Oct. 15, 2010
EDITORIAL: U.S. Senate Candidates Campaigns Tell Voters Much
Of the three U.S. Senate candidates with active campaigns across West Virginia, two of them are running on issues and one is running on a negative campaign that relies on personal attacks.
Many West Virginians are surprised that their Governor, Joe Manchin, is the one
engaging in the slash-and-burn attacks on his chief rival, Republican businessman John
Raese. While Raese's issue-oriented ads on Obamacare, Cap-and-Trade, and
Job Creation have no doubt taken their toll on Manchin, Raese has stopped
short of any personal attacks on the Governor.
Even after having Manchin run three straight weeks of negative ads against him, Raese said on statewide radio this week that he intended to continue running an issue-based campaign. "It's what the people deserve," said Raese. "Personal attacks are not only ugly, they're odd coming from a two-term Governor like Joe Manchin."
Alice Click is a political activist from Mason County and a former State Director for Conservative Women of America. Click says she's never seen anything like it. "You expect a hard hitting campaign on the issues from officeholders like the Governor," said Click.
"But I was floored that Manchin wouldn't have at least one ad that said something about his time in office," said Click. "Is he trying to run away from his record? Why not tell us about it? Surely after nearly six years as Governor, he could find something positive from his Administration to talk about. Then again, maybe not. But trashing Raese and his family has really hurt Manchin's good guy reputation. I'm hearing it everywhere."
Meanwhile, Raese and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson continue
to run their issue-based campaigns. While Raese combines conservative
and populist themes on producing more jobs and less government, Johnson
is focusing his remaining time on promoting the Mountain Party's opposition
to Mountaintop Removal coal mining.
"At least with Raese and Johnson, you've got some issues to chew on,"
said Jack Ellis, Senior Political Analyst for HNN. "That's what elections
are for--to give the voters a chance to declare their opinions not only
on candidates but also the issues they represent."
"As far as I can see from Governor Manchin's gutterball campaign against Raese, the only thing he's for is himself," said Ellis. "That will probably not be enough for Manchin this year. People want change, this time conservative change. That's Raese's turf, and he's guarding it well, as all the polls suggest."
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EDITORIAL: U.S. Senate Candidates Campaigns Tell Voters Much
Of the three U.S. Senate candidates with active campaigns across West Virginia, two of them are running on issues and one is running on a negative campaign that relies on personal attacks.
Many West Virginians are surprised that their Governor, Joe Manchin, is the one
engaging in the slash-and-burn attacks on his chief rival, Republican businessman John
Raese. While Raese's issue-oriented ads on Obamacare, Cap-and-Trade, and
Job Creation have no doubt taken their toll on Manchin, Raese has stopped
short of any personal attacks on the Governor.
Even after having Manchin run three straight weeks of negative ads against him, Raese said on statewide radio this week that he intended to continue running an issue-based campaign. "It's what the people deserve," said Raese. "Personal attacks are not only ugly, they're odd coming from a two-term Governor like Joe Manchin."
Alice Click is a political activist from Mason County and a former State Director for Conservative Women of America. Click says she's never seen anything like it. "You expect a hard hitting campaign on the issues from officeholders like the Governor," said Click.
"But I was floored that Manchin wouldn't have at least one ad that said something about his time in office," said Click. "Is he trying to run away from his record? Why not tell us about it? Surely after nearly six years as Governor, he could find something positive from his Administration to talk about. Then again, maybe not. But trashing Raese and his family has really hurt Manchin's good guy reputation. I'm hearing it everywhere."
Meanwhile, Raese and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson continue
to run their issue-based campaigns. While Raese combines conservative
and populist themes on producing more jobs and less government, Johnson
is focusing his remaining time on promoting the Mountain Party's opposition
to Mountaintop Removal coal mining.
"At least with Raese and Johnson, you've got some issues to chew on,"
said Jack Ellis, Senior Political Analyst for HNN. "That's what elections
are for--to give the voters a chance to declare their opinions not only
on candidates but also the issues they represent."
"As far as I can see from Governor Manchin's gutterball campaign against Raese, the only thing he's for is himself," said Ellis. "That will probably not be enough for Manchin this year. People want change, this time conservative change. That's Raese's turf, and he's guarding it well, as all the polls suggest."
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