Editorial: A Mighty Oak Has Fallen
Running for a smaller office after losing for a bigger,
statewide office is a strategy with some merits. Heck,
even John Quincy Adams ran for Congress after serving
as President of the United States. Former President
Bill Clinton was once rumored to be eyeing a run for
Mayor of New York City. (Ed. Note: Former governor of California and presidential candidate Jerry Brown ran for and was elected mayor of Oakland, CA and on Nov. 7, 2006, the 68-year-old “boy wonder” was elected California’s attorney general).
If someone has still more of themselves to give, why not?
However, if a giant decides to squeeze himself into a smaller suit, it had better fit. If a losing statewide gubernatorial candidate decides to humble himself and his ambitions long enough to run for a state senate seat, he has to win if he doesn't want to look like a guy who just can't.
So ends the political career, at least for as far as we can see, of Jim Lees in neighboring Putnam County. Lees has now lost a series of races, starting with repeat losses in the Democratic Party's primary for Governor and now losing in the general to Republican Delegate Mike Hall for state senate Tuesday night, Nov. 7, 2006.
Lees, a Pennsylvania transplant, had made an outstanding name for himself as a lawyer, filing briefs on behalf of good civic causes and serving as a special prosecutor in the Fred Zain state chemical lab disaster. He was also an intelligent, mostly centrist voice on talk radio for several years and, by all estimates, a really fun person to talk with on a variety of subjects.
What gives? Why did a candidate who had everything going for him, including Governor Bob Wise's campaign manager, Mike Plante, lose to Delegate Hall?
Well, one must first hand it to Hall and his own campaign manager, former GOP Executive Director Gary Abernathy. They nailed down their conservative base early on, allowing Hall to reach towards the center that Lees likely felt he owned.
But there is one other reason why one of the brighter lights of the State Democratic Party bit the dust on Tuesday. Here's a hint: it's the title of former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill's book: All Politics Is Local.
Over the years, Lees never really ingratiated himself to the local Democratic Party establishment. As the famous Putnam County pol, Leff Moore, once told the even more famous Charleston Gazette writer, Fanny Seiler, "Mr. Lees is a very nice man with no constituency."
Whether Lees knew it or not, his reputation was that he was a little aloof to get involved with local Democratic priorities. True, Lees as a sought-after attorney was probably a very busy man over the past several years.
However, the price of admission into a successful career in politics, particularly at the local level, is more hours of meeting people, serving up hot dogs at community events, and being involved in one's home area than many people are willing to give.
In his next political life, may Jim Lees find a way to figure out this cardinal rule, for we could use a good mind like his to help West Virginia.
But you have to give more time to the home folks if you want them to reward you with their votes.
It's elementary, my dear Watson.