Joe Manchin is about to be rewarded for all his years of service to the people of West Virginia, and for the bang-up job he has been doing as governor of the state. Unfortunately for him, the reward is not exactly what he had in mind. He is going to get to keep his current job by way of losing his current race to replace the late Robert Byrd in the Senate.
Sarah Palin has been pushing this meme, calling Manchin a good governor and telling voters at a recent rally for Manchin's opponent, Republican John Raese, to keep Manchin as their governor and send Raese to the Senate. It's a clever argument, and I think it will work.
Manchin however is desperate to win, so desperate in fact that he distances himself from the Obama Administration as often and completely as he can, such as in the following ad, in which he shores up his Second Amendment credentials at the expense of Cap And Trade.
This is yet another race that has see-sawed back and forth in the polls, with the advantage going to first one and then another. As such, due to the closeness of the polls, it would behoove Republicans to remember where they are-West By God Virginie-and keep their eyes open and their ears to the ground. The Democrats are so entrenched here, they, like Manchin, will pull out all stops to win.
In other words, expect hi-jinx. If Manchin wins this one, in all likelihood it will be because it was stolen.
Even with this in mind, I nevertheless call this one for John Raese.
