Where has Foster gone? March 19, 2008
One of the nicest guys in the State Senate is Dan Foster.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Dan. He is a good man. He is one to always get out to meetings (when I was in the thick of things, Foster was the only local representative, Delegate or Senator, I would regularly see out at meetings across the county).
Personally, he is easy to like and let’s face it, most elections are about likeability (just ask Hillary getting her clock cleaned by Obama).
But, holy smokes, where has Foster gone?
When Foster first ran for the House he was touted as a moderate-to-conservative “business-oriented” Democrat. You know the type.
And, of course, Dan being from South Hills makes it rough on any Republican trying to face-off against him.
But, when Dan first ran, he was supported by many pro-lifers because when asked his opinion on being pro-life or pro-choice, he’d say “I’m Catholic.” While most of us Catholics figured that meant he was pro-life since, you know, the Catholic Church isn’t exactly a huge fan of abortino and simply won’t allow people who advocate abortion-on-demand to receive Eucharist.
Crazy us for thinking someone - when asked if they are pro-life - says ‘I am Catholic’ MIGHT want to leave the wrong impression. I believe he may have received a pro-life endorsement as well, but I’m not positive about that.
And, I remember the business community nearly wept with joy that their favorite type of legislator, a business-Democrat, was running. They were giddy and a South Hills socially-moderate, business-oriented Democrat was just what the doctor ordered to replace a socially-liberal, labor-oriented Democrat in Larry L. Rowe.
This year?
Where has the old Dan gone?
Dan was named the ‘Champion for Choice’ by the pro-choice group, WV Free. So much for being pro-life.
Wait, no, this wasn’t even being pro-choice, this was being the LEADER of the pro-choice movement in the Senate. Holy moley.
And…
His first major endorsement of the year in his reelection campaign?
The AFL-CIO.
Holy smokes.
So much for being a “Business Democrat.”
The other choices for the AFL-CIO? Every liberal, business hater running for Senate.
And, let’s be honest here, the AFL doesn’t endorse simply because they think the person has the best chance of winning.
Case in point, the AFL could have backed Corey Palumbo. They didn’t.
Why?
Well, because Corey actually had the cajones to vote against the AFL this year. Who did they back? Some schmoe by the name of Paul Gunnoe. Of course, Mr. Gunnoe might be a good guy and might not be a schmoe. But, we’ll never know because he’s likely to get about 3% in the primary against Palumbo.
It would have been easy for the AFL to simply endorse Palumbo and get “access” by supporting him, but they don’t work that way. You don’t support them, they don’t support you. You vote against them, they vote against you. Period. No “access” issues. No supporting people because they are in ‘leadership.’
But, Foster got their endorsement.
What a slap in the face to the business community that threw their weight in favor of Foster as he faced-off against conservative Delegate Rusty Webb for that Senate seat.
Now, Foster has turned to the dark side and is with labor.
And, the scary part is now that Senator John Blair Hunter is leaving the Senate, Foster now takes up the mantel as the “last bastien of liberalism” in the Senate. (Andy McKenzie coined the term for Hunter, but now it’s Foster’s title)
What a turnaround and disappointment.
Foster has waged major battles against pharm companies and doctors.
In fact, Foster is somehow under the impression that doctors’ - with the knowledge and capability of cutting into your skull and removing a tumor - all of a sudden go mind-numb when a pharm rep walks in the room.
Being a doctor himself, my guess is that he didn’t simply prescribe every drug that a drug rep, who bought him lunch, pushed. Call me crazy.
But, according to Foster, EVERY other doc in the state needs their hands held. He feels docs are SO stupid that they can’t make a cogent decision on drugs presented by reps, so we need to publicly flog any rep who buys Subway for a doctor’s office.
I’m sorry, but it’s maddening. And, it’s disappointing to see exactly how Foster was touted during that campaign - to where he has ended up today.
I like Doc Foster. But, his politics have taken a dramatic turn to the left and it’s disappointing to watch.
And a real kick in the teeth to the business community and pro-life groups who first helped elect him.
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7 Responses to “Where has Foster gone?”
The business groups may have endorsed Foster but West Virginians for Life endorsed Rusty Webb. Still many people were fooled by the “I’m Catholic” response. Hopefully the “My father was a minister” line Anne Barth is using to try to hide her liberal views on social issues won’t fool as many people.
WVFL seems to be rather easily fooled. If you are a Democrat, they want to give you every consideration to say you are pro-life. If, on the other hand, you are a truly pro-life Republican, they are skeptical to say the least.
WVFL never met a Democrat they did not want to find a reason to endorse.
I recently had the opportunity to ask an official of WVFL if they planned to endorse Russ Weeks for governor as he was one of theirs and had run for the Senate in order to take out Wooton for them. I got what I describe as a “constipated” smile. I further pointed out that they had gotten nothing from Joe Manchin after going to the mat for him.
Hmmmmmmm he is Catholic also and WVFL knew of his past when they solely endorsed him for governor and he was not an encumbent in that office.
Dan Foster has proven himself to be the most liberal Senator in our legislature. He has not favored the physicians of WV who supprted him in his initial runs for office. It is obvious that he is well aware who signs his checks by his votes in favor of hospitals and against the freedom to practice medicine which physicians espouse, to wit the CON debates. We need a sponsor to a bill to get rid of the HCA which does nothing but hamper free market medicine which is the only credible answer to access to healthcare. Obviously, that sponsor will not be Dan Foster. It will be interesting to see whether WESPAC, the state physicians’ political action committee endorses Dan this year. Doug McKinney
As their endorsements continue to go to folks who do not walk the pro-life walk, WVFL should not count on contributions from true pro lifers.
We must get out and tell people these things before the election.
Sorry Joan and Vic but you are both wrong on this. West Virginians for Life was one of the few groups that ENDORSED Rusty Webb and OPPOSED Dan Foster in that race.
Next time you criticized a group for endorsing someone please try to make sure they actually endorsed that person.
It was the WV Chamber and the WV Medical Association that were fooled and came out for Foster.
Vic-
Pro-life endorsements in West Virginia are nothing. They are handed out like candy by WVFL to any candidates who are considered to be reasonably certain to win (in West Virginia, this frequently means anti-life Democrats). WVFL does this in order to get “street cred”, and to build a facade that makes the organization appear to have influence over the outcome of elections. in doing so, WVFL has rendered itself more irrelevant than if it had a 0% success rate supporting only pro-life candidates.