West Virginia Democrats have launched their attack on independent candidate Ed Rabel.
The Democrats called on former Congressional candidate Howard Swint to do the deed.
Swint, who lost his 2012 race to Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (R) by 70 percent to 30 percent, penned an opinion article in the Charleston Gazette over the weekend in which he argues, in effect, that a vote for Rabel is a vote for the Republican Alex Mooney.
Rabel has called for a moratorium on mountaintop removal mining and hydraulic fracturing.
What is spooking the West Virginia Democratic establishment is a poll, conducted by Mooney’s campaign, showing Rabel with 10 percent of the vote, compared to the Democrat Nick Casey’s 29 percent and Mooney’s 39 percent.
“Environmentally conscious voters could well find themselves in the rarified air of deciding who’ll represent West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district,” Swint wrote.
“They can lodge a protest vote with a respectable good government candidate and almost ensure that his carpetbagger Republican opponent gets elected or look for what may be precious little common ground on environmental issues and support the Democratic nominee.”
“With these voters squarely in the crosshairs the only other alternative rests with Casey building on this common ground — convincingly enough to win a seat in Congress.”
“Here’s hope that he does,” Swint wrote.
And so, who is Swint going to vote for?
Casey, right?
Wrong.
“I will vote for Ed Rabel because of his position advocating the abolition of mountaintop removal as there is no more important issue facing the voters in West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district,” Swint wrote in an e-mail last week.
Go figure.
Swint’s article drew harsh criticism on the web from Rabel supporters and mountaintop removal opponents.
“Rather than asking ‘environmentally conscious’ voters to hold their noses and accept the ‘precious little common ground on environmental issues’ that Mr. Casey has offered so far, how about if he wants our votes he has to pay attention to our priorities?” asked Patience Wait of Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
“Isn’t that how representative democracy is supposed to work?”
“And I say that as someone utterly opposed to Mr. Mooney and everything he stands for. But I am sick and tired of being told that I have to accept the lesser of two evils. I’ve listened to that rationale for years, yet somehow West Virginia’s woes keep piling up,” Wait said.
Frank Young of Ripley said Rabel’s campaign was “about more than environment — much more. It is about economic and social justice on many levels in West Virginia.”
“If Democrats want to win elections then they need to get back to a progressive, democratic political agenda,” Young wrote.
Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch said that it was is “insane to keep voting for the same crowd and expect different results.”
“If folks think that the deadly health impacts of mountaintop removal, sludge spills, and the ongoing Freedom poison drama are minor issues, then their priorities seriously need reexamining.”
“A vote for Rabel is not a wasted protest vote, but a vote for ‘not evil.’ Residents of West Virginia and nationwide oppose mountaintop removal 2 to 1. Casey would get more votes if he came out against it, but, sadly, he’ll continue to spout the company talking points until West Virginia is a toxic wasteland.”