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Democrats in N.C. face unlikely foe: Labor party

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member State Employees Associ- ation of North Carolina (SEANC), which is leading the effort. “We’re going to support you be- cause you’re right on the issues and if you’re not right on the is- sues, we’re going to remove you from office.” Chuck Stone, a longtime SEANC leader who is chairman of North Carolina First, asked: “Does it really matter if you put a Democratic label or a Republican label on them when they go up there and support big companies and big insurance?”

SEANC and its parent group,

the Service Employees Interna- tional Union, possibly the na- tion’s most politically powerful labor union, are funding the ef- fort, which was announced April 8. In the days since, they have hired more than 100 canvassers who are rounding up the signa- tures needed to qualify as a third party on the general election bal- lot.

This is a top priority for out-

going SEIU President Andy Stern, who considers it a way to hold Democratic lawmakers ac- countable for their health-care votes. “It’s not a fly-by-night kind of thing,” said SEIU spokeswom- an Lori Lodes. “We’re making a very strong commitment to do- ing this. There is significant money behind it . . . There’s not a ceiling to what we’re willing to do.” The unions are giving voice to progressive activists across this state who say they feel betrayed by Reps. Larry Kissell, Heath Shuler and Mike McIntyre, Dem- ocrats who sided with Repub- licans against the health-care bill. In Senate and House races across the country, emboldened liberals are going after lawmak- ers who, as they see it, have not sufficiently championed Presi- dent Obama’s agenda. So far, these family feuds, which also in- clude Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Hal-

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A new edge to W.Va.’s coal politics

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“Politicians are running this tightrope, where they want to seem like they’re being responsive to issues with coal, like mountain- top removal” and mine safety, said John Poffenbarger, a political science professor at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va. “But at the same time, the state’s dependent on it.” The blast at the Upper Big

Branch mine on April 5 was the worst U.S. coal-mining accident since 1970. Investigators still are examining the mine’s record of ventilation problems, which could have allowed an explosive methane gas or coal-dust buildup. All three of these coalfield icons

have since expressed grief and outrage. But they have differed in their approach to laying blame. Byrd issued a statement noting

ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Andy Stern, president of the SEIU, has emphasized going after Democrats opposed to the health-care bill.

ter’s run for Blanche Lincoln’s Senate seat, largely have been confined to Democratic prima- ries.

But what is happening in

North Carolina is different. Es- tablishing the new party will be difficult, however. The group must gather signatures from 85,000 registered voters by June 1 to qualify for the November bal- lot. Then it has one month to nominate candidates; organizers said they had not identified any. Still, Democratic leaders are

keeping watch. The effort threat- ens to pull money and support from Democratic incumbents who badly need both in a year without Obama atop the ballot and when the political environ- ment is toxic. “It’s an unfortunate turn of

events that they’ve decided this is how they want to use their en- ergy and resources,” said Andrew Whalen, executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Par- ty, who was a dues-paying SEIU member when he was a mainte- nance worker in college.

Republicans hope to capitalize on the rancor. Kissell, Shuler and McIntyre are in “a political no- man’s land,” said North Carolina Republican Party spokesman Jordan Shaw. “Their base isn’t very happy. I don’t think there’s any excitement for Democratic candidates.” McIntyre and Shuler’s votes against the health-care overhaul were expected. McIntyre has long been one of the most conserva- tive Democratic lawmakers. (He recently joined Republicans call- ing for a repeal of the bill.) Shul- er, after being recruited by na- tional Democrats, was elected in 2006 in a mountainous district that had long been dominated by Republicans. He has carefully distanced himself from his par- ty’s leaders. “You buy a dog, don’t be afraid when it barks,” said Gary Pearce, a longtime Democratic strategist in the state. Kissell’s vote has agitated pro- gressives the most. Stretching from Charlotte to Fayetteville, his district is at the heart of the

state’s floundering textile indus- try and has one of the nation’s highest rates of adults without health insurance. Harrington Smith, 20,

knocked on doors for Kissell in 2008. Then Kissell twice voted against the health-care bill, and Smith, a college junior, is now canvassing for the third party, telling voters in a quiet and leafy neighborhood in Raleigh: “He’s not looking out for the people. . . . I just want to hold him account- able.”

Kissell, a millworker who be- came a high school civics teacher, had never held elected office, but he impressed many Democratic activists, including Michael Law- son, vice chairman of the party’s 8th District committee. Lawson says Kissell’s support among par- ty activists is evaporating. “Larry Kissell couldn’t get

elected dog-catcher in the 8th District,” Lawson said. “It’s been an utter disaster. If anybody wanted to commit political sui- cide, Larry Kissell has shown them the way.” Kissell’s spokeswoman de- clined requests for an interview with the congressman but pro- vided a statement from him ex- plaining his vote. Kissell said the country needs health-care re- form but voted against the bill because it would have cut Medi- care funding. He had made a campaign promise never to cut Medicare and said in the state- ment, “I am a man of my word.” That explanation only aggra-

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vated Democratic activists. “Health reform legislation is the most important piece of leg- islation for the past 40 years, and when you are asked as a member of Congress to vote on something that critical and you pick little teeny excuses, that’s cowardly,” said Greg Rideout, spokesman for North Carolina First. “It’s time for us to create a third way.”

ruckerp@washpost.com

that the mine, owned by Rich- mond-based Massey Energy, had been cited repeatedly by regula- tors for “significant and substan- tial” safety violations. “The ultimate responsibility for the health and safety of the min- ers falls to the mine operator,” Byrd’s statement said. “No cap- tain of industry . . . is beyond the reach of the law.” Rockefeller issued a statement

that, while criticizing government oversight, does not mention the company by name. In an interview Sunday, Rahall said he is concerned about the “pattern of violations” at Massey mines, both before and after the April 5 blast. He also said that, in conversations with Massey min- ers at the funerals of their com- rades, he found that many em- ployees were reluctant to speak about company safety violations. “They want protection for their

jobs,” Rahall said. “The other camp are those who are no longer working [for Massey], and they are noticeably upset about what has been allowed to go on for so long.” The backgrounds of these poli- ticians vary widely. Rahall is the grandson of a Lebanese immi- grant. Rockefeller is the great- grandson of an oil tycoon. Byrd, at 92, is a great-grandfather himself. But all represent a place where coal is politics, the dominant source of money and controversy. The industry represents about

6 percent of West Virginia’s gross domestic product, less than the percentage for retail and manu- facturing. But “its political mind share is more. It’s like 60 percent,” said Carter Eskew, a co-founder of the Washington-based Glover Park Group, a consulting firm. In the early 20th Century, coal politics was so charged that mine operators and unions traded gun- fire. By the early 21st, things had cooled down. Companies got rich, and unions — which still fought them on miner-safety issues — got weaker. On environmental issues, the coal industry and coal miners seemed largely to agree: They wanted to mine as much as pos- sible, without cumbersome rules.

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010

Then came the Obama admin-

istration. It has pushed the two pillars of West Virginia political life — the Democratic Party and the coal vote — painfully far apart. The White House supported

legislation to reduce greenhouse- gas emissions, which passed the House last summer. Many feared it would douse the demand for coal, and the proposal is so un- popular that Rahall has been blasted over the bill despite hav- ing voted against it. “People around here said he voted against it after [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi said he could vote against it,” said Ron Stollings (D), a West Virginia state senator. Rockefeller has vocally opposed a climate bill. Last month, he said that “nothing on the table has my support.” Another problem: The Envi- ronmental Protection Agency has cracked down on mountaintop- removal mining, an only-in-Appa- lachia practice in which peaks are blasted off to reach the coal seams underneath. Coal companies say the rules could seriously con- strain operations. In the past, the coal companies counted on Byrd’s support. In 2001, he reacted to a court deci- sion that curbed mountaintop- removal mining by trying to over- turn it with legislation. He cheered when a higher court tossed out the ruling. This time, Byrd surprised the

state political establishment by taking on coal. He released an opinion article titled “Coal Must Embrace the Future.” He de- scribed a “diminished constituen- cy in Washington” for mountain- top removal and urged coal com- panies to find another way. Even the coal industry conced-

ed that there was now a “minor gap” between their positions and his.

Rockefeller had a different re-

action, rooted in his own political history. In his first Senate race, in 1972, he vowed to abolish surface coal mines such as these “com- pletely and forever.” He lost. After changing that stance, he

started winning, becoming first governor, then senator. Since then, the percentage of West Vir- ginia coal miners working on sur- face mines has increased from 1 to about 50. Rockefeller has received $278,300 in industry donations since 1989, according to Open- Secrets.org. This year, Rockefeller defended “mountaintop” mining, even praising it for creating new flat land for development. Rahall, chairman of the powerful House Natural Resources Committee, has done enough to make both sides mad.

Rahall pushed the White House to allow some of these mines, but the coal companies have blamed him for not reining in the EPA. Their arguments have been ech- oed by Rahall’s best-known chal- lenger, former West Virginia chief justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard. Maynard, a recent Republican convert, was voted off the court after photographs surfaced of him vacationing on the French Ri- viera with Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, despite han- dling Massey cases. “West Virginia is today threat- ened as it has never been in our lifetimes . . . and part of the rea- son is that leaders in Washington, D.C., have simply declared war on the coal industry,” Maynard told a radio interviewer in February. He was asked whether Rahall was part of that war. “It’s not just enough to cast a vote. . . . We sim- ply have got to stop this war on coal,” he said. Environmental groups say Ra- hall has aided the environment in other parts of the country while supporting a destructive practice in his state, starting with an insert in a 1977 law that helped make mountaintop mining more com- mon. “A lot of environmentalists are going to vote for Spike May- nard: It’s incredibly odd,” said Joe Lovett of the Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environ- ment. “Nobody has any illusions that Spike is going to help the en- vironment, but the problem with Rahall is that he has a lot of pow- er.”

Political observers said Rahall’s chances are still good: He has $1.3 million on hand and the endorse- ment of the United Mine Workers of America. “I’m not worried,” Rahall said, when asked about his political prospects. “When you look at my entire career in Congress, I will rate at the top as far as protection of our coal miners and protection of our coal industry, and I really believe you can do both.” The Upper Big Branch disaster could also weaken Maynard’s can- didacy. Voters might see him not as a coal champion but as the pawn of a modern-day coal baron. He did not respond to interview requests, although a few days af- ter the blast, the Associated Press quoted him as saying: “This is no time for politics. Pray for our min- ers and their families.”

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