Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia switching parties, to become a Republican

[GoTfan]

And nothing of value was lost.

[TheSaint250]

And nothing of value was lost.

...except for a governorship.

[publicunofficial]

And nothing of value was lost.

...except for a governorship.

Simple majority veto override. No stake in redistricting. Nothing of value was lost.

[SWE]

And nothing of value was lost.

...except for a governorship.

So the biggest loss for the Democratic party here is that now the Wikipedia page "List of current United States governors" now lists 15 Democrats instead of 16? Yeah that's not exactly something worth caring about. Governors seats aren't Senate seats, there's no tangible advantage to having a majority of them (except for redistricting, which hardly makes a difference in a state as red as West Virginia).

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Interestingly, if you add West Virginia and D.C. together (as they are close geographically, though not contiguous), Hillary would have come very, very close to winning it. In fact, I think Obama would have won it in 2012.

All it takes is one big city, and West Virginia is at least competitive again.

[Beet]

Interestingly, if you add West Virginia and D.C. together (as they are close geographically, though not contiguous), Hillary would have come very, very close to winning it. In fact, I think Obama would have won it in 2012.

All it takes is one big city, and West Virginia is at least competitive again.

A lot of West Virginians who left moved to the D.C. area, Baltimore, and to a lesser extent Ohio.

[Don Vito Corleone]

How soon until Joe Manchin becomes a Republican or an independent?

It will happen the same day Murkowki, Charlie Baker and Collins all simultaneously become Democrats.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

     Trump won WV by over 40 points. Gallup estimates his approval rating there at 60%. Suggesting that switching to R is somehow a poor political move for Jim Justice is ludicrously ignorant.

Probably isn't helpful. As has been pointed out, the reason he temporarily claimed to be a Democrat was he likely would have lost the GOP primary, so he switched parties so that he could have a chance of running against Cole in the General. He'll certainly face credible primary opposition.

[Don Vito Corleone]

     Trump won WV by over 40 points. Gallup estimates his approval rating there at 60%. Suggesting that switching to R is somehow a poor political move for Jim Justice is ludicrously ignorant.

Probably isn't helpful. As has been pointed out, the reason he temporarily claimed to be a Democrat was he likely would have lost the GOP primary, so he switched parties so that he could have a chance of running against Cole in the General. He'll certainly face credible primary opposition.

Why was it thought he couldn't win the GOP primaries? And do you think he will be primaried in 2020?

[mvd10]

Primary the RINO pls

[Sir Mohamed]

LOL. That's no loss. The dude was a fake Democrat anyway.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

But Republicans still hate him. They have no reason to work with an interloper. Changing parties didn't save Arlen Specter.

Nah, Jim Justice has the backing of President Trump.

That didn't help the real deal who ran against Jim in 2016. Or Dr. Kelli Ward.

On a related subject, Bill Cole is probably not feeling great about this

He really has no one but himself to blame, tbh.  Cole probably should've won that race tbh, but he ran a weak and remarkably lazy campaign.

[The Mikado]

These are the Blue Dogs, people.

Justice isn't a Blue Dog; he's not a hereditary Democrat with conservative positions out of touch with the party (which is what Blue Dog refers to). He's a lifelong Republican who became a Dem briefly to avoid a competitive WV GOP primary.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

     Trump won WV by over 40 points. Gallup estimates his approval rating there at 60%. Suggesting that switching to R is somehow a poor political move for Jim Justice is ludicrously ignorant.

Probably isn't helpful. As has been pointed out, the reason he temporarily claimed to be a Democrat was he likely would have lost the GOP primary, so he switched parties so that he could have a chance of running against Cole in the General. He'll certainly face credible primary opposition.

Why was it thought he couldn't win the GOP primaries? And do you think he will be primaried in 2020?

Cole had the political position and a business background. Justice only had the business background. Also by running in the Democratic primary, he faced divided opposition while in the GOP, he would've faced only Cole. Last but not least, it looked to be a good year for the Democrats, and except for losing the White House, it was.

[Lord Admirale]

I think this should be a bit of a warning to the Democrats that Trump isn't as bad as they think. Yes, he was a conservative Democrat, but the fact that he left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party in a time when they claim Trump is failing, that should be alarming.

Keep in mind, I thought in June we'd have Congressman Ossoff because of Trump was "deeply unpopular."

[krazen1211]

I'm not saying that Trump isn't President. I'm saying that the GOP's reputation has suffered tremendously in these last 7 months.

On the contrary, pal. Folks like Jim Justice and millions of others are joining the GOP because of Trump. And the favorability ratings of the GOP went up because Trump won the election for us.

Link

Meanwhile, the Dem party is tanking because folks don't like whiny losers.

Crooked Hillary is still in the toilet even as she no longer spreads her vile self across TV on a daily basis.

Link

[BudgieForce]

I'm not saying that Trump isn't President. I'm saying that the GOP's reputation has suffered tremendously in these last 7 months.

On the contrary, pal. Folks like Jim Justice and millions of others are joining the GOP because of Trump. And the favorability ratings of the GOP went up because Trump won the election for us.

Link

Meanwhile, the Dem party is tanking because folks don't like whiny losers.

Crooked Hillary is still in the toilet even as she no longer spreads her vile self across TV on a daily basis.

Link

Thats certainly one way to look at those numbers.

[SWE]

I think this should be a bit of a warning to the Democrats that Trump isn't as bad as they think. Yes, he was a conservative Democrat,

No he wasn't. He was a lifelong Republican who joined the Democratic party in order to avoid a competitive primary. There's really nothing to read into this. If anything, it's weird it took this long.

[GlobeSoc]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In some respects this may be a gamble on Justice's part that Trump is not impeached. Right now he's probably safe, as Trump is protecting him, but if Pence gets in the POTUS chair, the WV GOP might try to back a very strong primary opponent, perhaps even with Pence's direct support.

[AGA]

Wow, the Democrats only have 15 governorships now.

[heatcharger]

You have people in the predictions thread saying that Democrats are going to be winning Senate races in Mississippi and Tennesseee lol

That was literally one person. Save the ridiculous strawman arguments for TN Volunteer.

[Lord Admirale]

I'm not saying that Trump isn't President. I'm saying that the GOP's reputation has suffered tremendously in these last 7 months.

On the contrary, pal. Folks like Jim Justice and millions of others are joining the GOP because of Trump. And the favorability ratings of the GOP went up because Trump won the election for us.

Link

Meanwhile, the Dem party is tanking because folks don't like whiny losers.

Crooked Hillary is still in the toilet even as she no longer spreads her vile self across TV on a daily basis.

Link

Krazen...why do you always sound like you have a stick up your ass?

And you don't? I don't agree with Krazen, but seriously, you make me want to take "irritable" out of my name and give it to you.

[Person Man]

Wow, the Democrats only have 15 governorships now.

And even after the Democrats being relegated to almost Minor Party status on some metrics, Republicans are still unable to not get cuckholded on policy.

Republicans can't govern. Democrats can't win.

[Dr. Arch]

Wow, the Democrats only have 15 governorships now.

And even after the Democrats being relegated to almost Minor Party status on some metrics, Republicans are still unable to not get cuckholded on policy.

Republicans can't govern. Democrats can't win.

What a nightmare.

[Badger]

I'm not saying that Trump isn't President. I'm saying that the GOP's reputation has suffered tremendously in these last 7 months.

On the contrary, pal. Folks like Jim Justice and millions of others are joining the GOP because of Trump. And the favorability ratings of the GOP went up because Trump won the election for us.

Link

Meanwhile, the Dem party is tanking because folks don't like whiny losers.

Crooked Hillary is still in the toilet even as she no longer spreads her vile self across TV on a daily basis.

Link

Krazen...why do you always sound like you have a stick up your ass?

Because he wishes he did, but can't admit it to himself. Amarite?