My biggest concern with having Capito as our nominee has long been the Democrats running some good ol’ boy who wil claim to be a social conservative and point out (correctly) that Capito has cast a whole slew of pro-abortion votes (not that Jay Rockefeller wasn’t 100% pro-abortion, or that “pro-life” Joe Manchin’s voting record has been any better than Capito’s). In a sense, having Tennant as the presumptive Dem nominee is good news gor Capito, and also for our chances of electing a Republican to the Senate from WV: Capito will benefit by making it less likely that GOP primary voters will roll the dice and nominate some second-or third-tier candidate with little in the way of money or name ID when the RATs are pulling out the big guns (or at least among the largest gun they have left in their decreasing arsenal), and Tennant’s candidacy is a boon to our odds of winning because Tennant is (from what I understand) a down-the-line liberal who would be hard-pressed to pretend to be a social conservative.
Cautiously optimistic about WV. But the state has disappointed in the past. Manchin was out maneuvered Republicans many times.
Very true. We thought we had ND in the bag because it seemed impossible a non-incumbent liberal RAT could win in such a conservative state, and look what happened. We should win West Virginia this time around, but never underestimate the RATs.
>> Tennant’s candidacy is a boon to our odds of winning because Tennant is (from what I understand) a down-the-line liberal who would be hard-pressed to pretend to be a social conservative. <<
I do have a hard time seeing anyone buying Tennant as the "more socially conservative" candidate, but stranger things have happened. A lot of time it has nothing to do with the candidate's actual policy positions/track record, and everything to do with their "tone" and rhetoric.
For example, Donald Trump and Jeanine Pirro are probably to the left of your average RINO, but they've convinced numerous freepers that they're hardcore conservative tea party warriors because they go on TV all the time and blast Obama. Clintonite gun-grabbing IRA suckup Peter King and gay-marriage loving RINO Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have convinced numerous conservatives that they're heroic fighters on our side. Chris Smith in NJ is a "social conservative" icon too, despite the fact he is only super conservative on pro-life, but liberal on everything else. EX-Senator Sam Nunn had numerous Georgia freepers who loved him and claimed he was a "conservative" Democrat, even though he was pro-abortion and anti-gun (they were "shocked" when he became Obama's co-campaign chair) My state Senator (Dan Cunningham) is another example of a candidate who ran as a "socially conservative Catholic" to get elected in Illinois Senate district that was largely Dan Lipinski's turf, and stupid votes bought it, even though he is a Chicago machine hack who is pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage.
Conversely, Norm Coleman and Chris Christie had a clearly rock solid record being pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, but numerous conservatives talking heads convinced the grassroots that they're "socially liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage RINOs". Lindsey Graham is about 20X to the right of Planned Parenthood darling Mark Kirk on social issues (not to mention numerous other issues like the Iraq surge), but numerous freepers are convinced that Graham is worst than a Democrat whereas Kirk is a "social moderate" who is "with us when it counts". The examples could continue.
>> David Tennant would be even more liberal than Obama. He known for campaigning for progressive-liberal MPs in in the UK. <<
Really? Interesting. I never knew where Doctor Who was on the political spectrum, but he is unusual for the mostly secular UK celebrities because he's a practicing Christian and churchgoer who believes that religion is a "must have", and that it really shaped his character. I figured he was probably a Stephen Baldwin type figure in the UK. I guess he's more of a Martin Sheen type "religious" person (or Jimmy Carter for that matter)
This race is on the map now. With Natalie Tennant, ‘Rats now have a viable candidate with name I.D. and fundraising potential. Our side still has the upper hand here, in part because Tennant will have a more difficult time demonstrating political independence than other ‘Rats who have won statewide in West Virginia, including the other Senator. Shelley Moore Capito needs to run a first-rate campaign. I think she’ll do it. Unfortunately, the cake walk won’t happen here after all.