Crooked West Virginia Crackpot And Billionaire Jim Justice Comes Out Of The Closet

Last year we warned DC and West Virginia Democrats not to trust crooked Trump-like billionaire Jim Justice when he ran for governor as a Democrat. At the time we wrote that Justice was West Virginia's only billionaire and that he represents absolutely nothing remotely related to the Democratic Party-- not in terms of values, principles or even team identity. He was outspokenly anti-Obama and anti-Hillary and bragged to the media that he' wouldn't vote for her. His campaign, was self-funded and-- in a state where Bernie won every single county in the primary and beat Trump in many of them-- West Virginia Democrats were urged to support the local equivalent of Trump. Justice has generally contributed to Republicans and to Blue Dog Democrats who vote with the Republicans. He contributed to George W. Bush's campaigns, Joe Manchin's campaigns, to the West Virginia Republican Party and to the West Virginia Democratic Party. When I called the Democratic Governors Association-- the DCCC for gubernatorial races-- they refused to comment on the West Virginia gubernatorial race at all. Not even a chirp or a grunt. Nothing. I wonder what they'll have to say about about the stunt he pulled last night at Trump's rally in Huntington. (The idiots at the Democratic Governors Association wasted over a million dollars on Justice even though he's the richest man in the state and didn't need their money-- though others in other states certainly did.)

Justice, who was a registered Republican until 2015, has far more in common with Trump than with any Democrats or even any normal Republicans. In fact just before Señor Trumpanzee let the cat out of the bag yesterday, the West Virginia Republican Party had tweeted this:

Justice’s decision to change parties will further isolate Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and himself a former governor. Mr. Manchin has resisted the entreaties of Republicans to change parties and add to the two-seat Senate majority. Some Trump administration officials, eyeing Mr. Manchin’s seat, also had hoped to put him in the cabinet, but he has declined all overtures. Now he must stand for re-election in 2018 without the help of a friendly governor.

...In his first months as governor, Mr. Justice, a colorful and hulking figure who stands over six feet, seven inches, drew headlines beyond West Virginia’s border for bringing a plate of cow excrement into the state capitol to express his anger at a Republican-passed budget proposal.

“What we have is nothing more than bunch of political bull you-know-what,” Mr. Justice said, pulling the lid off a silver platter to reveal the scented prop atop a printed copy of the budget.

But the governor, who found his fortune with coal and now owns The Greenbrier resort, has also been dogged by some of the same financial issues that Republicans sought to use against him in last year’s campaign. The state tax department has filed four liens this year against of one of Mr. Justice’s companies, Tams Management Inc., citing nearly $1 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties related to his coal mines.

In West Virginia, Representative Evan Jenkins, one of the Republicans seeking Mr. Manchin’s Senate seat, said he would welcome the governor to his party.

“I simply couldn’t be a part of a liberal agenda that was so contrary to who we are and what we believe in West Virginia,” said Mr. Jenkins, who switched parties several years ago.

Shaking hands with constituents at a meet-and-greet at a hotel next to the stadium where Mr. Trump is scheduled to speak, Mr. Jenkins said he would understand if Mr. Justice felt the same way.

And that brings up the question, of course, of how many of the "ex"-Republicans, Blue Dogs and anti-Choice fanatics recruited and financed by Lujan and the DCCC will eventually flip to the Republican Party after being elected with Democratic money. If you like that concept please contribute to the DCCC since virtually all the money they collect, other than what lines the pockets of their special consultants, goes to electing conservatives.