West Virginia Blue
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One of the best programs under President Bill Clinton was the COPS program, sponsored in the Senate by our current Vice President Joe Biden. It put an additional 100,000 police on the streets and helped lower crime.
The Cheney-Bush administration cut the program, of course, because Republicans like to say government can't solve problems and then do everything to make that statement true.
President Barack Obama is putting money back into the COPS as part of the stimulus package.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Dunbar and Huntington police departments are among 26 law enforcement agencies statewide to receive $5.1 million in federal grant money to bolster their ranks.
The money came from the government's Community Oriented Policing Services program, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Dunbar received $195,130 and Huntington received $698,860. That's enough to hire four officers in Huntington and one in Dunbar. Huntington received the most grant money in the state.
Huntington Police Chief W.H. Holbrook said the money would bring them up to a 105-member force.
"We feel like staffing is critical to providing our services to keep the crime rate down and we're excited [about the money] from that standpoint," he said.
Under Bush, money that could have went to fund police here went to highly expensive and ineffective programs to train police in Iraq. The number of departments seeking funds is a sign of how much departments were shortchanged by the Cheney-Bush administration.
Eighty-two agencies statewide applied for the money. Only 31 percent of them received money. Overall, $24,832,176 was requested to hire 174 officers in West Virginia.
Hopefully as our troops are withdrawn from Iraq, the money not squandered there can be invested into providing security here.
Good sized crowd, though I have no idea how many people were there. The stage was set up in the middle of the intersection of Capitol and Lee Streets. The crowd filled at least half of the four surrounding blocks (one four lane street intersecting with a three lane street.) I was on the rope line, right behind the stage.
The start was scheduled for 10:30, but, like most large events, started late -- 11:00. Governor Manchin, Senator Rockefeller and Senator Byrd (in a wheelchair) came to the stage. Manchin did three or four minutes of welcome/thanks for coming/yeah for all the Democrats, and then introduced Byrd.
Byrd sat in his wheelchair at a low podium. He got the crowd roaring Joe Bi-den! Joe Bi-den!, and then O-bam-a! O-bam-a! (He looks so frail, I got a bit teary-eyed.) Then he introduced Rockefeller.
Jay just isn't a rabble-rouser, but he gave a serviceable three or four minutes on his old friend Joe Biden and his new friend Barack Obama, and how they would change the business-as-usual in Washington. Then he introduced Joe Biden.
You can find the text of Joe's speech on the Intertubes. Let me just tell you that he had that crowd in the palm of his hand. He talked about service to ones' country, and how that service can be something other than military service. He talked about everyone's right to a good education. He talked about improving access to healthcare, and how that will actually improve the economy.
He told the story of his first wife and daughter's funeral. He had been elected, but not yet sworn into the Senate. Robert Byrd came to the funeral, driven by his aide Nick Rahall. Byrd didn't tell anyone he was coming, and because the church was completely full, stood outside in the rain during the funeral service. (I got teary-eyed again.)
I don't know if we can win this one here in West Virginia. I have a couple of idjits in my office who plan to vote for McCain because they think that Sarah Palin is "cute". But I have a warm feeling in my heart that the future of our country is about to be in very safe hands.
Update
Chaylee Cole, the telemarketer who refused to take part in McCain's smear calls, got a shoutout from Biden.
Attending Biden's rally Friday was Chaylee Cole, the former employee of a public relations firm that was hired by the RNC to make calls to voters and read statements attacking Obama. She quit instead.
"She said she would not do it. And they fired her," said Biden. "She said, 'Democrat or Republican I wouldn't have done this.' End of quote. Ladies and gentlemen, Chaylee recognized that regardless of your personal politics, attacks like that, attacks like that are out of bounds."
Biden was introduced by 90 year-old ailing Senator Robert Byrd, who read his remarks from a lowered lecturn while seated in a wheelchair. At the end of his speech, Biden paid tribute to the longtime senator from West Virginia, "to learn the ways of the Senate from Bob Byrd is like getting a trumpet lesson from the Angel Gabriel."
Among the West Virginia politicians on hand to warm up the crowd before Mr. Biden spoke was Senator Robert C. Byrd, 91, the longest-serving member of the Senate.
Mr. Byrd, speaking from a wheelchair, declared Mr. Biden an honorary West Virginian, by dint of his having been raised in Scranton, Pa., steel and coal country.
He praised Mr. Obama for having picked Mr. Biden as his running mate.
"And my friend and colleague, Barack Obama, showed outstanding judgment when he asked Joe Biden! Joe Biden! Joe Biden! Joe Biden! to join the ticket," Mr. Byrd said, punching the air.
snip
Today Mr. Biden touted the technology and said that Mr. McCain had spoken of the need to transition away from the use of coal in power generation, prompting boos from the audience.
Cecil E. Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers, also took a swipe at Mr. McCain. He said that Mr. McCain had voted consistently with President Bush and would continue his policies if elected.
"That's not a maverick, that's a sidekick," Mr. Roberts said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden walked down the stairs of a plane from Raleigh, N.C. Thursday night and was immediately greeted by seven members of the United Mine Workers of America from West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
He talked with them for about 15 minutes and then left for his hotel.
"One major concern we have is that the McCain health-care plan would tax our health-care benefits and would put a tremendous tax on our mining families," Bill Banig, legislature director for the United Mine Workers, said after Biden departed for his hotel.
snip
"Biden coming here is extremely important and it shows West Virginia is a battleground state," Banig said. "This election is important for the future of coal."
snip
"I worked with the Gore campaign in 2000, and I worked with the Kerry campaign in 2004, but I've never seen the enthusiasm that I've seen in this campaign," Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion. "It's time to put the country back on track."
(A reminder of this weekend's many events, starting with Joe Biden in Charleston today.
Bumped again. Hope is around the corner. - promoted by Carnacki)
There's lots going on this weekend. Plenty of chances to get out and show your Democratic Party pride. Even better, take a friend!
Via email:
Senator Joe Biden to Visit Charleston
Friday, Oct. 24
Rally in Downtown
Capitol Street
Doors open: 8:30 AM
Program starts: 10:30 AM
Public entrance: Fife St. and Summers St.
This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required; however, an RSVP is strongly encouraged. RSVP at www.wv.barackobama.com
Update: Success
Saturday Events
Eastern Panhandle Tri-County rallies with former Governors Gaston Caperton and Bob Wise, along with US Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware), 2nd District Congressional Nominee Anne Barth and Auditor Glen Gainer.
Morgan County, Berkeley Springs
Democratic Headquarters
15 Washington St.
10 AM
Berkeley County, Martinsburg
Democratic Headquarters
124 S. Queen St.
12 PM
Jefferson County, Charles Town
The Stephenson House
515 E. Washington St.
2 PM
Joe Manchin will be campaigning in three counties Saturday:
Jackson County
Democratic Headquarters, Ripley
12PM
Taylor County
Democratic Headquarters, Grafton
4PM
Congressman Alan Mollohan & Gov. Manchin Barbour County
Democratic Wine & Cheese evening
Adaland Mansion (2 miles north of Philippi - take US 119 N then Rt. 76).
Call Chairman Jude McConnell 457-1445 for tickets; $25 each 5-7 PM
Senator Jay Rockefeller and Congressman Nick Rahall will lead a Democratic Rally in Cabell County at the Headquarters at 1201 7th Ave. Huntington; 3:30 PM.
Early Voting is still underway Monday - Saturday at your County Courthouse through November 1st.
Sen. Joe Biden will be visiting West Virginia on Friday. The AP reports he'll be somewhere in the Charleston area.
Update: slightly more details from Young Dems
To: West Virginia Young Democrats
We are excited to report that Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden will be in Charleston for a campaign stop this Friday. The exact time and location have not yet been determined; however, WVYD will provide those details as soon as they are announced later this week.
WVYD also plans to hold a kick-off event for our "Weekend of Action" this Friday in Charleston following the Joe Biden rally. More specifics about this Young Dems event will also be provided over the next several days. Local WVYD chapters are encouraged to work with their county Democratic headquarters this Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 25 & 26) to hold door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, sign waving or other types of voter contact. The "Weekend of Action" will be our largest campaign effort for the 2008 election cycle, and we would like to have 100% participation from all fifty of our local clubs
Post your club's volunteer plans for the "Weekend of Action" our website blog at:
WASHINGTON - An ACORN community organizer received a death threat and the liberal activist group's Boston and Seattle offices were vandalized Thursday, reflecting mounting tensions over its role in registering 1.3 million mostly poor and minority Americans to vote next month.
Attorneys for the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now were notifying the FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division of the incidents, said Brian Kettenring, a Florida-based spokesman for the group.
Comments right out of Heat of the Night directed to a sound man, probably a union guy, at one event. A blogger/reporter trying to interview Obama supporters at a Palin rally kicked to the ground by a big bearded fan of Mooselini. The Secret Service's reaction: stop reporters from interviewing the crowd.
At a rally a few miles from the West Virginia border on Tuesday, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden predicted he and Sen. Barack Obama would win West Virginia in the Nov. 4 presidential election.
According to NBC's Mike Memoli, Biden asked the crowd in St. Clairsville, Ohio, "Which way is West-By-God-Virginia?" He then said, "I want to send a message to West Virginia -- we're going to win in West Virginia! ... We're going to shock the living devil out of y'all!"
Let's win to send a message that Hope triumphs over Hate.
The Hate Talk Express was going to come through West Virginia.
At a rally last weekend, a group of West Virginians took the front row at a Portsmouth, Ohio rally, across the Ohio River from West Virginia.
The story going around here is they shouted, "Come to West Virginia."
Obama called back, "I'll be there soon."
You know what, we're looking at a landslide of historic proportions.
Obama doesn't need West Virginia's five electoral votes.
But you can tell from Joe Biden's statement, his throwing down of the gauntlet, that Obama and Biden WANT them.
You want to send a message to the country that a new day has dawned in America, you win West By God Virginia.
This is a Democratic state. The governor, four of the five Congressional caucus, the attorney general, the treasurer, the agricultural secretary, the auditor, four of the five Supreme Court justices and soon to be the secretary of state.
Dems out number Reps by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Sure many of them are conservative Democrats. But we are the party of the Big Tent. Not the Rs, who have issued a fatwa on Christopher Buckley.
West Virginia went Democratic when many other states voted for the Republicans. Al Gore took the state for granted and we all paid a price. In 2004, with so many of our young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan, I heard over and over canvassing that people didn't want to change leaders in the middle of a war.
I told them they were wrong, that we needed to. But we lost.
This is an opportunity to return one of the most Democratic loyal states back into the blue column. Sure there's some racism here - just as there is in EVERY OTHER state. But I've canvassed numerous African Americans here who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary. What are we to make of them since the primary vote is what caused so many to label the state as racist?
People will inevitably say, Obama is better off spending his resources elsewhere.
Here's what they don't understand. Many of those surrounding states that are battleground states are filled with expatriate West Virginians. Their roots, their kin, are in West Virginia. If Obama and Biden win them over, their grandmammas and grandpappys are going to be telling them to vote for Barack Obama.
We heard over and over again that Appalachians were not ready to vote for a black candidate. What a load of bullshit!
In the worst case scenario based off the polls, we are in tossup status. ARG's poll, the latest, showed Obama up by 8 POINTS. ARG is often disparaged for being a bad pollster. I looked it up today. ARG often was off from 3 to 5 points in Kerry's favor in many states. 3 to 5 points consistently off. Do the math! Hell, say they were 8 points off. Hell, say they were 11 points off.
That's tossup.
We were told over and over by the Republicans McCain would win this state by 20 points.
They swore it'd be a landslide for McCain.
This is the time, this is the state to break the backs of the rightwing movement.
I'm just a small state blogger and a foot soldier who canvasses and tells funny stories.
But I know this: When we were told this state could not be won, I had faith in my fellow West Virginians.
When we were told by 538 that the odds were 89 percent of a McCain win, I said, "Never tell me the odds."
When we were told by the state GOP McCain would bury us, I remembered what my old football coach used to say.
And he'd say, win or lose, I don't care as long as you're leaving it all on the field.
With the coordinated Campaign for Change we are leaving it all on the field.
I know how we lost in landslides in 2004 presidential and congressional and 2006 congressional.
But my coach had another thing he'd tell his undersized players every Friday night on our way to a 9-1 season (F Oak Hill High School - yes I hold grudges).
He'd say, "Boys it's not the size of the dogs in the fight that matters, it's the size of the fight in the dogs."
West Virginian's Campaign for Change is bringing it.
It's funny. If I hadn't seen the debate with my own eyes, the noise from the main stream media might make me think that Palin last night actually was better than mediocre.
I'm fortunate to have decent health insurance through work, but I still pay a lot out of pocket. My company pays about $20,000 annually for my health insurance. The average company pays about $12,000 for the health insurance of those fortunate enough to have employer provided health care - and the ranks of the uninsured grow daily.
Under John McCain's plan, we would be taxed as if that $20,000 or $12,000 was additional income to our wages so our taxes would go up.
But McCain says people without insurance would be given a $5,000 tax credit to obtain it. Now if our employers with their purchasing power for basically buying in bulk are only able to get the price down to $12,000 on average, what kind of health insurance do you think an individual could buy with just $5,000? Something to cover only the most catastrophic injuries and with incredibly high deductibles most likely. Now considering how much I have to pay out of pocket for a plan that costs my employer $20,000, I'm sure a $5,000 plan is basically going to be paying everything out of pocket until high deductibles in the thousands of dollars are met.
What else can we expect from a candidate like John McCain since his health care advisor wants to declare every has access to health care because everyone can go to the emergency room.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has turned Sarah Palin and Joe Biden's responses into an effective ad this morning.
Putting this at top so even our rightwing readers will see it.
CNN vote of debate watchers: Biden 51, Palin 36
CBS poll of undecideds: Biden 46, Palin 21
From an email:
West Virginia Obama for America State Director Declares:
"Biden's Performance Tonight - A Clear Victory"
Charleston, W.Va.... Obama for America West Virginia State Director Tom Vogel issued the following statement at the conclusion of the vice presidential debate between candidates Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin:
"Tonight leaves no doubt, that by choosing Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate, Barack Obama understands what's at stake in these trying times and possesses the sound judgment needed to lead our country. Joe Biden is a true statesman with a deep understanding of economic and foreign policy issues, and knows how to change the direction of our nation.
"Raised in a working-class family with small town values that are akin to so many West Virginians, Senator Biden understands the mounting challenges facing working-class Americans today. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work to rebuild our economy, develop a health care system that works for all Americans, and repair our nation's reputation around the globe.
"The momentum for the Obama-Biden ticket continues to grow in the Mountain State. Joe Biden's clear victory in tonight's debate provided West Virginians with one more reason to cast their vote for Obama-Biden on November 4."
Here's a photo from the debate watching party in Charleston at the Campaign for Change HQ.
I just got back from the VP debate watching party in Martinsburg.
I thought Sarah Palin memorized her lines well, but she came across as really mean. Now in the first debate I thought John McCain did too and it was roughly a draw, which, given the poll situation, equalled a win for Obama. But the polls showed regular people thought overwhelmingly Barack Obama won the debate.
The narrative that came from that first debate was that McCain was mean, temperamental, grouchy, and out of touch about the economic situation.
Obama won that debate with the viewers when it was on foreign policy, which McCain has claimed is his strong suit.
He looked even keeled, solid, presidential.
Tonight we saw the importance in the two candidates decisions to pick a vice presidential nominee.
Joe Biden was far from my first pick, but my minister thinks the world of him. Tonight's debate performance really won me over that Joe Biden was a solid pick as vice president, to fill in should, God forbid, the need occur.
Sarah Palin convinced me she can memorize her lines, but as she herself stated, she wasn't going to answer the questions when it didn't suit her. I think she had to do that because she could not think on her feet.
Her winking and overly folksy manner didn't seem presidential to me. She didn't give me confidence that she could do the job should, God forbid indeed, she had to fill the job of the 72-year-old John McCain, who refuses to release all of his medical records.
As the poll numbers show, Palin did better than people expected, but that was because the bar was set so low because of her rambling, often incoherent responses in interviews with Sean Hannity, Charles Gibson and Katie Couric.
Here's the difference between unscripted moments and scripted in a debate.
Someone in Martinsburg described her as an automaton. If the response wasn't pre-programmed into her, she didn't have an answer. It shows here.
You'll hear howls of approval from the blood thirsty Republican base that wants endless war and tax cuts for the rich with no regard to what happens to the rest of us and our nation's failing infrastructure.
But my guess is her responses is going to further drive the undecideds and independents away from McCain to Obama.
Update 1:
Read Al's diary for an excellent breakout of the focus group responses.
Biden's response about the Iraq war scored the highest of the night. That zinger! that Palin did about the "white flag" (the type of response Shelley Moore Capito's thrown out herself) really turned off the voters.
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