I'm Being Sued Personally And So Is DownWithTyranny

I just got home from a couple of weeks in Southeast Asia on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning there's a rapping on my door. It's someone serving a 60 page summons. I have no time to read that but I skimmed enough of it to see that I'm one of dozens of people accused by Republican murderer Don Blankenship and that the charge is "weaponized defamation" and that he wants $12 billion dollars for destroying his Senate race. Presumably he was referring to these. Other defendants named included MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, the Daily Beast, both the NRCC and the DSCC, Dan Rather, Chris Hayes, Joy-Ann Reid, Breitbart News, Andrew Napolitano, the Associated Press, The Guardian, dozens of other people-- plus between 1 and 50 John and Jane Does. I think Mitch McConnell is being sued by him too. But not Trump; I wonder why not Trump, since it was Trump who caused Blankenship to lose the GOP primary. I have 21 days to respond.

This is what the Huntington Herald Dispatch published about the suit: "Former Massey Energy CEO and U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking at least $12 billion in damages from a variety of national news and political organizations, claiming they set out on a 'search and destroy' mission against his 2018 candidacy for the Senate. The lawsuit, filed in Mingo County Circuit Court, claimed the 'DC establishment swamp and the establishment media united ... to take out Mr. Blankenship' in his bid for election. He argued in the suit that repeated references about him in the media as a "convicted felon" as damaging his bid, even though he was not convicted of any felonies in relation to the Upper Big Branch mine explosion in Raleigh County in 2010 that killed 29 miners."

The lawsuit claims that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, instigated a clandestine campaign to damage Blankenship's candidacy and interfere in a federal election. He also accused McConnell of using his contacts in "the establishment media," Fox News in particular, to do McConnell's bidding.

Blankenship, who grew up in Mingo County and graduated from Matewan High School before entering Marshall University and graduating from there in 1972, was sentenced in 2016 for a misdemeanor conviction of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Upper Big Branch. He was acquitted of felonies that could have stretched his sentence to 30 years. He served a one-year prison term for the conviction.

In late 2017 he announced his Republican candidacy for the Senate position held by Democrat Joe Manchin, whom Blankenship has blamed for the charges against him.

Blankie spent $4,015,000 of his own money on the failed primary campaign. He did poorly:

• Patrick Morrisey- 47,571 (34.92%)
• Evan Jenkins- 39,888 (29.28%)
• Don Blankenship- 27,153 (19.93%)
• Tom Willis- 13,322 (9.78%)
• Bo Copley- 4,206 (3.09%)
• Jack Newbrough- 4,080 (3.0%)

Then he tried running on the Constitution Party. But the state's Court of Appeals, citing West Virginia's "sore loser" law, denied him ballot access.

What's this all have to do with me? Blankie is a total snowflake and he gets freaked out when anyone mentioned he served a year in prison and was responsible for killing 29 coal miners. He doesn't like people running videos like this:

Is Don Blankenship Going To Guarantee Joe Manchin Reelection In November?

Don Blankenship coulda been a contender. Despite having been in prison, he was on track to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate until Trump gave him the big thumbs down. By the May 8 primary he came in a distant third:

• Patrick Morrisey- 47,571 (34.92%)
• Evan Jenkins- 39,888 (29.28%)
• Don Blankenship- 27,153 (19.93%)
• Tom Willis- 13,322 (9.78%)
• Bo Copley- 4,206 (3.09%)
• Jack Newbrough- 4,080 (3.0%)

As of the primary Blankenship had put $4,015,000 of his own money into the campaign-- 99.88% of everything he used to finance his campaign. Only the GOP loser, Evan Jenkins spent more ($4,213,640). Now Blankenship says he's running as the Constitution Party. In fact, yesterday he submitted the necessary paperwork and 11,000 signatures at the Secretary of State’s Office. That saw office has announced they will challenge Blankenship's ability to run under West Virginia's "sore loser law." A sore lose is exactly what Blankenship is. He can't win-- but he could torpedo Patrick Morrissey's campaign. The funny thing about this is how Blankenship began this saga as a grudge match/revenge tour against Joe Manchin and Barack Obama only to turn it into a grudge match/revenge tour against Morrisey, McConnell and Trumpanzee.

In a news release under Constitution Party letterhead, party vice chairman Phil Hudok outlined the case for Blankenship’s right to ballot access.

Citing equal protection laws in both the state and U.S. Constitution, Hudok objected to the concept that Blankenship could run as a “sore loser” with a ballot-qualified party, but not with the Constitution Party.

“The fact that the ‘sore loser’ law applies only to an unsuccessful candidate seeking to run in the general as an independent or nominee of a non ballot-qualified party-- but not for a ballot-qualified party-- is facially unconstitutional,” Hudok said.

Around the state, at least two other candidates have successfully joined the general election ballot as Mountain Party candidates after losing in primary elections with other major parties.

Additionally, Hudok took up issue with changes the Legislature made to the “sore loser” law during the 2018 Legislative session and the timing those changes take effect. Gov. Jim Justice signed House Bill 4434 into law in March, and it took effect June 5. That bill explicitly delineated the “sore loser law,” which some legal experts were skeptical of prior to the changes.

Hudok said by the time the law took effect, the party had already named Blankenship to be its Senate nominee and had begun gathering signatures to get him on the ballot. Thus, he said, Blankenship’s bid should be considered under the laws before they were changed.

However, Steve Connolly, the deputy Secretary of State and general counsel for the administration, said the Office maintains the position that both West Virginia code and case law prevents Blankenship from running as a Constitution Party candidate after losing in the primary as a Republican.

He said Blankenship made a conscious decision to run as a Republican in a losing bid. Therefore, he said, there is no question or lack of ballot access for being denied “a second bite at the apple.”

As for the changes to the law, he said all statutes are considered active from when they are enacted unless specific text in the law marks otherwise.

The case is likely to wind up in court, and the state has retained Williams, of Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough LLP, as counsel. Given Morrisey has a vested interest in the election, his office began seeking outside counsel in May.

In an interview after he filed his election papers, Blankenship said he will appeal a denial if it occurs, likely in state court. He did not directly answer a question regarding whether he would make any special requests of the court, like a change of venue or judge, to ensure impartiality.

“I don’t think that judges anymore are impartial in any event,” he said. “The judges have proven in my case at least for the last 30 years that they’re not impartial, but we expect that this whole situation is so cut and dry that they won’t have any choice but to uphold the Constitution.”

When asked how he could win in a general election, Blankenship said external factors led to his loss. He blamed unfair treatment from the media, an unexpected move from President Donald Trump backing his opponents one day before the election, and an unfair justice system for his loss. He declined to accept any blame personally.

“No, I don’t know what more I could have done,” he said. “I was ahead in some polls by 10 points, 18 in others before the president came out the morning before the election, and there’s not much I could do in 24 hours.” Grant Herring, a spokesman for incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) signaled warmth to the notion of Blankenship in the race in an emailed statement.

“Senator Joe Manchin has always encouraged people to get involved and run an honest campaign,” he said.

In a statement in his own name emailed through a spokesman, Morrisey suggested the run is just a ruse, then turned it into a personal attack on Manchin, attempting to paint the moderate Democrat, who has voted with President Trump’s agenda about 60 percent of the time, as a “liberal” with a “record of supporting pro-abortion policies, gun control, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign against coal miners.”

Recent polling suggests a Blankenship run could be a boon for Manchin. According to a June poll from Monmouth University, Manchin leads Morrisey by 9 points with Blankenship in the picture, a lead that tapers down to 7 points if he doesn’t make it. However, Blankenship said he believes he could siphon enough votes from both Manchin and Morrisey to pull out a win.

Earlier today, West Virginia's Secretary of State, Mac Warner, turned down his bid to run, as expected. No doubt, Blankenship will see him in court.

Blankenship Wants Revenge Against Trumpanzee And Cocaine Mitch

A couple of weeks ago we looked at a logical question: Will Blankenship Get Revenge Against Cocaine Mitch And Señor Trumpanzee? Early this morning, Alex Isenstadt had the answer at Politico: Yup. Start by watching the hilarious Facebook ad above. Today Blankenship announced he is running in the general election as the nominee of the Constitution Party and it seems like his only goal is to take votes from the Republican nominee, Patrick Morrisey, handing reelection to conservative Democrat Joe Manchin, who could probably win without the help anyway. One problem Blankenship needs to face up to first: "[H]e would need to overcome a 'sore loser' law in West Virginia that prevents failed candidates in a main-party primary from refiling to run in the general election under another party’s banner." And that law could have had him or someone just like him in mind when it passed.

Blankenship said he’s prepared to challenge that law in court if needed. If he’s successful, his move that could hurt the GOP’s prospects of unseating Democratic incumbent Joe Manchin in November.

“It is especially appropriate for me to be nominated by the Constitution Party given its staunch and uncompromising commitment to upholding the United States Constitution,” Blankenship said.

Should he follow through on his threat, Blankenship, who spent a year behind bars following the 2010 explosion at his Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 29 workers, could play spoiler in the general election by drawing votes from the GOP nominee, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Since the primary, Blankenship has refused to endorse Morrisey, whom he says is incapable of defeating Manchin.

Under West Virginia law, minor party candidates have until Aug. 1 to file the necessary number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. Still, it is unclear whether Blankenship is eligible.

A guide book for 2018 candidates posted on the West Virginia secretary of state’s website states: “Candidates affiliated with a recognized political party who run for election in a primary election and who lose the nomination cannot change her or his voter registration to a minor party organization/unaffiliated candidate to take advantage of the later filing deadlines and have their name on the subsequent general election ballot.”

Blankenship, who spent millions out of his own pockets to fund his Senate campaign, hinted that he was ready for a legal fight.

“Although the establishment will likely begin their efforts against us by mounting a legal challenge to my candidacy, we are confident that-- if challenged-- our legal position will prevail, absent a politically motivated decision by the courts,” he said.

The coal baron also said that the establishment was “determined to keep me-- the most anti-establishment candidate in the nation-- out of the United States Senate,” and that “the press and the establishment have colluded and lied to convince the public that I am a moron, a bigot, and a felon.”

Since the primary, the Republican Party has moved to prevent Blankenship from waging a drawn-out battle that could damage Morrisey’s prospects. President Donald Trump, hoping to smooth over any residual hurt feelings, phoned Blankenship the day after the nomination was settled to congratulate him on his campaign.

Blankenship has said he believes the president played a key role in his defeat. On the day before the primary, Trump sent out a tweet pleading for West Virginia Republicans to reject Blankenship.

...A few days after the primary, his top political strategist, Greg Thomas, said on a radio program that Blankenship would work to defeat Morrisey. And Blankenship released an advertisement [above] in which he warned the Senate GOP leader, “It’s not over.” 

No doubt Miss McConnell is fucking sorry he ever poked the bear with this, the day after the primary. And no, that's not fairy dust all around him... it's Colombian cocaine from his father-in-law's smuggling operation:

Will Blankenship Get Revenge Against Cocaine Mitch And Señor Trumpanzee?

Mr. Charisma

His hilarious/outrageous ads about Mitch McConnell-- "swamp captain," "cocaine Mitch," "China family"-- helped turn Republican mass murderer and Senate candidate Don Blankenship into something of a folk anti-hero, not just in West Virginia but across the nation. And... much to the delight of Joe Manchin and the DSCC, Blankenship ain't goin' away. Hours after a letter to fake "president" Señor Trumpanzee accusing him of spreading fake news about him and a phone call from the fake president to the defeated Blankenship, Blankship offered another bombshell.

Blankenship attributed his loss to the president’s last-minute intervention in the contest, saying that it had halted his momentum.

“I think if there was any single factor based on the polling at different times, the debates, and all the things I saw, it was probably President Trump’s lack of endorsement-- I don’t know what to call it, but ‘Don’t vote for Don’ tweet,” he said. “I don’t know what else it would have been.”

In the final hours of the race, he said he was convinced that Trump had been pushed into the intervention by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had aggressively opposed Blankenship.

...Some in the party are concerned that the deep-pocketed Blankenship, who spent more than $2.5 million of his own funds in the primary, could wage an effort to damage Morrisey in the general election.

That's the bombshell. It looks like Trump's "let's all kiss and make up call didn't do any good. Reports are that Blankenship "is actively plotting how to undercut state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's Senate candidacy. Let's hope Trumpanzee is more successful in his talks with Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month.

Greg Thomas, an adviser and campaign manager for Blankenship, said on Thursday that Blankenship will not support his former rival and "all options are on the table" as Blankenship weighs how best to kneecap Morrisey's Senate campaign.

"Don Blankenship will not be supporting Patrick Morrisey for U.S. Senate," Thomas told West Virginia's "Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval." "I think the one thing he is going to make sure doesn't happen is that Patrick Morrisey does not become a U.S. Senator."

Pressed on why, Thomas appeared to point to Morrisey's New Jersey roots, saying "he's not going to sit back and let a corrupt carpetbagger highjack our party."

...Blankenship has deep pockets and, depending on the path he takes, could cause major headaches for Republicans heading into November.

Thomas didn't specify how Blankenship would ultimately try to influence the election, either by spending against Morrisey or backing a third-party candidate.

"Don Blankenship does not believe it should be Patrick Morrisey. He also does not believe it should be Joe Manchin," he said, adding that "we've only just begun."

A brand new poll of West Virginia voters, released this morning, has Morrisey leading Manchin by 2 points-- 46-44% (within the margin of error). So is Blankenship up to spending some significant money to tank Morrisey? This probably didn't help Blankenship's state of mind much:

Yesterday's Election Results

Mostly uninteresting run-of-the-mill candidates who will make no difference to anyone won their primaries, but not entirely. Let's start with some good news in North Carolina. Durham County has just over 310,000 people, one of North Carolina's most populous. Last night the county elected the first African-American in its history, Clarence Birkhead, who beat the racist incumbent , Mike Andrews. And he beat him in a landslide-- 69-31%. Birkhead vowed to not cooperate with ICE and to get guns off the streets. There were no statewide races. There were two Republican primaries which saw far right lunatics challenging more mainstream conservatives. In the 3rd district Walter Jones, Congress' most independent-minded Republican, fended off two opponents, Phil Law and Scott Dacey.

• Walter Jones- 20,862 (43.0%)
• Phil Law- 14,266 (29.4%)
• Scott Dacey- 13,380 (27.6%)

The other contest was in the 9th district, from south Charlotte, along the southern border of the state up into Fayetteville. This was another 3-way contest but this time the extremist defeated the incumbent.

• Mark Harris- 17,223 (48.5%)
• Robert Pittenger- 16,409 (46.2%)
• Clarence Goins- 1,862 (5.2%)

The DCCC has a worthless right-wing Blue Dog, Dan McCready, who won his primary against a low-profile Berniecrat, Christian Cano. As of the April 18 FEC reporting deadline, McCready had raised the most money of anyone from either party-- $1,905,269. He also has a $1,220,648 warchest now to face Harris, who has just $70,804 left. Interestingly, McCready's 37,823 votes were more than Pittenger, Harris and Goins combined!

Sadly Berniecrat Jenny Marshall, the only North Carolina candidate endorsed by Blue America lost out to a garden variety Democrat DD Adams 15,428 (54.4%) to 12,919 (45.6%). DD spent $127,795 to Jenny's $105,874. In Indiana the one Blue America candidate in that state also suffered a defeat. That was the 9th district, where a run-of-the-mill Democrat from Inside-the-Beltway beat Dan Canon 66.4% to 30.7%, having outraised him $585,706 to $433,401.

The big race in Indiana, though, was the Republican Senate primary. Two congressmen, both right-wing nuts, Todd Rokita, the more right-wing of the two, and Luke Messer, gave up their seats to run for the nomination. They both lost out to someone even more extreme-- a wealthy Trumpist businessman Mike Braun.

• Mike Braun- 207,977 (41.2%)
• Todd Rokita- 151,306 (30.0%)
• Luke Messer- 145,853 (28.9%)

Mike Pence's older brother, Greg, won the nomination in a 5-way race in a landslide (65.3%). There were no other surprises on either side of the aisle.

West Virginia was far more interesting. In the first Congressional District, the northern third of the state, 3 Democrats lined up to run against Republican incumbent David McKinley and progressive Kendra Fershee won.

• Kendra Fershee- 23,030 (47.3%)
• Ralph Baxter- 18,542 (38.1%)
• Tom Payne- 7,131 (14.6%)

And in the 3rd district, the southern third of the state, state Senator Richard Ojeda, had a huge victory, not just beating beating his 3 Democratic opponents combined, but beating the 4 top-running Republicans combined as well! Ojeda was the guy who supported Bernie in the 2016 primary and then switched to Trump in the general. Now he feels Trump let his voters down.

• Richard Ojeda- 29,837 (52.0%)
• Shirley Love- 14,251 (24.9%)
• Paul Davis- 9,063 (15.8%)
• Janice Hagerman- 4,176 (7.3%)

The biggest news in West Virginia though was how badly Don Blankenship wound up doing after surging all week. It was probably the anti-Blankenship tweet from Trump Tuesday morning that did him him. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the McConnell-preferred candidate who came in first.

• Patrick Morrisey- 47,571 (34.9%)
• Evan Jenkins- 38,888 (29.3%)
• Don Blankenship- 27,153 (19.9%)

It doesn't auger well for November that despite a surprisingly strong primary from Paula Jean Swearengin, who took 30.3% of the Democratic vote, the incumbent, Joe Manchin took 111,589 votes basically the same number of votes as Morrisey, Jenkins and Blankenship did together (111,612)! And that's in a state where Trumpanzee beat Hillary 489,371 (68.5%) to 188,794 (26.4%)!

That leaves Ohio, whose Democratic Party passed away, unnoticed many years ago. There were no interesting results on the federal level or in any statewide races, except for a decision to stop partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts. The other interesting race was for a state legislative seat. Remember Rachel Crooks? She was one of the women Trump molested. No one ran against her in the primary so she will be in the November general election.

In the gubernatorial race, Richard Cordray beat Dennis Kucinich 423,264 (62.3%) to 155,694 (22.9%). On the Republican side Mike DeWine beat Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor 494,766 (59.8%) to 332,273 (40.2%). And the Republican who will face Sherrod Brown in November will he multimillionaire Jim Renacci, who beat Mike Gibbons 360,474 (47.4%) to 241,109 (31.7%). There was not a single congressional race worth noting-- and there isn't likely to be in November either.

How Toxic Will Trump Be For The GOP In Tomorrow's Primaries?

Tomorrow is Tuesday... primary day in 4 important states: North Carolina, Indiana, West Virginia and Ohio-- each of which was carried by Señor Trumpanzee. If you think the GOP primary in West Virginia is crackpotsville... well, you're right, but almost sane compared to what's going on in Indiana. Last week we looked at the mess the Indiana senate primary has turned into. The Republicans in the battle there are charging each other with things like "Drunken driving, self-dealing and false advertising," while all 3 candidates-- Congressman Todd Rokita, Congressman Luke Messer and former state Rep. Mike Braun-- are "doing their best to portray themselves as the second coming" of... Señor Trumpanzee. If it comes down to who is the most Trump-like-- and it well may-- Braun should have the edge.

Over the weekend Bill Barrow surveyed the Trumpist landscape in all for states for A.P. The nomination fights are pulling the party to the right, leaving some leaders worried their candidates will be out of a step with the broader electorate in November. "GOP candidates are jockeying to be seen as the most conservative, the most anti-Washington and the most loyal to the president. It’s evidence of the onetime outsider’s deepening imprint on the Republican Party he commandeered less than two years ago."

In Indiana, Republicans will pick from among three Senate candidates who have spent much of the race praising Trump and bashing each other. In West Virginia, a former federal convict and coal baron has taken aim at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) with racially charged accusations of corruption.

In Ohio, Republicans are certain to nominate someone more conservative than outgoing GOP Gov. John Kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate, moderate and frequent Trump critic. Even Kasich’s former running mate, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, has pledged to unwind some of Kasich’s centrist policies, including the expansion of the Medicaid government insurance program following Democrats’ 2010 health insurance overhaul.

With Trump’s job approval hanging around 40 percent and the GOP-run Congress less than half that, the abandonment of the middle has some Republicans raising alarms.

“The far left and the far right always think they are going to dominate these elections,” said John Weaver, a Trump critic and top strategist to Kasich, who has been become a near-pariah in the primary to succeed him.

Weaver's reasoning has one little problem. There is no far left among Democratic politicians. The battles in the Democratic Party are between right-wing Democrats like Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ) on the one hand and mainstream slightly left of center Democrats on the other side. There are 5 Democrats with 100% Progressive Punch ratings this year: Jamie Raskin (MD), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Barbara Lee (CA), Karen Bass (CA) and John Lewis (GA). None are extremists; none are remotely "far left."

On the other hand, putative Democrat Conor Lamb (Blue Dog-PA), who the GOP just spent over a million dollars smearing as a far right lunatic has a ZERO rating, making him far to the right of most Republicans in the House. And he's a DCCC role model! There are 22 Republicans with zero scores-- and all of them really are far right (or pretending to be): Karen Handel (GA), Bradley Byrne (AL), Jackie Walorski (IN), Pete Sessions (TX), Devin Nunes (CA), Brett Guthrie (KY), Ken Calvert (CA), Sam Johnson (TX), Mac Thornberry (TX), Joe Wilson (SC), Kay Granger (TX), Steve Scalise (LA), Gregg Harper (MS), Steve Womack (AR), Dennis Ross (FL), Rick Crawford (AR), Duncan Hunter (CA), Austin Scott (GA), Trey Gowdy (SC), Gus Bilirakis (FL), Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ) and Lou Barletta (PA). And it isn't just their voting records; remember Joe Wilson? He's the one who screamed "You lie" while Obama was delivering the State of the Union. Can you imagine a Democrat doing something like that to Trump, even though every word out of his face is a lie? Lou Barletta is running for the U.S. as an open racist. And what can anyone say about Devin Nunes other than he's counting on Trump eventually pardoning him? OK, back to Barrow:

“You may think it’s wise in a primary to handcuff yourself to the president,” Weaver said. “But when the ship goes down, you may not be able to get the cuffs off.”

North Carolina Republicans will weigh in on the fate of Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger, facing a primary challenger who almost upset him two years ago. Pittenger features Trump prominently in his campaign. Challenger Mark Harris, a prominent Charlotte pastor, has tried to turn the table, saying Pittenger is a creature of Washington who refuses to help Trump “drain that swamp.”

Tough primaries certainly don’t have to be disastrous. They often gin up voter attention and engagement, and can signal strong turnout in the general election.

Dallas Woodhouse, who runs the North Carolina Republican Party, said candidates benefit because they must “make their arguments and voters become more aware of the election.”

Imagine if Pelosi, Lujan, Sena and Bresler ran the DCCC that way, instead of squelching primaries and doing all they can to crush progressives who run against their shit candidates from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. That hasn't been working out very well for crap DCCC recruits so far like Jay Hulings (TX-23), Alex Triantaphyllis (TX-07), Tim Gomes (NY-02), R.D Huffstetler (VA-05) or some of the others the DCCC fattened up on contributions only to see them fall by the wayside to grassroots candidates.

Few national Republicans look at West Virginia and see helpful enthusiasm.

The orange ape spoke up this morning

Former coal executive Don Blankenship has accused McConnell of creating jobs for “China people” and charges that the senator’s “China family” has given him millions of dollars. McConnell’s wife is Trump’s transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan.

Indiana Senate candidates are trying to appeal to Trump voters by adopting the president’s harsh immigration rhetoric and penchant for personal insults. The candidates have even channeled Trump by assigning derisive nicknames to one another: “Lyin’” Todd Rokita, Luke “Missing” Messer and “Tax Hike” Mike Braun.

In several of the Tuesday primaries, Democrats are watching with delight, and having less trouble aligning behind nominees. The chief beneficiaries would be Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, both sitting on healthy campaign accounts after avoiding their own primary fights.

The leading Democrat for the North Carolina seat, Marine veteran Dan McCready, has raised almost $2 million, slightly more than Harris and Pittenger combined, in a district Trump won by about 12 percentage points. “He will absolutely make this competitive,” Harris said.

In the Ohio governor’s race, liberal former Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former state Attorney General Richard Cordray have managed to avoid open warfare. Cordray, who also led the federal consumer watchdog agency launched under President Barack Obama, is the favorite.

Republicans watched their state party, led by pro-Trump leadership that replaced Kasich allies after the 2016 elections, endorse state Attorney General Mike Dewine, while Taylor has effectively shunned an earlier endorsement from Kasich.

“If Ohio Republicans are divided into Trump Republicans and Kasich Republicans, the Trump Republicans have won,” said the state Democratic chairman, David Pepper. “That helps us.”

Gallup measures Trump with an 89 percent job approval rating among Republicans nationally, but 35 percent among independents and 42 percent overall. Historically, presidents below 50 percent watch their party suffer steep losses in midterm elections.

Democrats must flip about two dozen Republican-held seats to reclaim a House majority, and they must do it with Republican-run legislatures having drawn many districts to the GOP’s advantage. In North Carolina, Harris said the makeup of the district, which stretches from Republican areas of metro Charlotte east through small towns and rural counties, makes his pro-Trump, anti-establishment message a primary and November winner.

Senate Democrats are just two seats shy of a majority, but must defend 26 incumbents, 10 in states where Trump won, including Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia. Republicans are defending nine seats, just one in a state Trump lost.

One nice thing that could pay off in the future: something like eight Kentucky counties are in the West Virginia media markets and they're hearing all this "swamp captain Mitch" and "cocaine Mitch" stuff on their TVs and radios all day and night. It seems to be working for Blankenship at the last minute. Last night Alex Isenstadt reported that West Virginia's establishment Democrats are worrying that Blankenship's candidacy is experiencing a sudden last minute surge. Two weeks ago Blankenship was in third place but after a week of attacking McConnell and Jenkins, he's in first place and Jenkins is disappearing as a contender. People seem to like the anti-McConnell approach. Private polling show him back in first place and "many are convinced that a Blankenship win, coming just months after the disastrous Alabama Senate race, would destroy the party’s prospects of defeating Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November."

Trumpanzee Jr. tweeted a plea to "the people of West Virginia to make a wise decision and reject Blankenship. No more fumbles like Alabama. We need to win in November."

Particularly concerning to Republicans is Blankenship’s TV spending. Over the final six days of the race, the self-funding coal baron is set to spend over $640,000 on commercials, according to media buying totals-- more than Jenkins and Morrisey combined. Blankenship has spent over $2.5 million on TV ads in total, far more than his rivals.

What is also distressing, senior Republicans say, is that Jenkins and Morrisey spent nearly all of the campaign savaging each other. Further complicating matters is that a Democratic super PAC, Duty and Country, has invested $1.8 million targeting Jenkins in an effort to keep him from winning the GOP primary, convinced that he would pose a formidable challenge to Manchin.

The bloodbath may ultimately be to the benefit of Blankenship, who has faced far fewer incoming attacks.

Andy Seré, a Jenkins strategist, argued that Morrisey’s attacks against Jenkins “have helped Blankenship,” and that with his last-minute attacks against Blankenship, “Morrisey is scrambling to fix the mess he and his enablers made.”

“But West Virginians see through it,” Seré added. “We are confident the Schumer-Morrisey alliance will fail and Evan Jenkins will prevail."

Happiest man in West Virginia has got to be Joe Manchin. In fact, didn't some notoriously right-of-center anti-gay MSNBC hostess endorse him for president in the last few days? More good news for Manchin. Blankenship is threatening to run as an independent if he doesn't win the GOP primary tomorrow. Blankie: " have not ruled out anything. I’ve said that I cannot let him win because of the opioid connection and Planned Parenthood connection." Manchin should build a cathedral to thank God.

West Virginia's Senate Race: A Big Ugly Mess... Centered Around "Cocaine Mitch" McConnell

In his latest ad, West Virginia Republican Don Blankenship strike back at Mitch McConnell by refersring to himl as "cocaine Mitch"-- as in "Ditch Cocaine Mitch." Catchy. The primary is next Tuesday and McConnell is spending millions to make sure Blankenship loses. And it's working. Blankenship's polling has gone down from 1st to 3rd since McConnell's ad campaign went into full swing. Blankenship was formerly referring to McConnell as "a swamp captain," so this is a decision to get more aggressive with the very disliked head of the DC establishment Republicans.

McConnell controls a shady SuperPAC-- the Mountain Families PAC-- which is spending money in the primary to destroy Blankenship with TV ads reminding voters that he is a "convicted criminal," who lived a lavish lifestyle while ignoring mine safety laws. "Don Blankenship," one ad concludes, "was about the money. "West Virginia families paid the price." A million dollars in vicious ads like this have tanked Blankenship's campaign and made it a lot easier for popular conservative Democrat Joe Manchin to keep his seat.

The name-calling is intense. One of McConnell's former staffers, Josh Holmes, long rumored to be a McConnell lover, accused Blankenship of being "mentally ill" and Blankenship himself asserting that McConnell is in thrall to China, due to his Chinese father-in-law's shipping company, Foremost Maritime Corporation, which has financed McConnell's career and personal wealth. In fact, it was on one of the family ships, the Ping May, that the 90 pounds of cocaine was found-- being smuggled from Colombia to Holland. Recent polling has shown that McConnell is the most hated and toxic politician in America.

A decade before McConnell, a notorious closet queen, "married" Elaine Chao (a beard), her criminal father, James Chao, started donating to/bribing McConnell. In 2014, Lee Fang, in a report for for The Nation explains how McConnell benefitted from his relationship with his father-in-law (the cocaine smuggler).

The Republican Senate minority leader’s personal wealth grew seven-fold over the last ten years thanks in large part to a gift given to him and his wife in 2008 from James Chao worth between $5 million and $25 million (Senate ethics forms require personal finance disclosures in ranges of amounts, rather than specific figures). The gift helped the McConnells after their stock portfolio dipped in the wake of the financial crisis that year, and ensured they could pay off more than $100,000 in mortgage debt on their Washington home.

The generous gift made McConnell one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, with a net worth averaging around $22.8 million, according to The Washington Post’s review of his financial disclosures.

Following the gift, McConnell sent a letter of congratulations to an auditorium of Chinese officials in Shanghai who were gathered for an event honoring James Chao’s wife (McConnell’s mother-in-law, Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, who passed away in 2007). The Shanghai Mulan Education Foundation, created in her honor, regularly hosts students from the University of Louisville, where McConnell has a leadership academy bearing his name that sends students on trips to China.

The ties between McConnell and his in-laws have come under scrutiny before. In 2001, they were probed in depth by the New Republic in an article that charged that McConnell led an effort to soften his party’s criticism of China. Through James Chao, who was a classmate of Jiang Zemin, the president of China in the ’90s, McConnell and his wife met with Jiang several times, both in Beijing and in Washington. McConnell subsequently tempered his criticism of Chinese human rights abuses, and broke with hawks like Senator Jesse Helms to support Most Favored Nation trading status with China. As Foremost established closer ties with mainland China, McConnell endorsed the position that the United States should remain “ambiguous” about coming to the defense of Taiwan. In 1999, McConnell and his wife appeared at the University of Louisville with Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing. Li used the opportunity to bash congressional leaders for rebuking China over its repression of the Falun Gong religious sect. “Any responsible government will not foster evil propensities of cults by being over-lenient,” Li reportedly said at the event with McConnell and Chao. Rather than distance himself from the remarks, McConnell reportedly spoke about his “good working relationship” with Li.

...McConnell has positioned himself over the years as a tough on drugs politician. In 1996, McConnell was the sole sponsor of the Enhanced Marijuana Penalties Act, a bill to increase the mandatory minimum sentencing for those caught with certain amounts of marijuana. A press release noted that his bill would make “penalties for selling marijuana comparable to those for selling heroin and cocaine.”

In recent weeks, McConnell has touted his role in calling for more federal money to be used for drug enforcement.

Blankenship, whose own fiancée is from China, has been on the campaign trail telling West Virginia Republican voters that McConnell "has a lot of connections in China" and that his wife, now Trump's Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, is "from China, so we have to be really concerned that we are in truth" when it comes to putting America’s interests first. Meanwhile, McConnell's former lover, Holmes, noted that Blankenship had used a "racial blast" against the Taiwan-born Chao, whom he described as "the dictionary definition of the American dream... The one consistency we've seen over the last decade is that the death rattle of a primary candidate is always a tendency to attack other Republicans because they know reporters will report it. At this point what's clear is that voters are writing him off and so he knows that by attacking McConnell he'll get attention."

McConnell knows Manchin will easily defeat Blankenship, which is why he's doing all he can to make sure he loses next week's primary. As of the April 18th FEC reporting deadline Blankenship had raised $3,517,000, as much as the 2 generic GOP establishment candidates, Patrick Morrisey and Evan Jenkins combined. 99.94% of what Blankenship has "raised" ($3,515,000) came from his own bank account. McConnell's Mountain Familes PAC has spent $1,328,456 attacking Blankenship and McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund has kicked in another hundred grand. Meanwhile Schumer got into the act by spending $1,833,351 to help Blankenship, persuaded that he will be the easiest Republican for Manchin to beat. Sounds like a vile mess? Of one thing there is no doubt: the winner of the West Virginia Senate race in November will be a conservative who puts special interests ahead of working families' interests. The game may be expensive-- but it is definitely rigged.

What Do Desperate Republican Primary Candidates Do When They Get REALLY Desperate? West Virginia, Mountain Mama

New polling for West Virginia's Republican primary-- which in May 8th-- is making felon and far right crackpot Don Blankenship desperate. He's been leading establishment candidates Congressman Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey-- and now he isn't. Fox shows both considerably ahead of him now. In a state where Trump had an 87% approval rating among Republican primary voters, Blankenship, the candidate most like him, is coming in a distant third.

So how's he responding? He's on the attack-- against Mitch McConnell, who has been leading establishment attacks against him. But blankenship has now gone beyond just reminding West Virginia GOP voters that "McConnell should not be in the U.S. Senate, let alone be the Republican Majority Leader. He is a Swamp captain. The Russians and McConnell should both stop interfering with elections outside their jurisdictions." Now he's attacking McConnell's personal life.

He hasn't mentioned that McConnell is a closet case, used to pick up young men in Louisville's "pickle park" and that his marriage to Elaine Chao is a farce. But that may come next. Right now he's just talking about the marriage from another perspective, one's we've been pointing out for over a decade-- that the marriage has helped make McConnell wealthy because of China trade

On Monday, Blankenship told a West Virginia radio show on 106.3 FM, that McConnell has a conflict of interest because his father-in-law is a "wealthy Chinaperson." His "wife" was Secretary of Labor under Bush and Trumpanzee appointed her Transportation Secretary. The New York Times exposed Blankenship as not even living in West Virginia any longer (but near Las Vegas) and that he himself had once mulled Chinese citizenship for himself because he admires authoritarian governance.

He didn't bring up the rumors that McConnell is a closet queen, but only said that he has "an issue when the father-in-law is a wealthy Chinaperson"-- Chao’s father owning a shipping company in China-- and that "there’s a lot of connections to some of the brass, if you will, in China."

The Times noted that Blankenship’s own fiancée, Farrah Meiling Hobbs, was born in China and moved to the U.S. in 1996, tand that she's a "former Chinese professional basketball player and part-time model." While he was criticizing McConnell for being "soft on China" and demanding that McConnell and other senators need to be "more transparent," about their business ties, Blankenship is the only candidate in the West Virginia race who is refusing to disclose his personal finances-- required by state law-- claiming that the penalties are so light that he has no incentive to do so. Last week he said "I don’t personally think anybody should have to disclose private information," quite different from what he now saying about McConnell

Josh Holmes was Miss McConnell's campaign manager and later his chief of "staff." Here's a recent tweet he put out about Blankenship in regard to his fears about Blankenship exposing the close relationship and a McConnell have always enjoyed:

Which Party Hates Its Own Grassroots More?

McConnell salutes West Virginia grassroots Republican voters

Third party Super PACs spent $7,343,577 tearing apart Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race. $6,552,448 of that came from Mitch McConnelll's Senate Leadership PAC. McConnell had so sullied Moore's reputation that when he won the primary against the establishment candidate, he couldn't win the general election. Despite Alabama's statewide PVI of R+14 and despite Trump having crushed Hillary in the state 1,318,255 (62.1%) to 729,547 (34.4%), Democrat Doug Jones still beat him 673,896 (50.0%) to 651,972 (48.3%)on December 12, 2017. Moore could not overcome all the negativity from fellow Republicans.

But it isn't just the corrupt Republican establishment waging this kind of warfare against its own Outside-the-Beltway grassroots. The Democrats do the exact something. The DCCC attacks on Laura Moser in Texas and Levi Tillemann in Colorado are examples of the same kind of ugliness. The DCCC would rather lose to a Republican than win with a progressive.

And now Alex Isenstadt reported in Politico over the weekend that Miss McConnell is up to his tricks again, this time in West Virginia. Watch:

The Republican establishment has launched an emergency intervention in the West Virginia Senate primary aimed at stopping recently imprisoned coal baron Don Blankenship from winning the party’s nomination.

Late last week, a newly formed super PAC generically dubbed the “Mountain Families PAC” began airing TV ads targeting Blankenship, who spent one year behind bars following a deadly 2010 explosion at his Upper Big Branch Mine. The national party isn’t promoting its role in the group, but its fingerprints are all over it.

The 30-second commercials, which the group is spending nearly $700,000 to air, accuse Blankenship’s company of contaminating drinking water by pumping “toxic coal slurry,” even as the multimillionaire installed a piping system that pumped clean water to his mansion.

“Isn’t there enough toxic sludge in Washington?” the narrator intones.

The assault comes amid rising fears from national Republicans that Blankenship is gaining traction ahead of the May 8 primary. The Republican hopeful has spent his own money to fund a $1.3 million TV ad blitz in which he portrays himself as the casualty of an Obama-era Justice Department bent on locking him up. He has far outspent his primary opponents, Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, whom he castigates as pawns of the GOP establishment.

Washington Republicans have spent weeks deliberating whether to go after Blankenship, who was released from prison in May after a one-year sentence. They’re worried that he would destroy the party’s chances of defeating Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November.

At the same time, they’ve been concerned that attacking him would allow Blankenship to portray himself in the race as the embattled adversary of powerful D.C. interests. The scenario is similar to the one that played out in last year’s Alabama Senate race, when the party spent millions of dollars in an unsuccessful effort to stop former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore from winning the GOP nomination.

The national party, perhaps worried about Alabama-style backlash, is not taking credit for the attack or for Mountain Families PAC. But the connections are conspicuous.

According to federal disclosures, the commercials were overseen by several firms that in the past have worked closely with Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that openly led the assault on Moore. They were produced by GOP ad-making firm McCarthy, Hennings, Whalen and were placed on TV by the media buyer Main Street Group, both of whom were paid thousands of dollars by Senate Leadership Fund during the 2016 election cycle.

Mountain Families PAC has also paid nearly $48,000 to Targeted Victory, a suburban Washington-based GOP consulting firm, for web ads targeting Blankenship. During the 2016 cycle, the firm received over $1.5 million from Senate Leadership Fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Representatives for Senate Leadership Fund did not respond to requests for comment, or to inquiries about whether it had a role in orchestrating the attack.

The ties between Mountain Families PAC and the national party do not end there. The super PAC lists an Arlington, Virginia, P.O. box that’s previously been used by a number of GOP entities. Among them: a fundraising account benefiting former Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who was the party favorite in last year’s Alabama contest.

The treasurer for Mountain Families PAC, Benjamin Ottenhoff, did not respond to a request for comment. Ottenhoff has previously worked for several party organizations, including the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The ads represent the GOP’s most aggressive action yet against Blankenship. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump flew to West Virginia to hold an ostensibly official event to tout his tax reform package. He was flanked by Jenkins and Morrisey-- a clear attempt to promote their candidacies. Blankenship was not there. Blankenship did not respond to a request for comment. But last month he issued a statement saying he was well aware of the possibility that party leadership could target him.

“There has been an awful lot of talk lately about who the Washington, D.C., establishment and Mitch McConnell, in particular, are supporting in West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race. Let me be clear, I don't care who they are supporting,” he said. “I know that it is not me, because we recognize that those defending the swamp do not want Republican senators who want to drain the swamp.”

In a follow up yesterday evening, Isenstadt reported on Blankenship's response to the news of McConnell's full frontal attack on his campaign. He's demanding that McConnell "stop interfering." Many Democratic candidates could use the same terminology to describe Chuck Schumer, Steny Hoyer, Ben Ray Lujan, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Crowley: "McConnell should not be in the U.S. Senate, let alone be the Republican Majority Leader. He is a Swamp captain. The Russians and McConnell should both stop interfering with elections outside their jurisdictions."

Republicans Have Another Candidate Problem... This One In West Virginia

The Republican Party attracts bizarre crackpots and because of the nature of the GOP support system, sometimes those bizarre crackpots wind up as officials party nominees. Last night we saw the Illinois Republican Party mortified as Nazi Party leader Arthur Jones win their nomination in a Chicagoland district. And whether it's Arthur Jones, Roy Moore (AL), Sharron Angle (NV), Rich Iott (OH), Christine O'Donnell (DE), Todd Akin (MO), Richard Mourdock (IN)... there is always a chance the Republicans will wind up with a candidate so horrifying that a Democrat can win in even the reddest of constituencies. And now the Democrats have Trump in every constituency. That might not work in West Virginia, though. West Virginia is the Trumpiest state in the union. The PVI is R+19 and Trump beat Hillary there 489,371 (68.5%) to 188,794 (26.4%). Keep in mind though, that Bernie had also crushed Hillary in West Virginia in the primary-- 51.4% to 35.8%. In fact, in some key counties, Bernie not only beat Hillary, he also beat Trump! Here's just a dozen examples:

• Boone Co-- Bernie- 2,410; Trump- 1,388
• Braxton Co-- Bernie- 1,321; Trump- 861
• Brooke Co-- Bernie- 1,966; Trump- 1,963
• Fayette Co-- Bernie-3,585; Trump- 2,683
• Lincoln Co-- Bernie- 1,510; Trump- 1,193
• Logan Co-- Bernie- 3,201; Trump- 1,665
• Marion Co-- Bernie- 5,324; Trump- 4,035
• McDowell Co-- Bernie- 1,453; Trump- 760
• Mingo Co-- Bernie- 2,425; Trump- 1,161
• Monongalia Co-- Bernie- 8,096; Trump- 5,971
• Wetzel Co-- Bernie- 1,744; Trump- 1,096

Yesterday, Alex Isenstadt reported on another Republican potential disaster in West Virginia, the heart of Trumpville. Ex-con Don Blankenship wants to Make West Virginia Great Again. As of the December 31 FEC reporting deadline Blankenship had written his Senate campaign a $400,000 personal check-- it's over a million in self-funding now... and there's plenty more where that came from. "With Blankenship skyrocketing in the West Virginia Republican Senate primary and blanketing the airwaves with ads assailing his fractured field of rivals as career politicians," wrote Isenstadt, "senior party officials are wrestling with how, or even whether, to intervene. Many of them are convinced that Blankenship, who served a one-year sentence after the deadly 2010 explosion at his Upper Big Branch Mine, would be a surefire loser against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin-- and potentially become a national stain for the party."

The discussions have intensified over the past few weeks. During separate meetings with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, aides to Blankenship’s two primary opponents, Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, pointed to Blankenship’s traction and questioned what could be done to stop him. The Senate GOP campaign arm, which heard out the appeals, recently commissioned a survey to gauge the coal king’s electoral strength and determine his staying power in the race.

Those familiar with the party’s deliberations say the results are clear: With a little more than a month until the May 8 primary, Blankenship, a towering figure in West Virginia politics long before this campaign and an avid opponent of unions, has vaulted into essentially a three-way tie with his rivals and is positioned to move ahead.

The talks underscore the intense pressure Republicans are under in the era of Trump, as they struggle to control insurgent figures with large grass-roots conservative followings. While some senior Republicans are anxious to block Blankenship, others believe that such a move could backfire and turn him into a martyr-- much as it did when the national GOP dropped millions of dollars in an unsuccessful attempt to take down Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore in a Republican primary. [And much like the DCCC stumbled into be attacking Laura Moser in Texas.]

Like Moore, Blankenship is an entrenched, anti-establishment figure running in a conservative state. In an interview with Politico, the 68-year-old Blankenship dared the party to come after him.

“I think it would get me votes if they did,” he said. “I think the Republicans in West Virginia are not really happy with the Republicans in the Senate and the House in general.”

Further deepening the tensions is a long-simmering distrust between Blankenship and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), another powerful Appalachian Republican. Blankenship has spoken with McConnell over the years and said he never found him sufficiently supportive of the coal industry. McConnell, for his part, was recently quoted as saying he did not want Blankenship to win the nomination.

National Republicans have been struck by the potency of Blankenship’s campaign. Earlier this year, Blankenship and his longtime political strategist, Greg Thomas, traveled to Washington to meet with the White House political affairs office. During the meeting, Blankenship described his battles with Manchin and outlined how he’d used his deep pockets to fund Republican campaigns in a state that until the past decade had been dominated by Democrats.

White House officials, who’ve also met with Jenkins and Morrisey, came away thinking that Blankenship was for real.

Blankenship’s rise has been driven in part by his self-financed TV ads. Since launching his campaign in late November, Blankenship has spent over $1.1 million on roughly a dozen commercials, according to media buying totals, far surpassing his opponents. Morrisey has so far spent nothing on TV ads and Jenkins only about $38,000.

Blankenship has used the ads to paint his rivals as insufficiently conservative, blasting Jenkins over his positions on Obamacare and climate change and Morrisey on abortion. He’s positioned himself as an unshakable ally of President Donald Trump, who received 68 percent of the vote in the state.

Yet he has also undertaken an effort to clear his name.

The spots have accused the Obama administration and Manchin-- who was governor at the time of the mine disaster and has said Blankenship has “blood on his hands”-- of conspiring to imprison him. He has also featured testimonials from his daughter, Jennifer, who’s described her father as a soft-hearted family man and provider for West Virginians.'

Even before he entered the race late last year, Blankenship was a familiar face on West Virginia TV sets. After being released from prison in 2017, he invested around $600,000 on a slate of commercials aimed at redeeming himself.

“He’s running ads, he has money. He’s not a wallflower,” said Hoppy Kercheval, an influential radio show host in the state. “He’s a puncher and a counterpuncher.”

“He’s the guy that’s on the move. He’s the guy that’s gaining traction in this wide open race,” Kercheval added. “I think it has this everyman appeal in West Virginia.”

Yet Blankenship’s appeal, many believe, runs deeper. During the 2000s, he spent heavily out of his own pocket to buttress the GOP at a time when it was weak in the state, earning him goodwill with many in the party. And while many blamed him for the 2010 explosion, which killed 29 miners, others in the coal-dependent state came to see Blankenship as a pivotal economic force through his leadership of Massey Energy.

Blankenship’s allies insist that any comparison to Moore is unfair, and argue that he’ll be a viable nominee in November. Unlike Moore, in Alabama, they say, Blankenship has established a substantial campaign apparatus and surrounded himself with seasoned advisers who’ve worked with him over the years, including Thomas. His ability to self-fund makes him a serious threat to Manchin, they contend.

National GOP officials say they’ve made no decision on whether to weigh in against Blankenship, though several said they expected the Senate committee to create a menu of options. But they contend that any possible option poses serious risks. The GOP, which wants to remain neutral in the primary, is reluctant to endorse either Jenkins or Morrisey. And advertising against Blankenship directly risks a serious backlash. Some simply want to leave it up to Jenkins and Morrisey to take him on.

Blankenship acknowledged the possibility that the national party could intervene against him. But he argued that it shouldn’t.

“Fundamentally, I support the Republican Party. I have supported them for years,” he said. “I certainly think they should embrace me because I’ve been a Republican in West Virginia long before it was cool to be a Republican in West Virginia.”

“They shouldn’t be afraid of me being up there,” he added.

Blankenship ads are really negative. Democratic voters hate negative ads in primaries; Republicans totally love them. Blankenship would like to make West Virginia Republican voters think he's running against Obama. Listen to this crackpot-- and false-- radio ad his campaign started running last week. And this is the TV ad he's running against Congressman Even Jenkins, the Republican (slight) front-runner: