Mayor of South Charleston on it.
It struck me throughout the debate: Robb and Cooper have known each other for quite a while. How much is this race just another chance to play out their own personal competition? Cooper once worked in a Robb mayoral administration... it irks Robb at some level that Cooper could be a candidate when Robb feels he's much more qualified. Meanwhile, Cooper lived with Robb as his Republican mayor for 32 years... it irks him at some level to think Robb might be the candidate instead of a life-long Democratic party activist.
Alas, both claim to be running small donor grass-roots campaigns, but neither of them have studied up on how to do that effectively in 2008. (If they had, they would have posted on sites like this by now.) Their hearts seem to be in the right place, and I hope they continue to put their energies into many other worthy efforts to help further progressive causes.
Written by WV-02 resident and netroots volunteer activist Clem Guttata.
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