Free Republic

President Donald Trump is holding a campaign rally in West Virginia on Saturday. The president will rally for a slate of Republican candidates in Wheeling, including the GOP Senate nominee Patrick Morrisey. Trump has remained very popular in West Virginia, where he has visited several times since taking office. He has intensified his efforts to help Republicans keep the Senate, campaigning in Nevada and Missouri in recent days....

WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) - President Trump is coming to WesBanco Arena in Wheeling on Saturday September 29th. The Donald J. Trump for President campaign has announced that The President is coming back to West Virginia for his second campaign rally for Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is moving to set up a Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, likely next week. Grassley's office on Monday sent out an agenda for a business meeting the committee will have on Thursday. Kavanaugh's nomination is included as one of roughly two dozen judicial nominations that could get a vote. The move means Kavanaugh's nomination could get a vote as soon as this week. But Democrats are expected to delay the vote until next week, meaning Kavanaugh's nomination will likely be taken up by the committee on Sept. 20. Under committee rules, any...

For years, the most popular politician in West Virginia, hands down, was Joe Manchin. Twice elected governor, the centrist Democrat is now running for re-election as the Mountain State’s senior senator. In 2016, however, Manchin’s mantle was passed to Donald Trump, who carried the state by 42 percentage points over Hillary Clinton. The president remains nearly as popular today as he was on the last Election Day, and as the West Virginia Senate race approaches the post-Labor Day home stretch, the question is whether the Trump mystique will be enough to send Manchin into early retirement. He delivered a clear...

Red-state Democrats are embracing one of Obamacare’s most popular provisions to help them win re-election in November. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota unveiled ads this week slamming GOP opponents for trying to gut Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing illnesses, such as diabetes or cancer. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., did the same in a Twitter video. Each of the candidates is seizing on actions by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration to unravel Obamacare. But instead of highlighting the law in general, they are centering on its rules obligating insurers to cover...

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W. Va.) had strong words for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (N.Y.) efforts to unify the party against President Trump’s Supreme Court pick. Manchin suggested to Politico that Schumer does not have any influence over whether or not he supports Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. “I’ll be 71 years old in August, you’re going to whip me? Kiss my you know what,” Manchin told Politico, referring to whipping votes among the party caucus. Schumer has spoken out harshly against Kavanaugh and vowed to oppose him “with everything I’ve got.” Democrats will need at least two GOP votes, in...

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says Brett Kavanaugh has "all the right qualities" to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Manchin's comments regarding President Donald Trump's nominee to the high court came during an interview on West Virginia's MetroNews' "Talkline" radio show on Wednesday. An excerpt of the interview is posted on the MetroNews Twitter account. "He has all the right qualities," Manchin said. "He's well-educated and, with that, we have to just look at making sure that the rule of law and the Constitution is going to be followed and that's going to basically preempt anything else he does."

Judge Brett Kavanaugh is going to be a weeks-long torment for some on the Hill—and I’m talking about red state Democrats. Senate Republican moderates Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have been very receptive to Kavanaugh’s nomination, easing pressure from the right that they could sink this SCOTUS nominee if they defect. That could be the case, but for now, pressure has ramped up on Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and maybe Bill Nelson (D-FL). Nelson needs help. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is outworking him on Hispanic outreach, and he’s beating Nelson...

A trio of red-state Democratic senators have turned down invitations to attend President Trump's announcement of his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) were invited but declined to attend the event at the White House at 9 p.m. Monday. Donnelly said in a statement that he declined so that his first meeting with Trump's pick will be "in a setting where we can discuss his or her experience and perspectives." "I appreciate the President inviting me to attend tonight's announcement at the WH. I look...

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators running for re-election in red states where President Donald Trump remains popular face an agonizing choice over his coming Supreme Court nominee: Vote to confirm the pick and risk demoralizing Democratic voters ahead of the midterm elections, or stick with the party and possibly sacrifice their own seats — and any chance at a Democratic majority in 2019. The actions of a handful of Senate Democrats struggling to hold their seats in those states — notably Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — will have broad implications...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The opening on the Supreme Court has created a dilemma for Democratic senators up for re-election this year in the states that President Donald Trump won in 2016. The choice on whether to support the upcoming nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy will be a test for several Democrats in tough races. It could be particularly difficult for Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and West Virginia's Joe Manchin.

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill suffered a broken rib after choking at a Senate lunch Thursday, where her Senate colleague Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, performed the Heimlich maneuver to save her. The story was first reported by The Washington Post. "She started choking. People cough, you think, well. And then started getting real red. 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe,' " Manchin said Monday. "I was big enough and tall enough to get some leverage on her and pick her up off her feet. I kept jerking and jerking and jerking until she said, 'You're hurting me now.' "...

Don Blankenship isn’t done being a thorn in the side of the GOP. The ex-con former coal baron announced Monday morning that he plans to run as the Constitution Party’s nominee for Senate, a move that could damage his former party’s chances at defeating Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) if he’s able to actually get on the ballot.

hat "blue wave" that critics of President Trump have been hoping will wash over him in the midterm congressional elections him may not be a likely thing after all. Last Tuesday's Republican Senate primaries in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana offered no assurance that anti-Trump voters, including many in his own party, will rise up in November to rid themselves of the president's backers in Congress. In all three states, Republican candidates supporting Mr. Trump prevailed. The one senatorial candidate who ran without his backing lost, mostly because he was toxic in his state of West Virginia as a former...

Who could have guessed that Joe Manchin would be the first Democrat to flip and support Gina Haspel? Come on, man. Manchin was practically sending up semaphores even before making this announcement: “I have found Gina Haspel to be a person of great character,” Manchin said in a statement. “Over her 33 year career as a CIA operations officer, she has worked in some of the most dangerous corners of our world and I have the utmost respect for the sacrifices she has made for our country. She has earned the trust of her colleagues in the intelligence community...

BREAKING: State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wins Republican primary in U.S. Senate race in West Virginia. Convicted ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship loses.

A lawyer who led the fight against Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate, eventually winning the Hobby Lobby case before the Supreme Court, won confirmation by the Senate Tuesday to a federal appeals court. Senators voted 50-47 to confirm Stuart Kyle Duncan to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, broke with his party to support Mr. Duncan. Other Democrats voiced opposition to Mr. Duncan as an “unfit ideologue” who fought women’s access to reproductive healthcare. They also said his defense of state laws requiring photo-ID to vote,...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Monday that he will vote for CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of State, making him the second Democrat to support Pompeo's nomination. "After meeting with Mike Pompeo, discussing his foreign policy perspectives, & considering his distinguished time as CIA Director & his exemplary career in public service, I will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo to be our next Secretary of State," Manchin said in a tweet. Pompeo likely already had the votes to be confirmed by the full Senate. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to oppose him, Pompeo needed...

When the news broke on Tuesday night that CIA Director Mike Pompeo had met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, I was not surprised. Pompeo had long ago established his importance to this administration and his understanding of geopolitics. Pompeo’s skills are precisely why the president nominated him to be the next Secretary of State—and why it’s so absurd that Democrats are reluctant to confirm him.Considering the increasing gridlock in the Senate over President Donald Trump’s nominees, this is a good time to remind our Democratic friends of Pompeo’s many qualifications—qualifications that have only increased since he earned Democratic support to become CIA...

GOP infighting broke out again Monday as West Virginia Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship compared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to a “Swamp captain” and “the Russians.” As Politico reports, Blankenship, who owns a lot of coal in the state, was incarcerated for a year after a 2010 explosion in one of his mines and the GOP establishment has not embraced his Senate candidacy — reportedly campaigning against Blankenship with a series of attack ads purchased by a political action committee (PAC) named Mountain Family PAC. Blankenship defines his war as one with McConnell, whom he encourages to stay in...