West Virginia Republicans Are Getting Behind a Candidate So Odious, Even Trump Wont Go Near Him

[Demovictory9]

At the end of an hourlong event in West Virginia on Thursday, Donald Trump polled the crowd about whom they would like to see win next month’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. “Should we do a little test?” asked the president, who was flanked by the two establishment-approved candidates, state attorney general Patrick Morrisey and U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins. “Who’s voting for Patrick? Who’s voting for Evan?”

Noticeably absent from the stage was a third candidate for the GOP nomination, one with far more money and name recognition: Don Blankenship, the coal baron and ex-con who the Republican establishment fears will spoil their chances of defeating Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin this fall in a state Trump won by more than 40 percentage points in 2016.

When Blankenship jumped into the race last fall, many wondered whether his motivation was less about the Senate and more about rehabbing his image after spending a year in prison in connection with a 2010 explosion at one of his mines that killed 29 men. But only a month out from the May 8 primary, Blankenship has emerged as a top GOP contender in a race that could help decide control of the Senate.

***

But according to Blankenship, that disaster and his conviction are reasons to vote for him, as he’s merely an innocent victim of the liberal war on coal. After his conviction, he penned a 67-page manifesto declaring himself a “political prisoner” of the Obama administration. After his release, he paid for ads alleging that it was federal regulators who were really to blame for the blast. Fittingly, he compared the supposed cover-up to Benghazi. As Kevin Robillard pointed out in Politico magazine last week, it’s no wonder, then, that Blankenship has found a sympathetic audience among an increasingly conspiracy- and persecution-minded GOP base.



https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/don-blankenship-threatens-to-spoil-the-gop-senate-race-between-patrick-morrisey-and-evan-jenkins.html

[DFW]

1. Well, no wonder the Republicans prefer him as their candidate

A wealthy, reactionary crook. Why shouldn't they nominate him? He embodies their ideal.

[Mopar151]

9. A fucking criminal, to be precise.

Mine safety is no f'n joke - except for Don Blankenship, to whom it is an impediment to profits and his lordly right to kill miners.

[Scurrilous]

2. The GOP base loves to be lied to.

I guess they can't handle the truth.

[PaulX2]

3. Blankenship is a real murderer

I am sure as a republican that gives him a huge primary advantage.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. All Blankenship has to do is suggest cannibalizing

Muslims and he'll probably run away with the nomination, maybe even the election.

[Orange Free State]

5. I have tried to figure West Virginia out for years

and never could do so. They are the easiest voters in the country to lead by a ring through their nose, to go right into the booth and vote against their own best interests.
They vote for people who lie to them and rob them, and then go back and do it again.
Blankenshit takes pages out of the standard Republican playbook. Portray yourself as the victim of a liberal conspiracy, persuade voters that they are victims too, and that you are the ONLY one who can protect them.

There is nothing anyone can do with, by, for, or about West Virginia, and I have spent enough time there to know. Remember, this is where the government declared war on poverty and lost.

So how are all those new coal jobs working out?

[Archae]

10. A guy I know from Baltimore says this...

"There is stupid, and there is West Virginia stupid."

(I should talk, I live in Koch Brothers country, AKA Wisconsin...)

[Marthe48]

6. Senate candidate Not ok to molest girls

But it's ok to be PROVEN responsible for killing 29 miners and be a viable candidate?

I hope that WVs wake the hell up. And in a larger sense, the repk. They are running 4 convicted felons, and a nazi. Really.

[keithbvadu2]

7. Rick Perry will campaign for him.

[jmowreader]

8. You of course know why Trump won't associate with him

Blankenship is less crooked than Trump and better at making money. When Trump looks at Don Blankenship, he sees how bad his life has turned out.

But on a more serious note, anyone who would run for office on a "I killed 29 of your sons, husbands and fathers, and only got one year in prison for it. Vote for me!" platform has something seriously wrong with him.

[griloco]

11. It's Hillary's fault...

I'm sorry, what was the question?

[cstanleytech]

12. It could be he isn't giving Blankenship his kiss of death support

because he actually wants him to win.

[keithbvadu2]

13. Like Roy Moore, it's important that a republican win,,, despite no morals/integrity/honor.

[NewJeffCT]

14. Even though Manchin is way more conservative than I'd like

he is worlds better than Blankenship or the other Republicans in the race.

[wryter2000]

15. You can't make this shit up

First, a child molester. Now, a murderer.

[mountain grammy]

16. Vote for me..

I can pay half my workers to kill the other half, but if I'm a Republican, I can get them to do it for free.

I think many Americans just might have a gullibility problem.. understatement?