Just a short diary from me, but one I wanted to put up for fellow West Virginians (and those that love our wild and wonderful state) to see a story about our new governor they might have missed and have a thread to comment about our state politics.
The West Virginia State Journal, a nifty political and business tab out of Charleston, has a fairly soft front cover feature on Joe Manchin.
For those who don't know Joe (and I don't personally), he's the first gubernatorial candidate in the state to receive the endorsement of both unions and the state Chamber of Commerce. He won easily over Republican Buffy Warner, who is now in trouble with the state GOP because of spending of campaign funds (Bush/Cheney and Warner on the same yard signs, etc.)
The State Journal story doesn't go into Manchin's politics or plans. It's pretty much a get to know Joe type piece. Link
here to full story. One thing I found interesting was that although the story does not describe it as such, Manchin covered something Michael Moore recently wrote about and that's making sure your candidate has a narrative:
"Joe wanted to be governor when he was in college. His dad wanted him to be governor since he was born," said Nick Fantasia, longtime family friend and Fairmont mayor.
The bullet points of Manchin's life are well known thanks to television commercials and innumerable stump speeches during the past year. Manchin was born in the coal-mining town of Farmington to parents who were first generation Italian-Americans. He grew up working first in his grandfather's grocery store and then the family carpet and furniture stores. He dreamed of becoming a football player, and he played for West Virginia University until a knee injury ended his career. He went into the family business and got into politics about 12 years later. He then steadily climbed up through the state's political ranks.
But family and friends who know Manchin the best say he is so much more than those often-quoted biographical snippets. He is a real person with drive, a sense of humor and a strong devotion not only to his family but also to his state.
He is the man who as a boy took the inner tubes out of his grandfather's tires so he could sell rides in a local creek for a nickel. He's is the big brother who showed up at his younger sister Paula Llaneza's Sweet 16 party unannounced to dance with her. He is the man who taught his son how to both win and lose with dignity.
"He has always been someone I could look up to," said Llaneza, who lives in Fairmont and works with the governor-elect's son, Joe Manchin IV, at Enersystems, a natural resource and energy supply company. "He was always very protective of me. But that was the way we were raised you protect each other."
I heard Manchin speak at a Kerry-Edwards rally in Fairmont. I thought he did a terrific speech.
I don't agree with all of his positions, but I think he'll make a fine governor.
That idea of protection is at the root of everything Manchin does. It was ingrained in him and all of his siblings at a young age, just as it was ingrained in the minds of his parents when they were children.
"I think it's an immigrant thing," said Fantasia, whose father and Manchin's father were best friends. "You come across on the boat, get placed in a community where you know next to no one and go to work in the coal mines for pennies.
"There was no one to protect you but your family and neighbors. Everyone had to stick together. If you had too many peppers, you gave the extra to neighbors. If they had too many tomatoes, they gave the extras to you. It's how we all grew up."
When the town still had working mines, the family's grocery store would give food to miners if they were on strike, Llaneza said. The main medical facility in Farmington, the Manchin Clinic, is run by Manchin's brother John Manchin Jr. Fantasia said John and Joe's father wanted John to be a doctor, not to get rich but because the town needed a doctor.
"Whenever someone needed help, they were never afraid of helping out," Joe Manchin IV said. "Even now, (Joe III) has never closed a door on anyone, even when he disagrees with the person. He still tries to keep the door open."