West Virginia is so racist, that they'd rather vote for the Mine Owner instead of the Mine Worker.

Even the Washington Post gets it:

Keith Judd, who is serving a 17 1/2-year prison sentence for extortion at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana, Texas, took 41 percent of the vote in West Virginia’s Democratic primary Tuesday night — 72,000 votes to Obama’s 106,000. He would qualify for convention delegates, if anyone had signed up to be a Judd delegate. (No one did.)

How did Judd get so many votes?

It’s likely not his past careers as a superhero and religious leader. Or his passionate FEC report ramblings. Simply put, West Virginia does not like Obama.

Keith Judd got 4 in 10 votes in West Virginia, despite living in a Texas prison.

“I voted against Obama,” a 43-year-old electrician named Ronnie Brown told the AP. His daughter planned to vote for Judd too, until she found out he was in prison. “I just want to vote against Barack Obama,” she said. 

Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state. West Virginia regularly votes in Democratic officials at the state level (its governor and all of its statewide elected officials are Democrats) and narrowly supported Bill Clinton in 1996. But the very rural state has never warmed to the current White House occupant.

“President Obama has no strong political allies in this state. A couple leading Democrats grudgingly support Obama, but say that only when they are asked,” said West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval. “Several are openly hostile to him.”

Obama, not surprisingly, rarely visits the state.

The president angered voters with new Environmental Protection Agency policies, which some see as a “war on coal” and have stalled mining permits for the state’s coal mining industry. Both Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and Sen. Joe Manchin, both Democrats, have clashed with Obama on the issue, and neither has committed to supporting him in the fall.

“In talking to many West Virginians, they do recognize and realize that the president is working very hard to help working families across the country and in this state,” said state Democratic Party Chairman Larry Puccio. “It’s just that coal plays such a major role in West Virginia and folks are frustated with this administration’s position.”

In the latest state-by-state Gallup poll, Obama’s approval rating in West Virginia was 32.7 percent. A recent poll gave former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney a 17-point lead over Obama in the state.

But Obama was unpopular in West Virginia before he took office.

In the 2008 Democratic primary, Obama lost West Virginia to Hillary Clinton by 41 points — even though her campaign was all but over.

In the fall, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) beat Obama in the state by 13 points.

Race likely plays some role here. In the 2008 primary, 2 in 10 white West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their votes, second only to Mississippi. Those voters went for Clinton 8 in 10 times.

Hmmm...

When West Virginia wonders why it's perpetually in the ninth circle of Economic Hell it ALWAYS finds itself in (like for example the fact that it's...dead last in K-12 Education) they can look back on decisions like this.

You have a Democratic State that votes Democratic, but because of its slavish devotion to coal, and the fact that the President's a black man, they'd rather vote Republican and thus vote to screw themselves over.

The President has no Political Allies in the States? That may be true, but that's also two way street.  And people like Joe Manchin don't work for the people of West Virginia.  They work for Massey Energy, which managed to kill how many of its employees again in 2010?

I would say if West Virginia were drowning, I wouldn't bother to throw them a life preserver.  But they are drowning.  They need a life preserver.  Still, they'd rather be racist, and thus of vote for the party of the Mine Owner, instead of the Mine Worker.

They deserve what they get.  @#$% 'em.

The Senator from Massey Energy (i.e., West Virginia)...is an idiot.

I seem to remember saying (warning) y'all about what a bad Senator Joe Manchin (??-WV) might be. I think I called him another Ben Nelson (??-NB), that he was a complete and total whore for Massey Energy, and that he was holding 2.1 Million Americans hostage to serve his political ambitions.

Now this:

Today, Machin will formally endorse a Republican proposal for strict new spending caps, saying it would be "irresponsible" not to. He joins the Senate GOP, independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), and Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), which suggests the measure, generally known as the CAP Act, now has the support of a Senate majority, or at least close to it. There's even some talk it will be included as part of a "compromise" on the debt ceiling.

To date, the proposal hasn't gotten much attention, but it's important to understand how dangerous this is. Ezra Klein, who's arguably even more cautious in his rhetoric than I am, recently described the spending cap idea as "completely insane."

Spending caps are bad policy, and the McCaskill-Corker spending cap -- which holds spending to 21.5 percent of GDP, or three percentage points lower than it is right now -- is a badly designed spending cap. But beyond all that, it's laughable to posit it as a compromise: It's arguably the most radically conservative reform that could be made to the federal budget. More extreme, by far, than Paul Ryan's plan.

Start with the shell game at the core of this discussion: We're worried about the debt ceiling but talking about a spending cap. This works just fine if you hew to the conservative conceit that "we have a spending problem, not a taxing problem." But that applause line is just an effort to deny the contribution tax cuts have made to the deficit and keep tax increases from being part of a solution. If you think we have a debt problem -- and that's what being upset about raising the debt ceiling implies -- then do something about the debt. The "trigger" proposal the White House included in is budget, for instance, is tied to the debt, not to spending or taxes.

Of course, to the Republicans, that's a feature, not a bug. The virtue of a spending cap is that by focusing on only one contributor to debt, it admits only one solution to it: spending cuts. Savage ones. The Corker-McCaskill proposal is so aggressive that there are years when even Paul Ryan's budget, with all its fantastical assumptions and hard caps, wouldn't qualify. "You put McCaskill-Corker into law," says Bob Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "and progressive policy is dead for the next quarter-century."

Not that Lieberman and McCaskill are helping.  McCaskill is about to become the former Senator from Missouri, and Lieberman is well...Lieberman.

You wait. This scumbag will be campaigning for the Republican Nominee come 2012.

And who saw this coming? (At least Chris Kofinis got hisself a job)

Longtime Countdown fans should know Chris Kofinis. He's on every once in while telling us the Political lay of the land. He's a committed Liberal, and pretty good on TV.

Well, say goodbye, because Chris is going to be busy for a while.

He got hisself a job. (Pulling that Unemployment rate down one person at a time, eh Congress?)

He's going to work...for Joe Machin??

West Virgina U.S. Senator Joe Manchin named Chris Kofinis as his chief of staff on Monday.

Mr. Kofinis, a former top aide to Wesley Clark and John Edwards’ presidential campaigns, also advised Manchin, D-W.Va., behind the scenes during this year’s Senate campaign.

“I am extremely pleased that Chris has agreed to lead my Senate team,” Mr. Manchin said in a statement Monday.

Really? That Joe Manchin?!??

Whatever floats your boat, Senator.

I hope Chris talks him out of becoming a younger version of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE...allegedly).

Rachel Maddow notices that there hasn't been much of a price to pay for racist comments this year (VIDEO)

This is what Rachel does well, broad historical perspective with evidence.



Followed up by an interview with Melissa Harris-Lacewell.

Ezra Klein on the ups and downs of a Democratic Brand

Of course, Ezra says "Joe Manchin is gonna be Ben Nelson" far nicer than I have in the past.

[In] the West Virginia Senate race, where the Democratic nominee is Joe Manchin, the popular governor whose campaign ads currently feature him shooting a gun at a copy of the cap-and-trade bill. His ads, in other words, are about what a hard time he'll give the party. But those ads are, in part, why he'll likely win. And then he'll get to the Senate, vote for Harry Reid as Senate majority leader, and vote for most, but not all, Democratic initiatives. The Republican candidate in the race, by contrast, makes no similar concessions to West Virginia's populist political culture.

It's hard to have a concrete brand when a guy like Manchin is part of your party. It'd be a bit like if Coca-Cola sold not just Cokes, but a brand that spent its advertising budget convincing people that Coke was gross, and hired guys to yell at people who ordered Cokes in stores.

But though Manchin makes thematic coherence difficult, he makes it easier to have a congressional majority. The party discipline that the Republican brand requires makes it difficult to tailor candidates to individual races. So you'll see campaigns like Delaware and West Virginia, where Democrats are likely to win seats a different kind of Republican could've captured, and major policy achievements like health-care reform that only happened because Democrats decided against kicking Joe Lieberman out of the party, and senators like Arlen Specter and Jim Jeffords, who simply switched sides to get away from the GOP's party discipline.

The flip side of this, of course, is that Republicans are better at getting all of their members to vote the same way, and better at getting their candidates to move to the far right. But aside from tax cuts, I'm not really sure what that's gotten them. George W. Bush expanded the federal role in education, Medicare and campaign finance, not to mention starting both the bank and auto bailouts. Civil rights, feminism and sexual equality have all made enormous strides. Barack Obama passed a massive stimulus plan followed by a near-universal health-care bill. Conservatives might have the stronger brand, but liberals, in recent years, have had the more successful one.

Manchin: "I can be just as good a footstool for Massey Energy as my Republican Opponent could"

I tried not to make it a secret how little regard I have for West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin. I wrote about his holding the Senate hostage (imagine that!) while he positioned himself to run for Senate. I wrote that I thought he was going to win, despite himself.

Now, I'm not so sure (and I'm also not sure I'm sorry). Why?

Because a day after a poll showed him losing to his Teabagger opponent because "A vote for Manchin is a Obama", Manchin has decided to sue the Obama Administration over its Mining Administration policies.

Like West Virginia has been covered in glory over its mining policies.

All this is, is Manchin telling his true bosses (i.e. not the people of West Virginia) Massey Energy that he'd be just as much of a toadie for them as his Republican opponent would.

This is why I don't give to the DSCC. There are lots of Senators I want re-elected, and plenty more in my own party that I don't. I don't want to give even a fraction of a cent to people like Ben Nelson, Blance Lincoln, and Mark Pryor. I sure as hell don't want to give money to Joe Manchin, because in the end, I'm not sure what the difference is between him and a Republican.

If you want to give, I say give direct.  It's not like Joe Manchin needs your money anyway, he's got Massey he can go to.

Ego run amok. (Dossier edition)

Seyward Darby (who I confess) I've never heard of, wrote a guest post for Jonathan Cohn over at the New Republic. Basically, it's West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin's (now a candidate for Robert Byrd's old Senate Seat) political resume, and it's a damn interesting read:

—Before becoming governor in 2005, Manchin served in the West Virginia state legislature and senate. He was also secretary of state from 2001-2005. He initially ran for governor in 1996 but lost in the Democratic primary.

—He polls sky-high: Earlier this month, Rasmussen found that Manchin had a 77 percent job approval rating.

—Coal mining has been a dominating issue during Manchin’s tenure as governor. According to The New York Times, more than 75 people have been killed in mining accidents since 2005, including the Upper Big Branch and Sago disasters. Soon after Sago, Manchin temporarily halted all mining so that safety checks could be performed.

—Manchin, a mining union ally, has been at odds with Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, a giant coal producer and the owner of Upper Big Branch. Blankenship sued Manchin in 2005, accusing the governor of violating his First Amendment rights when Manchin said Massey and its CEO should be under stricter government scrutiny. The case was eventually dropped.

—Manchin is conservative on several hot-button issues. He’s pro-life, and, earlier this year, he endorsed a law requiring health care providers to give women the option of seeing an ultrasound before they have abortions. When he was running for governor in 2004, the National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed him—and gave him an “A+” rating. However, this spring, Manchin also vetoed two NRA-backed laws.

—In 2008, Manchin was the one of only four governors—and the only Democrat—to receive an “A” rating from the conservative Cato Institute, which issues a report card for the nation’s state executives. He was praised for cutting business taxes, including the corporate income tax rate, and for recommending cuts to the “overall general fund budget” almost every year. (Now, of course, conservatives are desperate to tie him to liberal policies and the Obama administration. They’ve been harping on a video of him expressing support for health care reform.)

—Earlier this year, Manchin criticized the Obama administration’s environmental policies. He said that “[c]ap and trade will destroy the might of this nation,” and that White House officials “can't just be committed to vilifying the things they don't like”—namely, coal.

—Manchin, who went to West Virginia University on a football scholarship in 1965, bears a striking similarity to football fanatic, car salesman, and slick-talker Buddy Garrity on the (fantastic) NBC show “Friday Night Lights.”

I think he's gonna win, especially since his strongest possible opponent has dropped out of the race. But I'm not fooling myself, while he, like Charlie Crist will caucus with the Democrats, this guy could very well be another Ben Nelson.

Ego run amok. Part 2.

The Attorney General for West Virginia gives the go ahead for Governor Joe Manchin's ego trip--err, I mean Special Election.

Ego run amok...

Because only one job really matters to him, the West Virginia Governor is holding 2.1 Unemployed Americans hostage.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The President and Vice-President's Eulogies at Beckley, West Virginia (VIDEO)

First off, Biden gave a barnburner of a eulogy. He may have been (for the first time) a little better than the President. But the President was the man they all came to see, and they gave him a warm, incredible reception.

The President appears at 7:35 into the video for his own speech.

The President's all-so brief remarks at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast (VIDEO)

The President also took a moment to express our collective condolences for those who died in the West Virginia Mine Explosion.

Senatespeak...

Following up on Rahm's non-comment today (also reported in the Huffington Post and the Hill), we now have:

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), saying that Rahm is wrong about the Public Option...

...and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) both saying that we're going to get a Public Option.

Either these three men (only one of whom -- Brown -- I consider a true Liberal) are putting themselves waaay out on a limb here, or...they know something we don't.

Oh, and here is some lovely video of Rockefeller tearing into Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), calling him a whore for the Insurance Lobby...in Senate-speak, of course:



And finally, according to Huffington Post (whom I'll always kick around, but cite when they have...you know...actual news), the Public Option Amendment is being debated tomorrow.

At the end of the day, Progressives will have one of two things:

Either a Public Option in the Finance Committee Bill.

or...

The names of Democrats who are going to require a Primary Challenge in their next elections.

And if Rockefeller's Amendment doesn't make it this time, worry not. He'll get plenty of other chances when:

They merge the HELP Committee (that has the PO) and Finance Commitee Bills...

...When the Final Senate Bill hits the Floor...

...and in the Conference Bill merges the House Bill (with a PO) with whatever the Senate passes.

It's the 3rd Quarter people...

...or Seventh Inning, depending on your sports metaphor.