EDITORIAL: Why is John Raese Winning the U.S. Senate Race?
We here at Huntingtonnews.net are amused at the scrambling going on among national media outlets who are trying to wrap their minds around John Raese's steady progress in the race for U.S. Senate. After Raese won his GOP primary effort convincingly, he had an impressive burst that took him from 16 points down to within four points of Governor Manchin.
From that point, it has been all Raese, with every passing poll having Raese pulling even with Manchin then overtaking him. Raese now has a position few Republicans could dream of having with less than a month left in the campaign: ahead by six points. Mind you, this lead has taken place even while Manchin has thrown the kitchen sink at Raese in a series of all-negative ads.
This all perplexes the national press and some at the state level, who just can't understand how a "popular Governor" like Manchin could be having his hat handed to him by an outsider like John Raese, who has never held political office. They point to Manchin's 70 percent approval rating in disbelief.
But surely our discerning readers will understand the obvious here, aside from Barack Obama's profound lack of popularity here, which certainly affects Manchin's efforts. Just because West Virginians give a generally positive answer to telephone pollsters about Joe Manchin's performance as Governor doesn't mean that he's so wildly popular at all. That's simply the only measurement the national press have to go on.
West Virginians are probably kinder than citizens from many other states when asked about their Governor. So when they're asked about his general performance in office, those contacted here are probably charitable in their assessment, even though they may have serious reservations about the Governor on issues like the economy, job creation, and holding the line on federal spending.
Moreover, it doesn't take much to get at least a passing grade as Governor in West Virginia. As one Bluefield radio co-host said, "I give Manchin a passing grade simply because he hasn't embarassed us much yet." Is that a ringing endorsement? Or just a shrug of the shoulders?
The point is that Governor Manchin's experience, which is extensive in the government sector, is precisely not what the public wants or even trusts in this particular election year. The insiders are the ones who created the mess in Washington, D.C., so boasting of having twenty years as a government insider "don't impress me much" as Shania Twain once sang.
But the man with a whole other skill set, rooted in private sector job creation and accustomed to making tough business decisions on a daily basis? Now you're talking! That's why John Raese is doing well this year and why he is likely to win on November 2nd: his business experience is just what the doctor ordered for this ailing economy and runaway government.
Plus, the man is everywhere, criss-crossing the state in a one-man show of respect for all of the political events, large and small, that he and his wife, Liz, can make. People like that kind of hands-on leadership from their statewide candidates. One gets the impression that, unlike so many of the U.S. Senators we've sent to D.C. John Raese would come back and check in with us frequently.