The debates: candidates Morrisey and Manchin will meet twice

You may have already seen this but the first debate is October 14 in Wheeling and the second will be November 1 in the MetroNews studios in Morgantown. It appears that Hoppy Kercheval will moderate the Morgantown debate, but I could not find a moderator listed for the Wheeling debate. Hopefully, it will not be our local newspaper editor, Mike Myer, who moderated one of the Republican debates. Kercheval is conservative but my limited exposure to him suggests that he makes a real effort to be fair. Myer, on the other hand believes that everyone in West Virginia shares his Republican, rightwing perspective. (For example, Myer, in his columns, frequently uses “we” when referring to conservative ideas or Republicans as though he speaks for all of us.) The moderator needs to be fair to both candidates; Myer’s columns and his cheap shot at Manchin at the end of the first Republican debate ought to disqualify him.

Morrisey appeals to his base

From an editorial in today’s Huntington Herald-Dispatch:

A recent move by the West Virginia attorney general has left us disturbed, and with renewed concern for the tens of thousands of state residents who fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

Patrick Morrisey, the state's chief legal officer, has added his name to a brief petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to allow companies to fire workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity - not because of their skills or job performance, but simply because of who they are.

Morrisey is among 16 Republican leaders from across the country who have added their states to the brief prepared by Nebraska Attorney General David Bydalek and filed with the Supreme Court on Aug. 23. They hope for a reversal of a decision made in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals case Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes. That case involves a transgender funeral home employee who was fired after informing her employer she was transitioning.

This from a candidate who claims to defend "West Virginian values." (I didn’t know bigotry was officially a WV value.)

Okay, we know what Morrisey is against. Does he stand for anything beyond supporting President Trump?

A month ago, I looked at his Twitter feed to see what he was communicating only to find that every tweet was about the president. I just checked and here’s the scorecard for the first week in September:
• Nine tweets that deal with Trump
• Two tweets which focus on his endorsement by the National Rifle Association
• Three that include pictures of recent campaign stops.

I’ll ask again – does the man have any ideas of his own? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Here’s his most recent TV ad:

.@realDonaldTrump: "He's going to fight for you like nobody has ever fought for the people of West Virginia... Patrick Morrisey is truly a vote to Make America Great Again." #WVsen pic.twitter.com/k4wwsYAKGM

— AG Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV) September 5, 2018

By the way, here’s Manchin’s most recent ad and yes, he brought his gun along to show that he supports the 2nd Amendment: