The only party in worse shape the West Virginia Democratic Party is the West Virginia GOP.
After the GOP's shameful behavior in the 2004 race, the infighting couldn't happen to a more deserving party.
However, the GOP met to try to put an end to some of the infighting that has been going on at the state level due to complaints about Monty Warner's gubernatorial bid.
(with poll).
From Friday's
West Virginia State Journal:
The party's executive committee convened in Flatwoods Jan. 8 for what was supposed to be a vote of "no confidence" in party chairman Kris Warner, brother of Republican gubernatorial nominee Monty Warner. But instead of a no-confidence vote, the committee had no vote and simply adjourned.
In the weeks following Monty Warner's Nov. 2 loss, brother Kris was under intense media scrutiny for his abrupt firing of the party's executive director and key staff members along with accusations of campaign finance mismanagement.
A "no confidence" vote was expected to prompt Kris Warner's resignation because party bylaws do not include a mechanism for removing a sitting chairman from office. But the 140-member executive committee members left Jan. 8 without a vote, leaving many political observers confused, speculating about what possibly could have changed the committee's mind about the "no confidence" vote.
Among Republican legislators, however, the response was more about closing ranks than continuing the infighting and backbiting.
"I felt we really needed to step back and ratchet down the rhetoric," said Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha. "This was a great election for our party. ... I didn't like seeing the negative and vitriolic comments."
Convincing Warner to resign without having his replacement selected was not a wise course of action, he said.
"We've made some unbelievable progress with this last election. We're only five seats away from a Republican majority in the Senate," Sprouse continued. "We need to focus on 2006. There was too much anger, too much fighting."
As the story points out, the West Virginia GOP is left with $95,000 of debt after the election.
Now, if I was a member of the party faithful, I'd be disappointed that the state party leaders ignored the woeful financial mismanagement of the state party chairman, who overspent to help out his brother's race at the expense of other races across the state.
But the shameful mismanagement of the party faithful's hard earned donations apparently was unimportant to the party's leaders.
From the Charleston Gazette (free subscription required):
But West Virginia's highest ranking Republican, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., warned party members not to forget their recent victories.
"The West Virginia GOP had a very successful 2004 and that is something that should not be overlooked," Capito said. "As a result of the hard work of a lot of people, George W. Bush is still our president, I am still in Congress and Brent Benjamin and Betty Ireland found success statewide along with gains in the state Legislature.
"We need to start planning how to build on our success for 2006."
Sprouse said a majority of GOP state senators seem undecided about Warner's fate. "I think there are several members of our caucus that are very opposed to Kris Warner," Sprouse said.
Here's some background:
Trouble for Warner seemed to begin when his brother Monty announced his gubernatorial run. Several other Republicans in the race felt Kris Warner should have stepped aside and instead used the party apparatus to aid in his brother's narrow victory.
Some committee members have noted that the "Status Quo Joe" signs distributed by Monty Warner's campaign had a disclaimer saying they were paid for by the state GOP, without executive committee authorization. The party is in debt to the tune of at least $80,000, and that also was not authorized by the executive committee.
But a controversy over signs that linked Monty Warner to President Bush may have been what caused many to give up on Warner.
The Bush campaign sent a "cease and desist" order to the Warner gubernatorial campaign, demanding the signs not be distributed. The campaign then continued to place them on roadsides, with Democrats distributing a picture of Monty Warner's vehicle stuffed full of the signs.
And, the method used to pay for those signs has also become drawn into the controversy. At least two former members of Monty Warner's campaign have described how Kris Warner, another Warner brother and their father allegedly paid a federal political action committee to produce them. It is illegal to coordinate a campaign with an independent PAC.
Charles Bolen, president of the state Young Republicans, has called for a Federal Election Commission investigation into how the signs were paid for and produced.
A number of women and Young Republicans also have a beef with Kris Warner for leasing out a portion of the party's South Charleston headquarters to a private group. When purchased, the headquarters was supposed to provide space for Republican women and the Young Republicans.
After the election, several leading Republicans approached Kris Warner about stepping aside. He refused and instead fired Gary Abernathy, the party's executive director.
