EDITORIAL: Hurricane Earl Ray Begins to Blow
West Virginia voters have become an increasingly more discerning bunch with the 24/7 news cycle with all its constant updates and special reports. So while it's taken a little while for the public to realize that the person featured to their right could be their next Governor by default, they're beginning to catch on that "My Name is Earl" is not only a Hollywood sitcom.
It could become a statewide farce, too.
Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin is next in line to succeed Governor Joe
Manchin if Manchin makes it to the U.S. Senate following the November 2nd
general election. He would be the first unelected Governor since Daniel T.
Farnsworth succeeded our first Governor, Arthur Boreman. But Farnsworth
only served seven days as the state's Chief Executive to fill out the balance
of Boreman's final term in office back in 1869.
So Governor Farnsworth, unelected though he was, could really only do a week's worth of damage to the state.
However, Earl Ray Tomblin, the pride of Logan County's Democratic Machine, would serve all of 2011 and 2012, while getting a serious leg up on the competition for a run for a full four year term in 2012.
Shouldn't we know what we're getting into here? Just who is this guy?
Tomblin came to statewide prominence earlier in his Senate career when his mother contracts from the state to the tune of $260,000 for grayhound breeding to help the state's dogtracks. For that, the Senator from Logan got a reputation among many for the old-time politics that serves one's family more than the common good.
Then there was the gray machine business he owned awhile back. Small wonder that Tomblin has become the darling legislator of the gambling industry, which has given him many thousands of contributions over the years.
More importantly, since 1995, Tomblin has served as Senate President. This makes him the longest serving Senate President in West Virginia history. In this capacity, Tomblin has been the top Democratic leader in the upper chamber of a legislature that has not exactly distinguished itself during Tomblin's tenure. West Virginia's unemployment rate has continued to stagnate on Tomblin's watch, and few new industries have opted to come to the Mountain State.
While the blame for that poor economic record does not fall on Tomblin's shoulders alone, on the other hand, he has remained the one constant among our state's top leaders in the policy making process that occurs every legislative session. Governors Caperton, Underwood, Wise, and Manchin may come and go, but Tomblin remains.
Shouldn't Tomblin accept at least some of the blame for the economic rut
West Virginia is in? Fifteen years in leadership is an eternity in state politics.
West Virginia is bone tired of self-serving politicians who go to Charleston to take more than they give. Keeping Earl Ray Tomblin out of the Governor's Mansion is just one more reason to keep Joe Manchin in it for the balance of his term. In fact, an internet campaign has already been launched with a photo of the Governor's Mansion with the following caption:
"Keep Joe In There....And Earl Ray Out! Vote for John Raese for U.S. Senate."
We tend to agree.