Sept. 25, 2010
Campaign 2010: The U.S. Senate Race
Raese Goes for the Senior Vote Statewide
By Huntingtonnews.net Staff
Senior Citizens are not only the most important voting bloc because of their sheer numbers in West Virginia. They are vital to any statewide campaign for two additional reasons:
1. They vote. Seniors are among the West Virginia citizens who are the most dutiful about voting, year in and year out;
2. They are among the best informed voters, having time in their retirement years to keep up on the issues of importance to them. Plus, they network well amongst one another.
This year, the important issues to seniors include President Obama's controversial health care reform bill and the trillion dollar stimulus bill that has underperformed, leaving the country in a sustained recession.
Republicans running for Congress and U.S. Senate in West Virginia
seem to have learned the lessons of the past when it comes to the senior
vote and have strong responses to questions revolving around health care,
federal spending, and job creation to their senior audiences across the
state this year.
For example, John Raese has made his opposition to Obamacare a centerpiece issue of his campaign. Decrying the $400 billion that will be taken out of the country's existing Medicare budget to help fund the new reforms, Raese has spent his time travelling the state, discussion shared concerns with Obamacare at senior centers.
Raese has also poured a great deal of his personal wealth into effective radio and TV commercials designed to identify himself with seniors on this issue. As Raese's rising poll numbers indicate, it's a message that is working for him.
David McKinley, the GOP's nominee for First Congressional District,
is for keeping Social Security solvent and, like Raese, also opposes
Obamacare. His Democratic opponent, State Senator Mike Oliverio,
may find himself in the same situation Manchin finds
himself in with Raese.
If either Manchin or Oliverio want to receive some election year funding support from the National Democratic Party, they have to remain somewhat supportive of the President. But doing that will lose them potentially thousands of votes back home in West Virginia.
Since both Manchin and Oliverio have tight races with Raese and McKinley, their relationship to the unpopular Obama, Senate President Harry Reid, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi does not help their candidacies in the final weeks of the campaign.
"Manchin and Oliverio are stuck between a rock and a hard place,"
said Jack Ellis, chief political analyst for Huntingtonnews.net. "That's
why they appear so wishy washy on subjects like health care,
Cap and Trade, and anything else related to Obama and the Democratic
Congress."
"They've made their bed with Obama, and now they have to lie in it," said Ellis. "Nobody told them it was going to be a bed of nails, though, and it hurts. Oh man, does it hurt about now for them as Raese and McKinley rise consistently in the polls. Sometimes in politics it's just not good to be sitting on both sides of the fence on important issues.
"What's that old saying?" asked Ellis. "If you insist on standing in the middle of the road, you risk being run over by a Mack truck? Yes, that's about the size of it this year for Democrats like Manchin and Oliverio. And the voters, especially the senior voters, are driving that Mack truck hard."
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Campaign 2010: The U.S. Senate Race
Raese Goes for the Senior Vote Statewide
By Huntingtonnews.net Staff
Senior Citizens are not only the most important voting bloc because of their sheer numbers in West Virginia. They are vital to any statewide campaign for two additional reasons:
1. They vote. Seniors are among the West Virginia citizens who are the most dutiful about voting, year in and year out;
2. They are among the best informed voters, having time in their retirement years to keep up on the issues of importance to them. Plus, they network well amongst one another.
This year, the important issues to seniors include President Obama's controversial health care reform bill and the trillion dollar stimulus bill that has underperformed, leaving the country in a sustained recession.
Republicans running for Congress and U.S. Senate in West Virginia
seem to have learned the lessons of the past when it comes to the senior
vote and have strong responses to questions revolving around health care,
federal spending, and job creation to their senior audiences across the
state this year.
For example, John Raese has made his opposition to Obamacare a centerpiece issue of his campaign. Decrying the $400 billion that will be taken out of the country's existing Medicare budget to help fund the new reforms, Raese has spent his time travelling the state, discussion shared concerns with Obamacare at senior centers.
Raese has also poured a great deal of his personal wealth into effective radio and TV commercials designed to identify himself with seniors on this issue. As Raese's rising poll numbers indicate, it's a message that is working for him.
David McKinley, the GOP's nominee for First Congressional District,
is for keeping Social Security solvent and, like Raese, also opposes
Obamacare. His Democratic opponent, State Senator Mike Oliverio,
may find himself in the same situation Manchin finds
himself in with Raese.
If either Manchin or Oliverio want to receive some election year funding support from the National Democratic Party, they have to remain somewhat supportive of the President. But doing that will lose them potentially thousands of votes back home in West Virginia.
Since both Manchin and Oliverio have tight races with Raese and McKinley, their relationship to the unpopular Obama, Senate President Harry Reid, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi does not help their candidacies in the final weeks of the campaign.
"Manchin and Oliverio are stuck between a rock and a hard place,"
said Jack Ellis, chief political analyst for Huntingtonnews.net. "That's
why they appear so wishy washy on subjects like health care,
Cap and Trade, and anything else related to Obama and the Democratic
Congress."
"They've made their bed with Obama, and now they have to lie in it," said Ellis. "Nobody told them it was going to be a bed of nails, though, and it hurts. Oh man, does it hurt about now for them as Raese and McKinley rise consistently in the polls. Sometimes in politics it's just not good to be sitting on both sides of the fence on important issues.
"What's that old saying?" asked Ellis. "If you insist on standing in the middle of the road, you risk being run over by a Mack truck? Yes, that's about the size of it this year for Democrats like Manchin and Oliverio. And the voters, especially the senior voters, are driving that Mack truck hard."
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Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
