West Virginia Gubernatorial Debate 2 0f 4 Held in Bedroom Community - Protesters Greet Candidates

West Virginia 2008 Gubernatorial Debate - Hedgesville from Polidoc on Vimeo.
This debate was the second of four gubernatorial debates held in West Virginia last week between incumbent Governor Joe Manchin, Senator Russ Weeks, and Mountain Party candidate for Governor Jesse Johnson.

Blocked out of the first and only statewide network televised gubernatorial debate, the balloted third party candidate Jesse Johnson shakes a few leaves off that two-party tree in this one hour debate held in Hedgesville, West Virginia. This debate was hosted by WEPM, a news/sports/talk radio station in West Virginia.

As the only candidate opposing Mountain Top Removal (MTR), Johnson provided relief to the protesting environmentalists in the crowd, many of whom had come to voice their objections to "The Path", a high-voltage power line that would carve a 10,000 acre line through private properties in order to accelerate delivery of coal-powered energy to the East Coast states. While "the Path" is a federally mandated program, many see the current Governor as complicit in the sacrifice of West Virginia for the use of energy corporations.

There are a couple of interesting points to observe in the radio station's reporting of the debate on its website, the most important of which is the exclusion of the discussion of MTR. A recent poll indicated that most West Virginians are against MTR, as well they should be given the level of contaminants dumped into the headwaters by profit-driven coal companies and the ensuing air pollution created by the burning of the coal. Instead, the station reported that the retention of teachers was the major topic discussed, which, while provocative, was not the heated point of opposition during the debate.

Hedgesburg is about a 5 hour drive from the state capitol Charleston and it sits in the upper east panhandle. It was once a sleepy rural area but has become a booming bedroom community for Washington D.C. commuters, who are transient in their commitment to West Virginia and unaware of the rest of the state's history. The state's history with coal mining has effected its politics for generations. It was a state made up of company towns in which a culture of obedience and isolation made it difficult for people to organize. This foundation of corporate control still permeates and aggravates the already dire conditions in which many live in the mid and Southern sections of the state.

One might wonder why the debate was not held in a more populated area so that the theater that held four hundred might at least be a quarter filled. Then again, it might be all too evident.

Open the Debates: Clever Response from Nader Campaign on VP Debates

Here's an achingly funny romp through the CPD's Vice-Presidential Debate juxstaposed to responses from Ralph Nader's Independent running mate candidate, Matt Gonzalez.


While this rendering is a comical redux of the responses from candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, it does offer an opportunity for another voice to be considered during these debates. Matt Gonzalez, Vice Presidential running mate to Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader, provides his own responses to questions posed at the VP debate.

Independent VP Candidate Gonzalez Responds to Dem-Rep Debate

Independent Vice Presidential Running Mate to Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez responds to Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden's debate. Gonzalez emphasizes that the two war vested candidates do not offer the American people a pro-peace choice and that both parties are complicit in the economic crisis due to their failure to properly regulate the systems with which they were entrusted.

Open the Debates - Guest Editorial

by Kevin Gosztola

At the Democratic National Convention, I marched down to the Pepsi Center with Rage Against the Machine, The Coup and Flobots in support of Iraq Veterans Against the War and their demands for Sen. Barack Obama to support immediate withdrawal from Iraq, reparations for Iraqis and benefits to veterans returning home. Our presence forced Obama to accept a letter from IVAW.

At the Republican National Convention, I witnessed what government at all levels will do to silence people who feel compelled to use their First Amendment rights. On Sept. 4, the city deployed more than 100 police with gas masks to trap about 250 people intent on marching. Bicycles, horses, batons, dump trucks and bulldozers were used in a standoff that ended with police deploying chemical weapons and arresting and detaining press and protesters who had been trapped.

Both showed how Republicans and Democrats will fund the suppression of free speech.

Both gave me the chance to go to Nader Super Rallies to support the opening of the presidential debates.

Closed debates, excluding Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin and Ralph Nader, are scheduled to begin Sept. 27. I’m tired of Coke and Pepsi and was thrilled when Rep. Ron Paul called on people to vote third party weeks ago. The four third-party options being whitewashed by the media in this election united behind four issues are foreign policy, civil liberties, national debt and the Federal Reserve.

After more than seven years of Bush, I refuse to do some mathematical equation to come up with who I have to vote for in order for such and such to not happen and will not vote for a candidate who calls upon the people to compromise with corporatists on the “war on terror,” Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, offshore drilling and, now, solutions to our broken economy.

Do a Google search. Since 2000, Nader has been predicting this Wall Street disaster. Sen. John McCain and Obama have been silent, and worse, they are now allowing Bush to swindle the American people by bailing out the corporations responsible. Do you really want to bail out gamblers who created this mess?

When 81 percent think this country is heading in the wrong direction and 60 percent think the two parties are failing us, that signifies the need for a certain agenda-one which involves the people inventing a new way forward instead of being cynical about the future.

Ralph Nader Seeks Peace and Freedom Ballot Line - Video

Nader Seeks Peace and Freedom Ballot Line from Polidoc on Vimeo.

This video of veteran activist Ralph Nader was shot on Saturday, August 2, 2008 in Sacramento, California at the California Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) Convention. Ralph Nader vied for the party's Presidential nomination against contenders of other parties seeking the valuable ballot line. Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney, Party for Socialism and Liberation's Gloria La Riva and Socialist Party's Brian Moore, each offered compelling solicitations, but Nader won out in the first round of votes. La Riva came in second. PFP is a socialist, pro-peace party pre-dating the California Green Party.

Attaining this ballot line was crucial to the Nader campaign as it would add significantly to his perceived electability. For entry into the nationally televised debates, The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) requires that candidates have an electoral chance of winning and be listed on 5 mainstream media polls. Without California, historically one of Nader's strongest states, mainstream media could more easily discount the viability of his campaign.

Ralph Nader's Acceptance Speech for the Peace & Freedom Party Presidential Nomination

Video of Ralph Nader's acceptance speech at the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) Convention held in California on August 2, 2008. More than half the attending delegates voted for Nader in the first round, thus ending the nomination.

After accepting the California's PFP Nomination for President, a much relieved and excited audience of delegates listened to the veteran activist give his acceptance speech. Nader graciously thanked his fellow candidates, including Cynthia McKinney, who, he said, amplified one another's presentations.

"We really have to go to work," said the man who never stops doing just that.

For more on the Peace and Freedom Nominating Convention, read our earlier post, "Ralph Nader Expands His Ballot Access to 23 States"