Another rat flees sinking ship…
Democrat Governor Earl Ray Tomblin joined Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) as the second Democrat from West Virginia to distance himself from President Barack Obama.
WDTV spoke with Tomblin this week:
CNS News reported, via Free Republic:
West Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he is not endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election, saying the president “has apparently made it his mission to drive the backbone of West Virginia’s economy, coal and the energy industry, out of business.”
Tomblin is running for re-election in the heavily Democratic and major coal-producing state this year. He won a special election for the governorship last year after Gov. Joe Manchin was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010.
“As a loyal member of the Democratic party and as governor for our state, I will continue to do everything I can, including suing the EPA, to get the president to change the misguided policies that are hurting West Virginians,” Tomblin added in his statement.
Tomblin said he is not supporting presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney either, but it is generally presumed that most elected officials would support the nominee of their party. Manchin has also declined to back a candidate at this point.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in party registration in West Virginia by 2-1, according to the Associated Press. However, the state has voted Republican in the last three presidential elections. Of potential significance is West Virginia’s proximity, bordering three key battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.