Hechler Continues Romp Around Democratic Special Election Primary
By Huntingtonnews.net Staff
What started off to many as a joke has turned into a galvanization of the
Democratic Party's labor and environmental left in West Virginia. Ken
Hechler, 95, self-proclaimed friend of the little guy and former Congressman
and Secretary of State, is proving that age is no disqualification for high office
in West Virginia.
"He simply just hit a home run with our audience," said Craig Hammond, former Mayor of Bluefield and the host of that city's popular talk radio show, "Radioactive" on WHIS-AM. Hechler was a guest on the show earlier this week.
"Ken has always been a good interview, but obviously you wonder when you have a nonagenarian on your show just how it's going to go," said Hammond. "But Ken had the same fire and intelligence as he always has, and the response has been electric down here. People admire his effort for his cause."
Clearly, part of Hechler's appeal in this Democratic Special Election Primary is just the raw curiosity of people watching such an elderly man stomp around the state in his trademark red Jeep--again. Hechler has been out of office since 2001, though he ran for his Secretary of State's position again in 2004, getting beaten by Republican Betty Ireland. Otherwise, he's been active giving lectures about his days serving President Harry Truman. But few expected him to run again--for anything, let alone U.S. Senate.
"What you've got here is a safe place for people to register their discontent with Joe Manchin," said Putnam County political consultant Jack Ellis. "Most Democrats like Hechler's independent streak and can justify voting for him since they assume that he's not going to win anyway. However, by voting for Hechler, they can tell Manchin that he'd better not take the traditional labor wing of his party for granted any longer. So Hechler is giving them a free shot to tell off Manchin."
But why are so many Democrats upset with Manchin these days?
"A lot of the base of the Democratic Party in West Virginia feel that Manchin isn't really one of them, that he's let them down on a lot of key issues," said Ellis. "Ken Hechler is the perfect receptacle for that discontent, and the more votes he gets on August 28th, the louder the point will be made to Manchin. Frankly, I haven't seen the traditional Democratic base this juiced since Charlotte Pritt won the nomination for Governor over Manchin in 1996."
Political observers note the difficulty in estimating just what each party's turnout will be for the Special Election Primary that is less than two weeks away. However, primary elections generally attract far less than half of the numbers that a general election does, particularly in off-Presidential Election years. Moreover, the fewer the number of races on the ballot, the less voters turn out.
The Primary Special Election ballot only has one race on it, the race for Senator Byrd's unexpired term in the U.S. Senate.
"This is a fascinating race to watch for one main reason: after five so-so years as Governor, Joe Manchin may not have as many hardcore volunteers helping him as Ken Hechler will have if Hechler can get the Pritt Democrats squarely behind him," said Ellis. "You have to believe that a lot of them would like to conk Manchin one last time, just as they did in 1996. Conceivably, Hechler could come in with 40% of the vote if it's a low turnout, as expected. That would be a crippling embarassment for the Governor."
Stay tuned. The tradition of West Virginia politics being unpredictable continues.