Labor Day…..the traditional start of political campaigns…..came early…..candidates have been going full blast for months…..early bird gets the worm? Even county Republican organizations are opening headquarters earlier than usual…..remember these are not normal...

Earlier I wrote about these not being normal times.  Our “moving vacation”, as I like to call it, has ended.  Today I spent catching up on my political newsletters.  I found an item on POLITICO from a Gallup weekly tracking report.  It reports an historic midterm...

These are not normal times.  A Rasmussen poll taken after Saturday’s special primary election reveals a close race developing for the U. S. Senate seat of the late Senator Byrd. It appears the big factor is the “drag of Barrack Obama” is having on Governor...

After Saturday’s election I have had time to reflect on the forthcoming November election while completing a driving vacation. You may recall a Rasmussen survey in July where seventy-one percent (71%) of West Virginia voters approved of the job Governor Manchin is...

Healthcare reform continues to drive the mid-term elections and the down fall of President Obama.  While traveling I had an opportunity to read the comments of the new president of the Canadian Medical Association.   He appears to be sounding the alarm of what to...

Thought I would share some of my morning reading.  It will not cheer our Democratic readers and Republicans should not cheer too soon.  Along time ago it was said “a day is a year in politics”. House Democrats, already facing a perilous midterm landscape, wake up this...

WV voters will participate in two firsts this week …..a Saturday election…..and a special election to choose a United States Senator…..it will be interesting to see if a Saturday election improves turnout. Governor Manchin’s low key campaign may impact turnout by...

Polls are where you look to see how a candidate is doing.  Inside political observers “follow the money”.   Below is my Saturday morning reading.  You decided how it looks at this point in the mid-term election. ************************** “RNC has just $5m for final...

Today’s reading uncovered an Op-Ed by Governor Mitt Romney in the Boston Globe.  He addresses the important concern of most West Virginian’s to “Grow Jobs and Shrink Government.

Everyone knows the media searches for an August story.  Well Obama gave it to them.  He just cannot stand to take a vacation or be quite when others are resting and playing in August.  Guess that is why he stirred up the mosque story.  You may want to read more from...

Here is what I have been reading today…..political newsletters are great…..don’t you agree?  Arianna Huffington's “Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream,” out Sept. 7: “During the 2008 campaign,...

During the nearly twenty-five years Jenny and I spent in Washington we learned about the eighteen month burnout of political appointees.  This was true for White House staff, a cabinet office, or an Assistant Secretary in a department.  I thought you might find it fun...

The primary in four states earlier in the week signaled a big win for Washington outsiders.  A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll does not paint an optimistic picture of voter mood.  It leads one to believe the country is in for an unpredictable midterm election in...

WV Coal Association annual meeting was the venue for politics this weekend….. Friday’s informal gathering found the leading characters on the mountain…..the only U. S. Senate candidate on hand was Governor Manchin…..he and First Lady Gayle were a hit…..as a team and...

The Republican National Committee convenes this week for its summer meeting.  With all the attention on the mid-term election the national press will be out in full force.  The last thing needed is another Michael Steele story as the GOP finalizes plans for the fall...

Readers who have followed the New START treaty developments learned last night a key Senate Committee postponed until September a vote on the revamped Start arms-control treaty with Russia. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrote a July 6th Op-Ed in The...

Charleston Daily Mail reporter Ry Rivard has done some interesting research about self-funded campaigns.     This approach to financing a campaign in the special election to put someone in the Byrd seat may be the only way.  Time is short and money is always hard to...

A point well made by The Inter-Mountain (Elkins) in an editorial. This is a most important and strange political season in the Mountain State.  Campaigns normally expand over a period of year – and more often than not much longer.  Thus, there is adequate time for...

Heading Home…..today starts the congressional recess for House Members…..both parties are loading up members with talking points, ideas, themes…..the loud town meetings of last summer…..will be replaced with active schedules. GOP members were sent packing with a...

Regardless of where you turn someone is offering an opinion about President Obama, his policies and approach to government.  Two nationally known Democrat pollsters who have worked for President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton penned an op-ed in The Wall...

Since Governor Romney’s last piece appeared in The Washington Post he has written another article appearing in NATIONAL REVIEW.  It takes a look at some of the recent arguments supporters of the New START treaty have made since his initial op-ed in The Washington...

Everyone knows the President can reach anyone at anytime.  Well here is a fun read about how effective President Obama is at communications.

Community development is a growing need throughout the Mountain State.  Towns are looking for ways revitalize, fill empty property and create jobs.  For some time I thought one way our political leaders and decision makers could assist was by moving appropriate...

It was a quite meeting…..despite a nasty race for state chairman which included paid consultants…..friends against friends…..new versus old…..but it may have been noisy in the backrooms……only the parliamentarian  Roger Hanshaw knows. Mike Stuart who advanced an...