Greear wins by 10,000 votes; thanks supporters for overwhelming win

A Thank You note from Dan Greear…

Thank you for your vote!  On to Victory in November!

Friends and Supporters,

What a victory! 

Thank you very much for your support during this hard fought primary.  I am honored and humbled that you would put your trust in me to carry the fight to Darrell McGraw in the fall campaign. 

And, let me say this, WE are ready for the fight!  Our campaign team is already plotting out our strategy to defeat Darrell and bring back dignity to the office of Attorney General in our state.

But, tonight we celebrate our victory as a family and as a team.  My wife, Amy, sons Josh and Ben and our entire family thanks you.  Our campaign team and all those who volunteered and helped in the efforts, I can’t thank you enough for the work you did on my behalf.

And, a special thank you to my friend and opponent during this primary, Hiram Lewis.  Hiram ran a spirted campaign and brought energy and fight to the race.  I was pleased when he called me to congratulate me on our victory and appreciated his pledge to do what he could to help defeat Darrell McGraw in the fall.  Hiram’s efforts and the campaign we waged against each other will make us better and stronger in the fall.

Tonight is a night to celebrate our victory in the primary.  But, tomorrow, we begin a long march toward November and a battle to bring respectability and honor back to the AG’s Office.

Thanks again for your support and I will thank you in advance for your help in the general election campaign.

Dan Greear
Candidate, Attorney General

Sadly Comical News: Teen arrested in Fla.

Now, who in their heyday hasn’t WANTED to dress up their senile grandmother as a gangster, have her fire off a gun, and yell that she is going to “kill all the pigs.”

(I’m TEASING, of course)

 See the crazy article below.

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Teen arrested over video posing senile grandma as gangster

LAKE WORTH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida teenager faces a charge of elder abuse alleging he made his senile grandmother wear a black mask and hold a handgun for a video he made.

Police in Lake Worth, Fla., say the 85-year-old woman is seen and heard on the video threatening to shoot “all the pigs.”

Authorities say 18-year-old Michael Alfinez was arrested Monday and charged with abusing an elderly person, discharging a firearm in public and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon.

Palm Beach County sheriff’s detectives seized the video during a traffic stop in January.

The teen’s mother says it’s all just a misunderstanding.

Election Day predictions

I’ve never been much of a predictor of races…  mainly because I usually was in them and didn’t spend the time to figure out who was going to win and who was going to lose.

So, here are some of the easy picks for today’s election…

President - Hillary 63, Obama 37 (didn’t you love the poll that had Obama and McCain in a virtual dead-heat in West Virginia?  What’s shocking about that you might ask since West Virginia has become such a hard fought state?  Well, the poll was conducted with… likely Democrat voters!  Obama 37 McCain 35 - among West Virginia DEMOCRATS only!  That has to make every Republican running for office come away with a smile on their face.)

Governor - Mojo 69   Crazy Ol’ Mel 31 - Mel breaks the magic 30% threshold and shows that Joe’s approval rating has truly plummetted when Crazy Ol’ Mel garners 30%.

Secretary of State - Natalie Tennant 52  Joe Delong 40, Billy Wayne Bailey 8…. sorry Joe can spend all the money he wants about with his mom standing beside him (OK, that may go down as one of the creepiest commercials this election season, I still don’t understand the purpose), AND having the Service Employees Union drop a cool $100,000 in independent expenditure (right, for a Sec State race, can’t imagine why they would do that), but I think he is still going to come up short against Natalie.  And, the 8-10% that Billy Wayne picks up will be exactly the deficit between Natalie and Joe.

Attorney General - I’ll leave this one off since I’m personally vested and don’t want to jinx it, but I find it hard to imagine anyone who actually follows politics and the campaign not voting for Dan Greear.

Supreme Court - this one is obviously the most unpredictable one of the bunch.  Geez, this really could go any way, so I’ll toss a coin and say, Margaret Workman and Spike Maynard by a nose over Menis Ketchum, but boy-o-boy, I think Menis has ran a great race.  I think the reason Spike wins here is because he has the largest core constituency who will go out and singularly vote for Spike.  There is no group out there who will simply vote for Menis.  Margaret will have some Democratic women who vote simply for her. But, you are going to have a huge swath of business conservative Democrats who will ONLY pull Spike’s lever and I think that overcomes Menis in a close race, but I could see any combo of the three.  I guess the only outcome that would shock me is if Bastress won. 

Congress - Shelley Capito.  Oh, wait, I guess there is a primary on the Democratic side.  Well, I guess Ann Barth will win, but she has been a dud so far this election season.  Maybe its all the attention being paid to the Supreme Court race, but come on, their whole campaign is built around AnnCan?  Holy smokes.  That’s the type of slogan people use in lower level races… you know, like Junior High Class President.  Of course, Anne will win, because Richie is getting older and you have Thorton Cooper taking away some of the crazies, but AnnCann is in for a rude awakening come the fall.  I mean, she is even trying to LOOK like Shelley Capito in her ads…  why take a faux-Shelley, or Shelley-Lite when you can have the real thing?  Big Daddy is going to have to bounce Anne on her knee a few more times to get her within 15 of Shelley.

Republican Ag Commish?  I guess I’ll go with Mike Teets over Lawrence Bekerle because Mike is closer to the Eastern Panhandle and has won several elections, but again, who knows on these low turnout races.

Any others?  Oh, the 30th District Democrats?  Again, who knows what the crazies in the 30th district primary will do…  Let’s go with all the incumbants, except Dave Higgins, with goodness forbid, Danny Wells leading the ticket.  That leaves two open slots among about four viable challengers, Mark Hunt, Brenda Harper, Doug Skaff, and Jeff Wood.

Goodness again…  ok, I’ll just say because it’s a pipe dream, that Harper and Skaff will win.  Let’s throw caution to the wind and say Harper, Skaff and Wood all win, along with Higgins.  Yes, we can all dream dreams can’t we?  If that were the case, we might actually have people in the 30th district not named Amores or Palumbo who can string three sentences together and have cognitive thought…  what a shocker!

Either way, the primary election has been fun - and is only a sampling of what’s to come this fall.

Endorsement: Greear the clear choice

Look, I understand that I have served in the Legislature with and work for Dan Greear, but holy smokes, I can’t imagine a clearer choice for the Republican nomination for Attorney General.

I strongly urge you to vote for and support Dan Greear in his quest to oust current AG Darrell McGraw.

OK, first, there isn’t much that’s left to be said about Darrell.  He is, simply put, an embarrassment to our state and an absolute negative to our state’s business climate.

His abuses of the offices are well-documented and the funny part is Darrell doesn’t care.  He is so used to using the office for his own personal gain and as his own personal perpetual campaign that he doesn’t even bother any longer to pretend that there is any line between where his constitutional office ends and his campaign begins.  It’s all one and the same.

The state needs rid of Darrell McGraw, that’s obvious and clear to most Democrats as well.  They just simply know that they can’t beat him in the primary, so we are reliant on the Republican nominee to end Darrell’s putrid time in office.

So, the choice comes down to Hiram Lewis or Dan Greear.  And, other than a McGraw-Greear matchup, the choice could not be clearer. 

Dan Greear is far superior candidate in this race from an intellect, electability, and the most crucial aspect - the ability to do the job.

Hiram’s claim to fame is that he ran a close race to Darrell last time and he did.  But, to me, that’s actually more of a negative.  If we would have had a credible candidate, who would have raised more than the $38,000 Hiram did in ALL of 2004, we would have a Republican AG today.  Period.  He has run for statewide office after statewide office and it always struck me as a shame that he didn’t run for House of Delegates and gained some experience before ending up on the gadfly circuit of running for every and any office available - and always coming up short.  He has an impressive resume on the surface that could turn into a House seat, that could turn into a Senate seat, that could turn into a higher office.  But, in politics, you can’t take loss after loss after loss after loss and expect people to come around one more time to support you.

So, instead of a credible candidate for AG, we had Hiram.  Should Hiram win, my hope would be that Hiram would put good people around him who could actually run the office. 

My point is - why risk it?  Why risk throwing Hiram out there again.  He obviously struggles to raise money.  Clearly, the business community and the folks who want Darrell ousted would be extremely unlikely to go “all in” with Hiram on the Republican side.  And, my guess is, IF they even contributed to Hiram, overall they would sit on the sidelines.

Would outside, independent groups spend money on this race when the nominee is someone OTHER than Dan?  I don’t think so.

OK, I have voted AGAINST Darrell every time I have voted. 

This time, I will actually be voting FOR someone.  Dan Greear.

Every organization who has endorsed has backed Dan.  He won the endorsement of West Virginians for life, gun owners, the WV Chamber, farmers, doctors, 28 Republican legislators, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, the Charleston Daily Mail, and on and on… well, like I said pretty much anyone who objectively looked at the race determined Dan would be the best nominee to go against Darrell in the fall.

My guess is a monkey, dressed in a business suit and running on the Republican ticket woud get 45% against Darrell, because that’s how many people want McGraw gone.

But, to get to 50.01%, we need someone on the ballot we can actually vote FOR.

And, I won’t repeat Dan’s resume or his ability to lead or his hard-charging campaign prowess.  I don’t have to.  I won’t recite any information about Dan’s wonderful family, his wife Amy, his character, or the fact that he is one of the best people I have ever met.

No, I will recite what Dan wants to do.  He wants to take the AG’s office back to what it is actually supposed to do… drum roll please…  represent the state.

What a radical concept.

He doesn’t want to use it as a class action lawsuit firm tagging businesses as their welcome to the state.  He doens’t want a liberal interpretation of any ruling under the sun as Darrell gives.

All that he wants is to do the job of Attorney General, imagine that.

He doesn’t want to take over the roll of state police investigators and send out “mobile crime labs” that county prosecutors don’t want, don’t need, and especially when his office doesn’t have the authority or expertise to take the Attorney General’s office in another silly direction.

AGAIN, I know this is a crazy concept…  All that he wants is to do the job of Attorney General.

Dan is the clear choice.  And, the best hope we have had in a long time in unseating Darrell McGraw.  Now is the time…  I’m hoping everyone will make Dan their choice.

Join Dan Greear’s election night event at the Marriott!

The Dan Greear for Attorney General campaign will host an election night event at the Charleston Marriott - all are welcome to stop in and enjoy the food and watch the primary election night returns.

The event will be held beginning at 7pm at the Cumberland Room (2nd floor) of the Charleston Marriott.

Because the Attorney General race is one of only two contested Republican races statewide, we will be providing up-to-the minute returns as well as TV coverage of other races election night.

Stop by and join us as we count the county-by-county votes!

WV Record: Conspiracy to take down Spike

Chris Dickerson of the WV Record details the flurry of phone calls before the now infamous release of the Monaco photos of Spike Maynard and Don Blankenship.

Judging by the reaction to his story, Dickerson hit a nerve.  It’s enjoyable reading.

*****

Attorney had prior notice of Monaco photos

5/8/2008 6:45 PM

By Chris Dickerson -Kanawha Bureau

CHARLESTON - A Princeton attorney said he was told in advance that photos showing state Supreme Court Chief Justice Spike Maynard and Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship together in Monaco would become public as part of a motion in a Supreme Court case involving a $76 million verdict.

Michael Magann said Thursday he was called the weekend before the photos were filed with the state Supreme Court on Monday, Jan. 14.

The Maynard-Blankenship photos were filed as exhibits to a motion asking Maynard to recuse himself from rehearing a Massey appeal in a $76 million verdict in favor of Harman Mining, which had sued Massey for forcing it into bankruptcy.

“It was either Saturday or Sunday,” Magann said. “I can’t remember if he told me they would be appearing in the newspaper or if they were going to be filed with the Court, but he did call me.” Magann is the ex-husband of Brenda Magann, who accompanied Maynard on the European vacation.

Magann said the call came from Al Karlin, president-elect of the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, a plaintiff’s lawyers group that often butts heads philosophically with Blankenship.

Asked whether he told Magann about the photos before they became public, Karlin denied Magann’s claim.

“I find it difficult to believe that Mr. Magann told you that,” Karlin said Thursday. “I’m sorry. It’s not true.

“If you want to accuse me of having something to do with the leaking of those photos, it’s wrong. I’ll make it perfectly clear that that is a false, untrue statement.

“You’re on notice that you’re talking about something that is not true. The suggestion that I had something to do with the release of those photos … if you publish that, you will be publishing something that is not true.”

Karlin wouldn’t answer any other questions.

Earlier this year, The West Virginia Record submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for Justice Larry Starcher’s telephone and fax records. Those records show Starcher calling or receiving calls from Karlin on his state-issued cell phone at least 18 times from Jan. 7 to Jan. 17.

“I’m not going to talk to you,” Starcher said Thursday. Then, he hung up.

Starcher’s cell phone records also show calls were exchanged from Jan. 7 to Jan. 17 with Huntington attorney and Supreme Court candidate Menis Ketchum at least 13 times, fellow Justice Joseph Albright’s cell phone at least six times, law clerk Tom Rodd at least 30 times and law clerk Matt Crabtree at least seven times.

The fax records show Starcher sent a document to Karlin’s law office at 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 14, shortly after the photos were filed with the Court.

Harman Mining attorney Bruce Stanley said his office received the photos anonymously before filing the motion for Maynard’s recusal on Jan. 14. Stanley did not return calls to The Record seeking comment for this story.

Maynard and Blankenship are longtime friends and say they both were vacationing at the same place at the same time. Maynard provided documentation that showed he paid for his own trip but added that each might have bought the other a meal.

The November decision overturning a $76 million Boone County award against Massey was then examined, and the justices voted unanimously to rehear the case. Maynard decided to recuse himself from all pending Massey cases.

Justice Starcher, meanwhile, called for an investigation into the Maynard-Blankenship friendship. He had dissented sharply in the November decision. Court officials say they do not have the power to conduct such an investigation.

On Feb. 19, Starcher recused himself from the $76 million case and urged Justice Brent Benjamin to do the same. Benjamin was the beneficiary of the millions of dollars Blankenship spent on the 2004 campaign that unseated Warren McGraw.

Starcher has publicly called Blankenship “stupid” and “a clown,” leading to a lawsuit filed by Massey against the Supreme Court with the goal of forcing Starcher to disqualify himself from all Massey cases.

“As a judge I am limited in my public comments, but I do have a constitutional right — and, in fact, a duty — to speak out on matters affecting the administration of justice,” Starcher wrote. “And let me be clear about this: I believe Mr. Blankenship’s conduct does have an effect on the administration of justice, in that it has become a pernicious and evil influence on that administration.”

Supreme Court hopeful Bob Bastress, a law professor at West Virginia University, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying the Court had a problem, and Maynard’s contention that he did not do anything wrong showed, “We have an even bigger problem.”

Starcher, not running for re-election this year, called for a hearing to decide if he should recuse himself from a $240 million Brooke County verdict against Massey, but it never happened and he decided to stick with the case. In his filing, he noted that he was upset Benjamin did not follow his lead on the $76 million case.

In April, ABC News was in Charleston to film a piece on the Court that aired on “World News with Charles Gibson” and “Nightline.”

According to ABC News, an interview with Blankenship got physical. He told a reporter, “If you’re going to start taking pictures of me, you’re liable to get shot,” in the parking lot of an office in Kentucky.

ABC says tape of the incident shows Blankenship grabbing the camera and breaking its microphone. Reporter Asa Eslocker says Blankenship grabbed him around the collar with both hands.

Blankenship’s attorney wrote to ABC, claiming, “Mr. Blankenship has been a frequent target for harassment and physical attacks over the years, so his reaction is not so surprising when you consider that he was approached unannounced by an intruder on private property.”

Ultimately, the new vote on the $76 million case came out the same way — 3-2 to overturn. The majority said it came down to a simple forum-selection clause in the disputed coal contract that required all gripes be brought in a county in Virginia.

The AP has sued Maynard to comply with a FOIA request, and a recent television ad sponsored by the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation criticizes Maynard and Blankenship with a parody of the show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” A hearing in that case is scheduled for May 12.

Last month, Starcher and Ketchum said their phone calls during January primarily concerned how Ketchum might run his campaign.

“I have spoken with Mr. Ketchum about who he might ask to help with his campaign, or talk with in a given community,” Starcher said in a statement to The Record.

Ketchum echoed that comment.

“People didn’t know me that well outside Cabell and Wayne counties,” Ketchum said. “I was asking him for names of people in specific communities that I might contact and meet to introduce myself.

“I was making sure that he (Starcher) was not going to run for re-election,” Ketchum said in early April. “He was my next-door neighbor in law school, and I did not want to run against a close friend.”

The filing period to run for office was Jan. 14-26. Ketchum kicked off his campaign Dec. 12 during a press conference at the state Capitol, and he was the first Democratic candidate to file his candidacy papers for Supreme Court on Jan. 14.

At the Dec. 12 press conference, Ketchum said “Starcher will not run.”

Last month, Ketchum addressed the issue that Starcher already had said he wouldn’t be seeking re-election when the January phone calls were made.

“I kept hearing persistent rumors, no doubt fueled by political opponents, that Justice Starcher would change his mind and run for re-election,” Ketchum told the Charleston Daily Mail. “These rumors were impeding my ability to attract support to my campaign.”

Also last month, Ketchum dismissed claims that he and Starcher were behind the release of the photos.

“The first time I saw those photos were when they appeared in the newspaper,” Ketchum said.

Ketchum told Huntington’s The Herald-Dispatch newspaper for the Jan. 15 edition that there needed to be “a complete, open and transparent investigation” into the Maynard-Blankenship photographs.

Guest Commentary: WVU and Garrison

This emailer didn’t wish his name to be used, but I know them well and thought it was such a well-written email that it deserved guest commentary status.

Ok, before reading it, my only comment is this.  While I know they don’t want to do it, I believe that Garrison’s staff could do much to relieve the pressure valve that is squeezing Garrison right now.  If the leaders who attended the now infamous October 15th meeting where the bogus Bresch degree was ‘awarded’ would simply resign, the rest of the state might allow Garrison off the hook.

Either way, even if they felt they were ‘right’, their resignations may signal a turnaround in Garrison’s near daily beatings on the subject.

And, my only other point is this. 

While Garrison says this had no affect on WVU, how about this?  At a press conference that was to honor the best scholars in our state, barely a word was spoken about them in the press and instead the session turned into a Manchin and Garrison defense of their actions.  This isn’t affecting WVU?

Of course, Joe has taken it squarely on the chin and his approval ratings are dropping nearly as fast as Bush’s.  Get this, Manchin’s approval among, ahem… DEMOCRATS has dropped a whopping 28% in just 18 months from a high of 81% now to 53%.  Wow.  And, I can’t believe the Bresch scandal and his ‘handling’ of it has to play a part in it.

OK, finally the guest commentary which I loved…

****

Garrison and his audacity

The audacity of Mike Garrison to state that the Heather Bresch scandal has not harmed WVU and/or its reputation is absolutely beyond ludicrous.

Hey Mike, let me give you a hint as to how others interpret damage…

First, most people who would get a 77 to 19 (4 to 1 against you, 80% against you…you get the picture) vote of, “no confidence” would take that as a clue that your reputation and your credibility are damaged. 

Your argument that these folks were upset with you already because of your appointment is absolutely the most fallacious as the actions that have occurred under your watch have only cemented why all of those faculty members were upset with your appointment in the first place - because they felt like you lacked the qualifications and attributes necessary for being the President of a major college or university. 

The actions of you and your staff have caused the faculty to have to explain themselves and the university’s integrity to their colleagues around the globe and have subjected the institution that they work for to be harangued in the media.  As the President of WVU your credibility with the faculty is obviously kaput, conversely, the school’s reputation and credibility are damaged.

Second, when major donors are threatening to revoke pledges and/or not give, that is another clear sign that your school’s reputation and image has been soiled.  Colleges need endowments to survive and grow and, if only one benefactor retracts, that is still damage…

Third, when your school and this scandal are in the local and national media every day – MSNBC and the Associated Press today, 05/07/2008, as an example, Mike – your image has been hurt.  They may not have covered that in law school, but trust me – your image has been hurt.

Fourth, when the morning talk show comedians are cracking on you Mike, that is another good, although not scientific, sign you and the school you work for are in trouble.

Fifth, when you are asked at every press conference or photo op about the issue – this is another good indicator that you and your school may be in trouble.  Further, if you have to call a special press conference just to address the matter I think it would be reasonable to say that you are trying to do, “damage control” – hey Mike, note the term, “damage”.

Sixth, when you statements start sounding “Clintonesque” – my own new word – like, “I didn’t speak with the Governor about this…”, sorta like, “I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman.” – you’re in trouble dude…The folks listening wonder if you are trying to convince us or convince yourself.

Seventh, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has drawn blood and will follow-up on this story, trust me Mike, they aren’t going to let it go.  If they uncover more untruths and/or any hint of a cover-up, guess what? – more damage to WVU and potentially a political scandal for your buddy, Joe Manchin…in an election year.  Didn’t the last Democratic Governor fall from grace due to a personal matter – an affair?

The world of academia is based primarily on the transfer of knowledge and students demonstrating that they have competency in their chosen field of study - not on football bowl games and/or athletic prowess like may believe.  First and foremeost WVU is a place of learning, research, and scholarship.  This scandal has tarnished the reputation of the, “State’s flagship university…”.  Anyone who doesn’t see that or is brazen enough to openly refute it in public has no business at the helm.

Stated simply, Mike Garrison needs to resign.  If he truly accepts responsibility then he should do the right thing and resign.  Only a thorough expungement of all of the key players involved in this academic impropriety will begin to restore the academic ethics and integrity to West Virginia University.

Same day voter registration is a kooky idea

It seems that every election year, two stupid ideas pop to the forefront.

The first is the elimination of the 300 foot rule to protect voters going to the polls from having to walk a gauntlet of campaign workers shoving cards and brochures in their hands.

This idea normally comes from a southern West Virginia Democrat (invariably one with two first names, can you say Billy Wayne) who pine for the days of vote-buying and free liquor at the polls.

The second idea and the more scary of the two is same-day (election day, that is) registration of voters.

Holy smokes.

Can you imagine the vote fraud in this case?  And, in a state known for its vote fraud?

This also normally comes from the Democrats who want to be able to pay people to go round up people who aren’t registered, pay them, and have them go to the polls and vote.  Well, OK, they may not pay them, but you get the drift.

Can you imagine the absurdity of finding people who haven’t registered (despite the fact that they can register in just about every street corner in West Virignia) and those folks being “found” and “driven” to the polls?

At least Carrie Webster didn’t sugarcoat why she wants it to pass.  Her quote?   

“It’s time to start talking about ways to get our people to the polls.”

I’d love to know the definition of “our people.”  The people who are SO uninformed that they haven’t registered despite 10,000 opportunities?  The people who are… oh… can you say it…  Democrats?  The people who had no idea it was a… you know, PRESIDENTIAL election, that they can be rounded up and ‘driven’ to the polls?  I can’t imagine WHO those drivers who would telling/coercing the voters to vote for…  I mean, it’s hard to figure out WHICH party a person who as no idea a PRESIDENTIAL election is taking place would support?

Yes, just what we need, a same day voter registration vote-buying fiasco.

Below is the Daily Mail editorial on the same subject.

*****

Voting is not impulse buying

Last-minute voter registration is an invitation to more voter fraud

NEARLY two-thirds of the people in West Virginia are registered to vote, according to the secretary of state’s office. Going into the final five days of registration before the May primary, 1,175,915 people were on the rolls.

That is 83 percent of the approximately 1,419,464 people who are eligible to vote.

People can register to vote not only at the county courthouse, but at the Division of Motor Vehicles, public assistance offices and military recruiting stations, as well as by mail.

Never before has voter registration been so easy.

Still, only 53 percent of those eligible to vote actually voted in the last presidential election.

This may be sad, but it is insufficient pretext for loosening the state’s voter registration laws. People who cannot be bothered with voting for president might not be all that interested in politics.

Yet House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, is leading an effort to allow voters to register as late as Election Day.

“It’s time to start talking about ways to get our people to the polls,” Webster said.

NEARLY two-thirds of the people in West Virginia are registered to vote, according to the secretary of state’s office. Going into the final five days of registration before the May primary, 1,175,915 people were on the rolls.

That is 83 percent of the approximately 1,419,464 people who are eligible to vote.

People can register to vote not only at the county courthouse, but at the Division of Motor Vehicles, public assistance offices and military recruiting stations, as well as by mail.

Never before has voter registration been so easy.

Still, only 53 percent of those eligible to vote actually voted in the last presidential election.

This may be sad, but it is insufficient pretext for loosening the state’s voter registration laws. People who cannot be bothered with voting for president might not be all that interested in politics.

Yet House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, is leading an effort to allow voters to register as late as Election Day.

“It’s time to start talking about ways to get our people to the polls,” Webster said.

Nine states already have this - and problems.

In Wisconsin, state investigators found that in Milwaukee, ballots cast outnumbered voters registered by 4,609 voters in the 2004 presidential election.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry carried Wisconsin by fewer than 11,000 votes.

More than 70,000 of the 270,000 voters in Milwaukee registered on Election Day that year, some using fake names, fake addresses and even the name of a dead person. The system was simply overloaded by last-minute registrants.

In West Virginia, Secretary of State Betty Ireland and many county clerks say same-day registration is problematic.

Every eligible adult should vote. But they should first go through the process of registering well before the election - as 1,175,915 West Virginians had done as of Thursday.

State officials should protect those 1,175,915 people from having their votes watered down by fraud at the polls.

West Virginia has a well-earned reputation for vote fraud. Legislators should not be caught dead supporting anything that would make that problem worse.

Daily Mail: W.Va. again rated worst legal climate

OK, I promised a one-day moratorium on the WVU scandal and despite how hard it is to NOT write about it again today, I thought I’d give everyone a break.

The simple fact is that Garrison and now Manchin are living in la-la land if they think they can simply say “it’s time to move forward” and expect everyone to just say “OK” on this one.  But, I’ll save the article for tomorrow.  Although for our readers who don’t get the Morgantown Dominion-Post, holy cow, the article yesterday was in three inch bold headling “MIKE MUST GO!”  I can see why he spent yesterday in Charleston, there is blood in the streets.

Anyway, as promised a break from the action… 

 See the article below by Daily Mail business writer-extrodinaire George Hohmann.  Unfortunately, this stigma continues to stick with us and again the Legislature opted to pass on any significant reforms.

Enjoy!

****

W.Va. again rated worst legal climate

by George Hohmann

Daily Mail Business Editor

A study funded by an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has concluded for the third straight year that West Virginia has the worst legal climate in the country.

As in past years, the finding is hotly disputed.

West Virginia ranks last among the 50 states, behind Louisiana and Mississippi, in an annual assessment of state liability systems conducted by Harris Interactive, a national market research firm. The report was released today by the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform.

Delaware ranked tops for the fifth consecutive year.

Lisa Rickard, president of the Institute for Legal Reform, said in a prepared statement, “While there is still more to do, Governor Manchin and the West Virginia Legislature have started taking steps to improve the state’s legal climate.” She noted several recent reforms, including the “slight improvement” to laws allowing out-of-state plaintiffs access to West Virginia courts and “efforts to rein in the attorney general’s misuse of funds from lawsuit settlements.  

“However, changing the law isn’t enough - states also need to make sure their courts correctly and reasonably apply the law,” Rickard said. “Unfortunately, West Virginia courts are viewed nationally as overly generous with other people’s money, with three of the top seven verdicts nationally in 2007 originating in West Virginia.”

The rankings are the result of a poll of how corporate attorneys view the state systems.

The American Association of Justice issued a statement charging that the study is part of an extreme corporate agenda aimed at destroying the civil justice system.

“The ’study’ is based on a survey of corporate defense lawyers from multi-million dollar corporations who are paid to avoid accountability for their misconduct and negligence,” the association said. “Nevertheless, U.S. Chamber touts this propaganda as fairly measuring the states’ legal systems. The facts tell a different story.”

The study contains “half-truths and outright lies,” the association said.

The West Virginia Association for Justice, formerly known as the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, has also regularly challenged the annual study’s findings. The association is made up of lawyers who represent people who file lawsuits.

Contact writer George Hohmann at busin…@dailymail.com or 348-4836.

Bad news all around for the ‘Garrison Gang’

Yesterday was not a good day for WVU President Mike Garrison.

First, the student newspaper at WVU called for him to resign. 

Then, the Faculty Senate voted overwhelmingly for his ouster, 77-19, another body blow. 

Well, and what may have been worse was those supporting Garrison laid out their best argument for keeping him and all they could find was the rallying cry - ”we could do worse!” 

You know you are in trouble as a leader when the best your supporters can do is tell people to keep you in there because the next guy may be EVEN WORSE. 

Ouch.

But, honestly, I think the biggest slap to Garrison today came from the Daily Mail’s well-respected sports columnist, Jack Bogacyk.

Now, how can that be even worse than the Faculty Senate? 

Because Jack exposed, and then drove a truck through, the gaping hole in this administration’s leadership of the athletic department.

Jack’s article is below. 

Jack’s article will affect the WVU sports fans, the most rabid of the base of support for anything WVU.  And, while I’m sure from time-to-time we’ve all had our problems with WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong, he is a guy who should be respected.  Not only did the WVU administration disrespect Pastilong, in this case they completely humiliated him by going around his back, doubling Huggins’ pay, and inking the coach to a lifetime contract.

What you will read below is nothing short of Jack taking Garrison, Walker and the rest of… as he puts it… the ‘Garrison Gang’ behind the woodshed.

He absolutely let’s Garrison have it for his handling of the WVU situation and the fact that it was a PR move aimed out boosting Garrison’s image.

And, once again… holy smoke… ANOTHER situation handled by the people within the administation was botched. 

The WVU leadership needs some serious PR help.  Serious help.  Only that communications department could screw up landing Bobby Huggins for life.  But, somehow, they managed to do it.  And, in the process they publicly embarrassed their AD, minimized their entire athletic department, and managed to offend one of the most respected sportswriters in the state.

Wow, this group needs some help.  And, this administration needs some housecleaning.

The Daily Mail article is below…  be careful, you can almost feel the steam coming from your computer as you read it.

****

Huggins’ deal made out of back door play

By Jack Bogaczyk

Daily Mail Sports Editor

Bob Huggins signed what you might call a lifetime contract at West Virginia University.

The deal the Mountaineers’ basketball coach signed Friday will approach $1.6 million next season, add $100,000 annually and over 11 years figures to pay him more than $22 million.

It will rise if an escalator clause kicks in to keep Huggs at least at the mean Big East Conference hoops coach’s salary.

It’s a great deal for both sides — and one that would have been done sooner than later anyway. That’s no political spin.

At $4.9 million over five years in the agreement of 56 weeks ago when Huggins returned to his alma mater, WVU was getting a sweet deal considering the coach’s stature and accomplishments, which include just about everything except an NCAA championship.

Yet, the deal was a surprise even to some who shouldn’t have been stunned.

That’s because WVU’s administration — continuing to be battered by the Heather Bresch bogus degree scandal — did this deal behind the backs of its athletic leaders. It was a spin move right out of a Joe Alexander post-up.

The WVU athletic staff had no knowledge of the “lifetime” contract talks until WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong finally was informed about it 24 hours before the dog-and-pony show to announce it.

That’s wrong and sad — but it seems kind of typical of the way things are done these days on the WVU campus. As for the political spinning, when did the capital move from Charleston to Morgantown?

If anyone were paying close attention to the Friday news conference, you couldn’t have found two people describing the supposedly same process differently than Pastilong and Huggins.

That’s because only one of them really was part of the process. It’s not like the athletic department would have balked at sweetening Huggins’ deal, either.

WVU President Mike Garrison and his Board of Governors and Stewart Hall cronies were desperate for some good news. That’s fine, but was it necessary to do an end around on the people to whom Huggins is supposed to answer?

The WVU athletic staff seems to be doing more than pretty well these days with NCAA-bound teams, a $43 million budget and no athletic grant-in-aid waivers. It’s a more than competent bunch. It’s successful as well as upfront with its constituents and the media.

If the university administration considers the athletic leadership so dispensable, then why not make the AD job a ceremonial position? Hey, WVU could just save Pastilong’s $225,000 salary and more.

Some background:

Last weekend, Mike Casazza, the Daily Mail’s beat reporter on WVU athletics, was told by a solid WVU source that a more lucrative “lifetime contract” was in the works for Huggins.

Casazza told me, said the information was solid, and we began calling people at WVU about it a week ago today. I called Pastilong last Tuesday morning and talked to West Virginia Deputy AD Mike Parsons on Wednesday morning.

Neither had been told about the new Huggins contract. Both were caught unaware when I asked. We know they didn’t know after checking with others in the WVU Coliseum and Stewart Hall.

At Friday’s news conference, Pastilong publicly apologized to Casazza and me. In my 35 years-plus of sports newspapering, that’s a first. Pastilong didn’t owe us an apology. He couldn’t confirm (or no comment) what he didn’t know when we asked.

The fact that we knew (or thought we did) and WVU athletic officials didn’t speaks volumes, too.

An 11-year, $22-million contract just doesn’t materialize in one day after an old contract is finally signed. 

“It was the university’s idea,” Huggins said Friday during the announcement of the new deal.

However, if the administration didn’t want to tell the athletic leaders, shouldn’t Huggins at least have given them a heads up on what was in the pipeline?

It’s pretty obvious the Rich Rodriguez campers are gleefully rubbing their hands on this situation as more evidence of the dysfunctional relationships among the university leaders and athletic chiefs surfaces and helps to make the Michigan coach’s point.

And is the two-way, $4 million buyout clause in Huggins’ deal anything more than just another dig at the former football coach and his contractual complaints over the same figure?

Remember the last time Garrison and Co. didn’t include WVU athletics in a really big deal? It was last August, when Garrison and chief of staff Craig Walker — with no athletic administrator present — met with an unhappy Rodriguez and his reps.

That went really well, didn’t it?

The previous December, former President David Hardesty and aides, Pastilong, Parsons and officials of the WVU Foundation and Mountaineer Athletic Club worked furiously — and together — to keep Rodriguez in his home state when Alabama beckoned.

So, does Huggins now report to Garrison, or Walker, or the Board of Governors, or Pastilong and Parsons? If he wants or needs something, does he go down the hall in the Coliseum or to Stewart Hall?

Not that I think Huggins will ever think he’s bigger than Jerry West, but hasn’t WVU already felt the wrath of one coach who thought he was bigger than the program?

It’s reached the point where one has to wonder what’s next from the Garrison Gang.

Everyone can agree that WVU is happy it secured its Huggs, but I doubt there will be any kisses.