WV: Justice rejoining GOP

[The Other Castro]

WV is only simple majority veto override for non-budget bills right? This seems pretty insignificant in terms of actual WV policy.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Political parties: so wonderful, we need to have laws to keep people from deciding to leave.

[Alabama_Indy10]

What? That's crazy.

No, it's not. The party and its supporters elect a candidate. Without them, a candidate wouldn't be in office. They ran as a member of that party, deliberately used its resources, and was elected by their constituents with the expectation that they would serve as a member of that party. To switch parties mid-cycle is false advertising and a breach of contract with both the public and the party.

Exactly. The voters elect a CANDIDATE. Not a party.

[Adam Griffin]

What? That's crazy.

No, it's not. The party and its supporters elect a candidate. Without them, a candidate wouldn't be in office. They ran as a member of that party, deliberately used its resources, and was elected by their constituents with the expectation that they would serve as a member of that party. To switch parties mid-cycle is false advertising and a breach of contract with both the public and the party.

Exactly. The voters elect a CANDIDATE. Not a party.

95%+ of voters in this country go into the voting booth for one specific reason: to elect the candidate representing one particular party. Surely this has become obvious to all over the past few cycles, with the endless parade of crap-kickers and absolutely terrible human beings who have been elected - even in nominally-competitive districts - based on the letter beside their name and nothing else.

Voters don't care about "candidates", and those candidates don't get elected without a party backing them. Candidates are merely an empty vessel elected to do as they're told by the electorate, with the electorate inevitably making its decision based on which letter is branded onto their foreheads.

[PragmaticPopulist]

Yeah, from a political standpoint this decision makes little sense IMO. Justice would have been a near lock for reelection and could have won a Senate race in 2020 or 2024. His chances of winning the Republican primary aren't nearly as good, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe he doesn't have a good relationship with the legislature. If Republicans unite behind one strong challenger, I think they could beat him in the primary (and remember, the WV Republican primary electorate is still fairly conservative/less "populist" and less dependent on WV-3).

It will be interesting to see if he governs more from the right from now on.

That's assuming if by 2020 registered Democrats don't re-register as Republicans, while there's a modest shift in the opposite direction in the DC exurbs of the eastern panhandle. Jefferson and Berkeley counties are the fastest growing counties in the state, and these aren't the kinds of voters who generally like Trump. They usually work in the DC area. Meanwhile, coal counties in southern WV are losing population fast.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Manchin is the sole Donkey in the state

[Cashew]

I feel good now for "endorsing" the Green/Mountain Party candidate on the Atlas mock elections thingy.

[RINO Tom]

Yeah, from a political standpoint this decision makes little sense IMO. Justice would have been a near lock for reelection and could have won a Senate race in 2020 or 2024. His chances of winning the Republican primary aren't nearly as good, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe he doesn't have a good relationship with the legislature. If Republicans unite behind one strong challenger, I think they could beat him in the primary (and remember, the WV Republican primary electorate is still fairly conservative/less "populist" and less dependent on WV-3).

It will be interesting to see if he governs more from the right from now on.

That's assuming if by 2020 registered Democrats don't re-register as Republicans, while there's a modest shift in the opposite direction in the DC exurbs of the eastern panhandle. Jefferson and Berkeley counties are the fastest growing counties in the state, and these aren't the kinds of voters who generally like Trump. They usually work in the DC area. Meanwhile, coal counties in southern WV are losing population fast.

Yes, but all that matters is how voters are registered, and the DC exurbs are the most Republican(-registered) areas of the state while the coal counties in Southern WV are the most Democratic(-registered) areas of the state.  The DC exurbs are very important to a Republican in GOP primaries, and coal counties are nothing short of essential for a Democrat in the Dem primaries.

It would take a MASSIVE shift in registration to change that even in the next 15 years.

[PragmaticPopulist]

Yeah, from a political standpoint this decision makes little sense IMO. Justice would have been a near lock for reelection and could have won a Senate race in 2020 or 2024. His chances of winning the Republican primary aren't nearly as good, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe he doesn't have a good relationship with the legislature. If Republicans unite behind one strong challenger, I think they could beat him in the primary (and remember, the WV Republican primary electorate is still fairly conservative/less "populist" and less dependent on WV-3).

It will be interesting to see if he governs more from the right from now on.

That's assuming if by 2020 registered Democrats don't re-register as Republicans, while there's a modest shift in the opposite direction in the DC exurbs of the eastern panhandle. Jefferson and Berkeley counties are the fastest growing counties in the state, and these aren't the kinds of voters who generally like Trump. They usually work in the DC area. Meanwhile, coal counties in southern WV are losing population fast.

Yes, but all that matters is how voters are registered, and the DC exurbs are the most Republican(-registered) areas of the state while the coal counties in Southern WV are the most Democratic(-registered) areas of the state.  The DC exurbs are very important to a Republican in GOP primaries, and coal counties are nothing short of essential for a Democrat in the Dem primaries.

It would take a MASSIVE shift in registration to change that even in the next 15 years.

I know it's unlikely, but that seems to be the way things are heading. It may take decades for this realignment to happen.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Shame on that brute.

[Skunk]

Do you think Justice will endorse Manchin for re-election now?

[Maxwell]

Good riddance!

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Manchin is the sole Donkey in the state

Wrong. The state treasurer of WV, a statewide elected position, reelected a democrat with the majority of the vote last year. John Perdue (D).

[RINO Tom]

Yeah, from a political standpoint this decision makes little sense IMO. Justice would have been a near lock for reelection and could have won a Senate race in 2020 or 2024. His chances of winning the Republican primary aren't nearly as good, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe he doesn't have a good relationship with the legislature. If Republicans unite behind one strong challenger, I think they could beat him in the primary (and remember, the WV Republican primary electorate is still fairly conservative/less "populist" and less dependent on WV-3).

It will be interesting to see if he governs more from the right from now on.

That's assuming if by 2020 registered Democrats don't re-register as Republicans, while there's a modest shift in the opposite direction in the DC exurbs of the eastern panhandle. Jefferson and Berkeley counties are the fastest growing counties in the state, and these aren't the kinds of voters who generally like Trump. They usually work in the DC area. Meanwhile, coal counties in southern WV are losing population fast.

Yes, but all that matters is how voters are registered, and the DC exurbs are the most Republican(-registered) areas of the state while the coal counties in Southern WV are the most Democratic(-registered) areas of the state.  The DC exurbs are very important to a Republican in GOP primaries, and coal counties are nothing short of essential for a Democrat in the Dem primaries.

It would take a MASSIVE shift in registration to change that even in the next 15 years.

I know it's unlikely, but that seems to be the way things are heading. It may take decades for this realignment to happen.

That "realignment" would need to, of course, hold for decades.  I think that's doubtful.

[Kamala]

I'll also concede this: this is the only time when "cuck" would be an appropriate. WV Dems literally got cuckolded.

[Holmes]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

[BuckeyeNut]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

[Canis]

“Et tu, Brute?”

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

See what I'm up against?

[BuckeyeNut]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

See what I'm up against?

I mean, I was never a fan of Justice...

[Deblano]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

"If they didn't wanna be called stupid, they shoulda voted Democrat. Now why won't they vote Democrat? Please vote Democrat..........please?"

[JerryArkansas]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

Because Dems should cater to the racist fantasies of the voters.  That will definitely go over well with people.

[Deblano]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

Because Dems should cater to the racist fantasies of the voters.  That will definitely go over well with people.

They shouldn't be calling entire states stupid either.

[Alabama_Indy10]

He's my favorite Democratic Governor, so he's welcomed back to the fold by me - plus it helps that my entire family until my generation is basically from WV.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully they got out.

Democrats like you are why Illinois was practically the only state not on a coast carried by Clinton.

Because Dems should cater to the racist fantasies of the voters.  That will definitely go over well with people.

Oozing intelligence.