Dan Greear up by 8 points - Howell endorsed by Home Builders

Public Policy Polling reports Dan Greear is leading incumbent Attorney General Daryl McGraw by 8 points. The poll shows Greear leading 50 to 42.

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State Senate Candidate Gary Howell has received the endorsement of WV BUILD PAC. WV BUILD PAC is the political arm of the Home Builders Association of West Virgina. Chairman Fred McDonald said, "We look forward to working with (Mr. Howell) during the next session of the Legislature as well as future years.

Dan Greear releases new TV Commercial

Greear says legislative effort to slow Attorney General did not go far enough

For Immediate Release
March 25, 2008

Contact:
Greear for AG Committee
Suzette Raines, 304-437-1306

Huntington, WV – Charleston attorney and former member of the House of Delegates, Dan Greear, spoke to the Cabell County Republican Women's Club today as he campaigns for the office of Attorney General. The meeting will take place at noon at the Pullman Plaza Hotel in Huntington.

Greear discussed the constant struggle the West Virginia Legislature has encountered with Attorney General Darrell McGraw. McGraw has dispersed settlement money at his own discretion rather than allowing the Legislature to appropriate the money as is their constitutional duty.

In response to the conflict with the Attorney General, H.B. 104 was passed during a recent Special Session and requires McGraw to inform the Legislature of potential monetary settlements.

Greear stated it will not prevent McGraw from employing his normal practice of distributing settlement money, but will only require him to disclose that information to the Legislature. Greear praised the Governor and Legislature for taking the first step, but said HB 104 did not go nearly far enough.

"The Attorney General should be solving legal problems, not creating them," said Greear. "Once again, McGraw is forcing the Legislature to pass legislation to try to curb his abuses. Considering all the problems our state faces, the Legislature should not be forced to fix the messes of a constitutional officer," said Greear.

"This bill was supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. I believe the bi-partisan support says a great deal about the dissatisfaction with McGraw, but much more must be done to reign in his abuses," added Greear.

Greear is a lifelong resident of Kanawha County, graduating from South Charleston High School in 1986 as a National Merit Scholar. He graduated from the WVU School of Law in the spring of 1992 where he also served as associate manuscript editor for the West Virginia Law Review. He served in the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Kanawha County’s 30th District in 1995 and 1996. Dan currently resides in South Charleston with his wife Amy, a social worker for Kanawha Hospice Care, and their two children, Joshua, 8 and Ben, 6.

Lookin' For Ugleeeeeeeee

Those darned McGraws. They can't seem to avoid shadowy conspiracies. First the photographers roaming Marmet trying to take ugly pictures of Warren McGraw, now the Bush administration is plotting the demise of West Virginia's Attorney General.

West Virginia at one point brought suit against the manufacturers of painkilling products such as OxyContin, challenging the manner in which they had been advertised. OxyContin and like drugs are highly addictive and untold thousands suffer from this problem. At issue here is how the settlement money ended up being spent.

The Attorney General's office paid the lawyers who fought the case (fair enough) but placed the rest into the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Fund. The federal government argues that it ought to receive some reimbursement for the Medicaid dollars it pours into the state annually. State Legislators assert that McGraw violated the law because only the Legislature can disburse money.

What is worse is that the Consumer Protection Fund pays for billboards, pencils, and other items that feature the Attorney General's name. Allen Loughry, former Caperton administration official, has blasted this practice as taxpayer funded campaigning. McGraw's office paints this as a Bush administration political move to discredit his office.

Now come on. President Bush sits in his Oval Office every day trying to think of ways to discredit our state attorney general? Kind of unlikely. This money ought to go to the Legisture to be budgeted and sent out to the proper recipients.

The Good and the Strange

West Virginia University president Michael Garrison found his way into the newspaper twice last month for remarkably different issues.

The first earned him real kudos. Standing up to a popular coach with the best winning percentage in university history showed that he had backbone. Garrison's priorities lay in the university above that of the football team. After all, he is not the GM of a pro sports outfit, but the leader of an academic institution.

The second incident is a little stranger. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette while researching the promotion of Heather Bresch by Mylan uncovered something strange. She claimed to hold an MBA from WVU, but the records indicated otherwise. University officials claim that old records did not make it onto the new digitized system, so recently they gave her credit for six courses and awarded her the degree. Newspaper investigations have not yet turned up evidence that she attended the classes she claimed to pass. Why all this attention? Ms. Bresch is the daughter of Governor Manchin and her employer is one of WVU's top financial supporters, in case you have not noticed the new name of the football stadium.

Likely this is all an honest mixup. However, the Charleston Gazette today called for a thorough investigation. Hopefully all parties concerned will submit to a fair examination of what precisely occured. If nothing else, there may be other former students out there with the same predicament and the problem needs recitfied. Again, it is probably an honest bookkeeping error. However the worst case scenario of corruption in the state's flagship university could play a major role in the 2008 election.

Even more interesting is the Gazette's reluctance to accept the official explanation despite the fact that such things happen frequently. A multitude of small things, almost insignificant in themselves, are adding up to indicate a brewing conflict within the West Virginia Democratic Party between Manchinites and the ultra left. This represents the latest in a series of developments that include the possibility of top Manchin aide Carte Goodwin running to unseat Attorney General Darryl McGraw for the Democratic nomination.

Could Darryl McGraw Be Near the Dustbin of History?

For years the McGraw family held a stranglehold over a section of the Democratic Party. They held sway by stoking the anti-corporate resentments that a large segment of West Virginians have carried since the early part of the last century. Warren McGraw a few years back lost his seat on the State Supreme Court of Appeals to free market defender Brent Benjamin. This could register as a sign that the old prejudices are dying off quickly. Could Warren's brother Darryl be next?

As attorney general, Darryl McGraw has unceasingly waged war on those seeking to do business in West Virginia and with the state government. His regular lawsuits help to create an anti-business climate. Certainly when our state gets referred to as a "judicial hellhole," part of the problem lies in McGraw's aggressive stance.

The long time incumbent may not make it through the primaries this time. Hoppy Kercheval reported recently that Governor Manchin's chief legal counsel Carte Goodwin might be considering a run. A charismatic former Ripley football and basketball standout, he will likely have the support of the state's business community as well as the ever popular governor. The pragmatic Goodwin would be a much more business friendly nominee for the Democratic Party than the incumbent. A successful tenure in a Board of Public Works position could serve as a springboard to the Governor's Mansion as well.

If this comes to pass, it could also signal a possible wider goal for Manchin. Republicans have rightly leveled criticism at his administration for baby steps towards free market reforms. Economic experts have proven that former Soviet republics currently have a more business friendly climate. Manchin's faction of the Democratic Party must understand that should the Republicans organize a strong effort in 2008, they could achieve a great deal. Almost eighty years of Democratic rule have done little for the state's economic position. Voters will hold Democrats responsible if they do not see real change soon.