Get ready for some vicious Appalachian infighting. When West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announces his bid for Senate on Monday, he’s expected to take bipartisan swipes at both Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Rep. Evan Jenkins.
Straightforward and simply partisan, Morrisey will paint both of his opponents as liberals.
“Unlike my opponents, I’ve never supported Hillary or Obama, or Obamacare, or higher taxes, or cap-and-trade,” Morrisey said in a television spot, taking care not to name either opponent. “You’ll never have to worry about me wavering in my conservative values.”
That’s not a surprising attack, and it’s not out of bounds either. While Jenkins has served one term as a Republican, he identified as a Democrat until 2013 when he abandoned the Left to make a play for his current House seat from the Right. “West Virginia is under attack from Barack Obama and a Democratic Party that our parents and grandparents would not recognize,” Jenkins said at the time, announcing his campaign and party change. “I am proud to join the Republican Party in fighting Washington’s assault on our state, our freedoms, and our jobs.”
And it worked. Even though Jenkins donated to Democrat Rep. Nick Rahall before becoming a Republican, the GOP gladly welcomed him. With the support of then-Speaker of the House John Boehner, Jenkins defeated Rahall and quickly set up shop in Congress as a middle-of-the-road Republican.
The slow motion, partisan punch from Morrisey has obviously been a long time coming. The attorney general delivered a rhetorical uppercut back in May, writing that while “we welcome Democrats into the Republican party, that doesn’t mean they should be our next GOP U.S. Senate nominee.”
Expect more blows like that when Morrisey climbs onstage at Harper’s Ferry later on Monday to announce his candidacy, news first broken by National Review’s Jim Geraghty. And his campaign will have the legs to carry those attacks considering his record of clashing with Obama.
Morrisey joined with other state attorney generals and filed suit against the Obama administration in the courts, checking the administration on everything from immigration to environmental action. He will, no doubt, run on that record in a state Trump won by 42 points.
Ultimately, while Manchin is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats, all the signs point to a partisan brawl inside the Republican party.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
