Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPierce: Will the Republican Base Own Itself Again?
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19496799/don-blankenship-republican-west-virginia/Will the Republican Base Own Itself Again?
Roy Moore is so 2017. Here comes Don Blankenship.
By Charles P. Pierce
Mar 20, 2018
I have to admit that, after a few days of following the doomed Roy Moore campaign around Alabama before Christmas, Im starting to feel very warmly toward the Republican base. It has gone so far around the bend that its lapping itself. It has gone so far off the track that its caught another train coming in the opposite direction. But Republicans have proven themselves so stubborn in their lunatic convictions that they believe they can walk across any abyss on the air itself. God love these people.
I thought that riding the Gadsden Mall Creeper all the way into the ground was as wild a strategy as I ever saw, but its entirely possible that theyve found a path that leads even deeper into the wild kingdom. Its in West Virginia, and its hard to believe. As you know, Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, is up for re-election and the Republicans saw him as a nice fat target in what might be a bad year. However, they had not reckoned with the ambitionsand, curiously, the appealof the walking embodiment of the New Gilded Age. From Politico:
During separate meetings with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, aides to Blankenships two primary opponents, Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, pointed to Blankenships traction and questioned what could be done to stop him. The Senate GOP campaign arm, which heard out the appeals, recently commissioned a survey to gauge the coal kings electoral strength and determine his staying power in the race. Those familiar with the partys deliberations say the results are clear: With a little more than a month until the May 8 primary, Blankenship, a towering figure in West Virginia politics long before this campaign and an avid opponent of unions, has vaulted into essentially a three-way tie with his rivals and is positioned to move ahead
.
This is glorious. Blankenship is the guy who went to federal prison for a year because his mines were so dangerous that one of them blew up in 2010 and killed 29 people.
Since then, hes been on an expensive campaign to convince America that hes simply a victim of both circumstance and Barack Obama. This Senate campaign is a big part of that. And, mirabile dictu, it seems to be working.
Blankenships rise has been driven in part by his self-financed TV ads. Since launching his campaign in late November, Blankenship has spent over $1.1 million on roughly a dozen commercials, according to media buying totals, far surpassing his opponents. Morrisey has so far spent nothing on TV ads and Jenkins only about $38,000. Blankenship has used the ads to paint his rivals as insufficiently conservative, blasting Jenkins over his positions on Obamacare and climate change and Morrisey on abortion. Hes positioned himself as an unshakable ally of President Donald Trump, who received 68 percent of the vote in the state. Yet he has also undertaken an effort to clear his name. The spots have accused the Obama administration and Manchin who was governor at the time of the mine disaster and has said Blankenship has blood on his hands of conspiring to imprison him. He has also featured testimonials from his daughter, Jennifer, whos described her father as a soft-hearted family man and provider for West Virginians.
So the guy who loves completely deregulated capitalism even when it kills a couple dozen people, and someone who believes he was the real victim in the explosion that killed those couple dozen people? Don Blankenship is straight out of central casting, if your casting director is the unbridled, rampaging Republican Id. And that is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
National Republicans have been struck by the potency of Blankenships campaign. Earlier this year, Blankenship and his longtime political strategist, Greg Thomas, traveled to Washington to meet with the White House political affairs office. During the meeting, Blankenship described his battles with Manchin and outlined how hed used his deep pockets to fund Republican campaigns in a state that until the past decade had been dominated by Democrats. White House officials, whove also met with Jenkins and Morrisey, came away thinking that Blankenship was for real.
The numbers are so ugly right now that you cant half-blame them for being curious about any Republican whose breath clouds the mirror. But, really, people? Don Blankenship? Did somebody lose Bernie Madoffs phone number?
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
0 replies, 547 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (2)
ReplyReply to this post