What Happened to Candidates for the People, not Political Hacks? The Second Congressional District of West Virginia - a hypothetical case study!

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As we prepare to enter the "silly season" of politics and brace ourselves for the onslaught of up to $5 billion in political spending, mostly political ads, did you ever wonder how people are selected to run for office.

There are a variety of ways one used to be a candidate for office, particularly federal office, but the collapse of federal campaign finance laws and the failure of any candidate for president to propose new laws will insure the path to election is lined with cash.

What a pity.  Once upon a time, the two political parties reached out to people who were not career politicians to bring new life to political office and new ideas for people to consider.

Once upon a time, when people were running for office, whether Democrats or Republicans, once elected they actually worked to serve all the people in their state or district.  In fact, they even worked with members of the opposite party to help all people.

Unfortunately, that practice seems dead.  It is the political parties and the professional politicians they support who have fostered the bitter partisanship, the character assassination, and the smear campaigns to keep people out of office.

The result, many good people, and many deserving people who really care about all people get denied the chance to hold public office.  When this happens, people get cheated out of the caring, compassionate, and understanding leaders we deserve and need.

Where are the people's politicians who put the needs of the people first and who never lose sight of the sacred trust between an elected official and all the people they serve?

Let me give you a hypothetical example so you can see what I mean.  Let us take the Second Congressional District of West Virginia.  The Second District is one of the strangest in the nation as it extends from the Washington suburbs in the Northeast part of the state all the way through Charleston almost to Kentucky.

During the most recent election in 2014, the party candidates for Congress included the former chairman of the West Virginia Democrat Party running against the former chairman of the Maryland Republican party.  Democrat Nick Casey and Republican Alex Mooney squared off.

 

As whacky as it sounds that is what happened.  Professional politicians from both political parties squared off to represent the Mountaineers.  Mooney, who did not even live in West Virginia when he started his campaign, was running for public office in his third different state: New Hampshire, Maryland, and West Virginia.^[

Casey, the prohibitive favorite as former state Democrat party chairman, president of the ABA, prominent Catholic, Charleston resident, person with exceptional charitable credentials, and candidate with by far the highest public recognition, got just 60% of the vote in the primary and 43.9% in the general election.

Mooney pulled off a major upset.

As we approach the 2016 election cycle, what do you suppose is happening in the now GOP Second District.  Mooney is preparing for the re-election campaign although there is some speculation that if a Republican became president Mooney would be in line for a major position in the new administration.

On the Democrat side the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DCCC, is encouraging Nick Casey to run again for the Second District WV Congressional seat.  The fact such action is being reported in the news media suggests the DCCC has decided to push Casey and discourage any other candidates from running, much like is being done with Hillary Clinton at the presidential level.

As for Casey vulnerability, I believe Casey could lose the race by even more votes than the last election.  Several issues could cause serious damage to his efforts. Casey is vulnerable for two reasons, his time as Democratic State party leader in West Virginia, and his statements in the last campaign.

While I have only completed a cursory review of the actual voting breakdown, certain things are quite clear.  First, in 2016, there will be massive GOP spending for president and the message will be targeted at two potential Achilles heels for Casey, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Like it or not Casey is linked to Obama, to DNC leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and to key elements of the Obama program.  As a result, the GOP will portray him as just another party hack doing the bidding of the professional politicians.

His super-delegate and party spokesperson role put him on record supporting what Obama, Pelosi, and Schultz told people to say.  The fact he had to say he was going to vote against Pelosi in the last campaign, if elected, showed his party vulnerability.

His strong support for Obama on Obamacare and energy policy both became campaign issues used against him, and will be larger issues in the next campaign because of the spending in the presidential election.

That same party loyalty over what is good for the people of West Virginia will include his relationship to Hillary who already has her highest negatives recorded and the campaign has barely begun.

Since Casey was on record saying he wanted the Clintons help in his campaign, and he supported her during her State department days, it links him to her and her standing in the polls.

However, from a hypothetical standpoint there may be a far better candidate than either Mooney or Casey.  One who will never get to serve the people of West Virginia because the professional politicians want to keep the seat in the control of professional politicians.

     

My hypothetical candidate is a real person, Clarence E. Martin, III of Martinsburg.  "CEM" Martin possesses about every quality known to elevate politicians to friends and advocates for all the people.

Since this is a key swing district in a key swing state, it would seem one grounded in serving people like Martin rather than parties, is an ideal candidate.  He is homegrown from West Virginia with three generations of prominent family in public service serving the citizens of West Virginia.

Why CEM Martin should be the Congressman, hypothetically speaking that is.

He is homegrown with a statewide network of friends and long go demonstrated a commitment to family, faith, and loyalty.  CEM Martin was a past president of the State Bar Association.  His grandfather was past president of the American Bar Association.  CEM would garner support from a variety of local networks like lawyers, the Chamber of Commerce, religious groups, non-profits, and the business community.

Throughout his career he demonstrated how to serve people and put their interests first.  With Congressional committee staff experience, international experience through think tanks, and his standing as one of the highest-ranking members of the Papal backed Knights of Malta in the USA, he is free of partisan political association.  When you add his family legacy and a charming wife and daughters, he could make a formidable candidate.

Most important is the legacy issue.  West Virginians seem to like authentic, homegrown candidates and if ever there was a race when it should have been evident, it was last year.

Clarence E. "CEM" Martin, III is a Shareholder at Martin & Seibert, L.C. and is the third generation of his family to be a member of the firm. His Grandfather, Clarence E. Martin, President of the American Bar Association in 1932-1933 founded the firm over 100 years ago, in 1908, in Martinsburg.

CEM's parents

CEM is a former Assistant Counsel to the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (now Energy and Commerce) and Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He was a Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1976 – 1982 and held various leadership positions.

In May of 2012, Martin was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia to chair a select committee to review and revise the Constitution, Bylaws, Rules, and Regulations of the West Virginia State Bar. Mr. Martin has taken leadership roles in a number of professional and business organizations in West Virginia and beyond. He recently served as Chair for the West Virginia State Chamber of Commerce.

He has also served his communities in the following practices:

President of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1991-92

Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Agricultural Workers from 1988-92

National Board of the American Board of Trial Advocates from 1986-94

Fellow, West Virginia Bar Foundation

Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

Fellow of the American Bar Foundation

Board of Directors of the Defense Trial

Board of Directors of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, serving as Chair 2007-2008

Board of Advisors for Shepherd University serving as its Chair from 1990-92 and 1995-97

Board of Advisors for the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law

Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of West Virginia

Board of Directors for Vision Shared

Board of Directors for the West Virginia Education Alliance

Board of Directors for the International Partnership for Human Development

Board of Directors for West Virginia Council for Community and Economic Development

Board of Directors for the Holy Family Hospital Foundation

Board of Directors for the Federal Association of the Order of Malta

Member of the West Virginia Law Institute

Member of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel

Who's Who in America

Who's Who in American Law

Honorary Doctorate degree by Shepherd University

Honors

He was named a Super Lawyer in West Virginia in 2008 through 2011,which recognizes the top five percent of lawyers in the state, and named a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America in 2007, which recognizes the top two percent of litigators in the U.S.  In 2011, he was named to Best Lawyers in America, which is a peer rated listing recognizing the top lawyers in the U.S.

Also in 2011 he was elected to the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance. The Alliance is a nonpartisan group made up of insurance companies, corporations, law firms, and service providers committed to furthering the highest standards of litigation management.  In 2012 he graduated from the Alliance's first certification program in litigation management held at the Columbia Law School and is a Certified Litigation Management Professional.

In 1992 he was appointed to serve on the West Virginia Council for Community and Economic Development, which developed and directed the State's economic development programs and he  elected its Secretary and served until 1995. CEM also chaired the West Virginia Economic Development Foundation and the West Virginia Economic Development Corporation, which are authorized by the Council as private funding corporations for the State's economic development programs.

He now serves on the board of Vision Shared which works with the State's development office on economic development. He served as President of the Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation from its founding in 1993 through 2004, focusing on economic development and international trade issues with U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller, IV.

He is also Chairman of the Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority, which is restoring a historic railroad property. In 2003, Mr. Martin was elected a Fellow in the West Virginia Bar Foundation.

CEM is a member of the Board of Directors for the Holy Family Hospital Foundation which supports the Holy Family Hospital. The Hospital is the only hospital that provides critical, neo-natal care in Bethlehem, in the Palestinian Territories. He is also president of the Washington-Baltimore Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.

In 2000, Mr. Martin was invested in the Order of Malta as a Knight of Magisterial Grace. In 2003, he was elected to the Federal Association's Board of Directors. In 2004 he was invested as a member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Constantinian Order of St. George. In 2007 he was awarded the Cross of Merit by the Order for service to the Order and Church. In 2009 he was advanced in rank in the Order of Malta to the second class in Obedience.

In 2013 when he was named to the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI, an honor that was personally presented by the Pope.  It represents the highest award bestowed on a Catholic layperson.  More recently, he has had several private audiences with Pope Francis.

CEM is qualified to practice law before the following courts.  The U.S. Supreme Court, the West Virginia Supreme Court, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of the Third and Fourth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia, District of Columbia and Eastern District of Virginia, The Court of Appeals for Maryland, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Whew...

Can you imagine that hypothetical candidates like CEM Martin will never get a chance to represent the people of West Virginia when they are exactly what the people of West Virginia need and deserve.

[Note - In the interest of transparency I was a classmate with CEM at the University of Arizona and he has consistently told me he is not a candidate for Congress in West Virginia, though he should be.]

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Obamaville July 28 - The Calm before the Storm - Dark Clouds on the Horizon

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Campaign 2016

The clock keeps ticking with about 16 months left before the general election in November 2016 and already the political silly season has started.

The Republican candidates for president see nothing but Red and the Democratic candidates see nothing but Blue and I do not mean in terms of states on the election board.

Why is it the GOP gang of 16, 17, 18, or whatever cannot just leave Obama out of the election?  No one can change history and Obama did break a huge barrier when elected as our first African American president.  If he did nothing else, it was a significant historic achievement.

Many Americans did not approve of his agenda, his foreign policy, his intellectual indifference and other things but Obama is not going to be president any more.  American decency suggests the herd of candidates should focus on explaining what they would do as president, instead of threatening to tear down everything President Obama accomplished.

If I remember correctly, Obama got elected twice to serve as Commander and Chief of all the people and we owe our president respect if nothing else.  The GOP candidates seem incapable of giving us their agenda for the future choosing instead to mount goofy and demeaning attacks on every last thing the president says or does.

Of course, the National Republican Party just magnified the political partisanship when they limited the GOP debates to the top ten candidates leaving at least half a dozen out in the cold.  They could have had two debates of nine each to showcase all the candidates but no, that makes too much sense.

The only result was all the candidates turning up the volume and competing for who can make the most outrageous and incendiary sound bytes to the media in an effort to boost them into the top ten for the debate.

The GOP has no stranglehold on stupidity, however, as Hillary has flip flopped so many times already her Democratic base has no idea what she advocates.  She pleads she is a pauper with $200 million in the bank as she raises $2 billion for the campaign.  Duh...

Her wobbly and Pollyanna-like explanations for violating federal law by keeping top-secret files on her home computer, then erasing all the records before anyone could check her drive, may be one of the biggest blunders in presidential campaign history.  This was her election to lose and she is doing a very good job at it.

  

Running our Government

Now that the Republicans have control of both Houses of Congress, nothing has changed, much like Obama's first two years when the Democrats controlled both Houses.  It is a miracle when any little thing good happens in our nation's capitol and that is a very sorry state of affairs.

Campaign Finance Reform

The failure by Obama, the Democrats, the Republicans, and the presidential candidates to address campaign finance reform is tantamount to criminal neglect and insures the one to three percent of the people with all the wealth in America will continue to control our politicians like puppets on a string.

Foreign Policy Follies

The Obama administration foreign policy of negotiation with our enemies has resulted in a policy of appeasement and undermined whatever international credibility we might have had in the world.  Instead of a Super power, we are a Super wimp, and it may take generations to get past the morass.

Dark Economic Skies

After seven years of empty promises from Obama and both parties, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will still bankrupt our nation in time.  Our health care is the most expensive in the world and we still rank around nineteenth in terms of quality of service.

All the stock markets are the playground of the rich and pushed Joe six-pack out of the market with computers and crooks, crooks the Obama administration has failed to prosecute.  We still have a lot of corruption, discrimination, and even human trafficking, but we never miss a chance to blast other nations for their faults while ignoring our own.

International Terrorism

Terrorism thrives because of the foreign policy stupidity of both political parties.

Wish you voted different?

Economy

Our economy may very well be on life-support, as only the rich seem to have benefited from the economic recovery.  If the American public no longer has faith and trust in our many institutions it is for a very good reason, they do not deserve it.

Hope or a Dope

Still I have hope and remain optimistic that in the end the people will regain control of their government and force our politicians to fix the mess.

The Silent Majority

I never lose sight of the fact that when Obama won re-election in 2012 by the largest margin in his two campaigns, he still only won the overwhelming support of just twenty-six percent of the eligible voters in America.  An astonishing seventy-four percent of the eligible voters did not support him or his agenda.

One day all of our silent majority will finally register and vote and when they do all the money and professional politicians in the world will not be able to stop the tidal wave of reform the people will unleash on America.

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America's Golden Girls - World Cup Champion USA Soccer Team

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It had been sixteen years since the women's soccer team last won the World Cup in Women's Soccer.  Long gone were the memories of that 1999 group who produced the second World Cup championship for the USA.

Here in America we are not only used to winning, we expect to win, practically any kind of sports competition.  Yet soccer or football, one of the most popular sports in the world, always struggled to get a foothold in America.

No doubt, the American brand of football, not to be confused with soccer or football everywhere else, never gave the other football a chance here in the colonies.  While American football became one of the most popular contact sports in history, and one of the richest in terms of the money it could generate, soccer remained far in the background.

Of course, it did not help that the USA men's soccer team has never achieved the fame of their women's counterpart.  In fact the only time in history the men's team reached the semi-finals of the World Cup was way back in 1930, eighty-five years ago.

Brandi-Chastain-Womens-World-Cup-July-10-1999

So, the women had to carry the burden of success to keep soccer alive in the USA.  There are professional leagues but they seldom draw major crowds and certainly do not draw major investment. Only winning can do that, thus people paid attention when the women won the first World Cup in women's soccer back in 1991.

Mia Hamm - Superstar

In 1999 they won their second World Cup powered by Mia Hamm and throughout the relatively young history of women in the World Cup the USA women have consistently been one of the top three teams in the world.

This year the team is much more media savvy, much more physical, and got stronger in every match until meeting Japan in the finals just like the last World Cup in 2011 when Japan won on penalty kicks.  This year they never had a chance as four American goals in the first sixteen minutes sealed the eventual American 5-2 victory.

In addition to drawing record TV audiences in their victory drive, the Women's team became the first female team in our history given a ticker tape parade through downtown Manhattan.  It was a fitting tribute followed by an Espy award for the best team in sports.

Thank you for reigniting American pride and taking the negative news out of our lives for a time.

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China and the World Financial Manipulators - It takes a Communist Country to stop the Financial Corruption

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Just a week ago, here is what world financial analysts said about the economic collapse in China.

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Daily Mail, London

China's tumbling stock markets plunged even further today, intensifying fears the country was tail-spinning towards the biggest financial disaster since the 1929 Wall Street crash.

Almost $3trillion (£2trn) – more than the entire economic output of Brazil – has been wiped out since markets went into reverse just a few weeks ago, posing a bigger headache for many global investors than even the Greek debt crisis.

China's government, regulators and financial institutions are now waging a concerted campaign to prop up the nation's stock markets – a move that failed spectacularly in the 1929 crash that triggered the Great Depression.

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Here is what the experts said just three days later.

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The Toronto Star

China’s battered stocks rebound as officials tighten market controls

Government takes desperate measures to shore up market, while feared internal security police announce they have begun investigating investors accused of ‘maliciously’ shorting blue-chip shares, as bubble bursts.

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The Washington Post

BEIJING—China’s stock market recovered sharply in volatile trading Thursday after the government announced further measures to restore investor confidence, including forbidding major shareholders from selling.

Shanghai’s benchmark share index rose 5.8 per cent on Thursday, reversing direction after sliding 3.8 per cent earlier in the day. But it has still lost around a quarter of its value since a peak in mid-June.

In the latest in a series of desperate measures to shore up the market, regulators banned major shareholders, corporate executives and directors from selling stakes in listed companies for the next six months.

Officials also announced that banks could roll over loans backed by shares.

But, for some investors, it was the entry of the feared Public Security Bureau (PSB) that really changed sentiment.

The powerful internal security police announced they had begun an investigation into a dozen individuals and institutions accused of “maliciously” shorting blue-chip shares.

The state news agency Xinhua said the move showed regulators would “punch” anyone who violates regulations and the law “with a strong fist.”

But if those moves calmed some of the panic in the markets, it was far too early to declare victory, analysts said.

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In the course of a couple of days the stock market experts had declared the worst financial depression since the Great depression of 1929 would befall China.  A couple of days later the strong and immediate reaction of the Chinese government to the market manipulation had driven out the devils and restored the market completely, recovering the $3.2 trillion within days.

The instantaneous action by the Chinese stock regulators and Chinese government left financial experts bewildered, prognosticators stunned, and crooked financial manipulators running for the border.  It seems odd that none of these tactics were employed by our government during the 2009 American financial collapse.

For comparison purposes, the loss of wealth to American households in the 2009 recession totaled an astounding $14 trillion, and the worldwide loss was $34.4 trillion.  Clearly the screams of "depression" by the economic experts about China's $3.2 trillion in lost value, which was erased in a matter of hours, were either efforts to further drive down the Chinese market value, were the result of algorithms gone mad, or were deliberate lies to undermine the Chinese market.

Our little recession of 2009 cost Americans more than four times as much money as the temporary Chinese drop.  We are still trying to recover from 2009 six years later.  China did it in about 48 hours.  Six years later no one is in jail for causing the 2009 crash while the Chinese are preparing to prosecute brokers within a few hours and in China they take corruption and stealing from the public seriously.

It seems as if our financial experts are worthless when it comes to knowing the Chinese market as the latest flurry of lies and scare tactics demonstrate.  This swift and decisive action in China should tell us we continue to depend on a corrupt financial system here in America that is immune from government threats and prosecution.

There are a few things the Chinese can teach us about managing the parasites on Wall Street and their protectors in Congress.

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Russia and China Save Obama Presidential Legacy with Iran Nuclear Votes

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Thank you President  Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia

How bizarre is the news?  After years of negotiating with Iran over nuclear weapons by the Obama administration, at the eleventh-hour the breakthrough came and the world first heard about approval of a treaty between Iran and the United States, and the UK, and Germany, and France, and the European Union, and who did you say?

In the end, it was the vote of Russia and China, equal partners in the negotiations, who gave life to the treaty and hope to the people of Iran, who have lived under the yoke of sanctions for years.  President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia saved the day for Obama.

 

Funny, you do not hear much about how Russia and China made the Obama treaty possible.  I did not hear Obama and Kerry thanking the two semi-bad boys for making possible perhaps the greatest peace development in the Middle East.

Last year I wrote an article calling for an end to sanctions against Iran, Cuba, and Russia, on the grounds the sanctions did not work.  So far, actions by the Obama administration are ending them in Cuba and Iran.

The wisdom and effectiveness of the lifting of sanctions will take years to determine but the initial hope it has given to the Iranian people is gratifying.  The people of Iran believe they have been set free and that is a good side benefit.

Which brings up another question, why is it the Iranian people were the only people in the world celebrating this new treaty?  They refer to it as "freedom."  Perhaps the significance of the treaty goes way beyond nuclear bombs, and it will open the gate toward improved relations with the people of Iran.

I say give the treaty a try, things cannot get worse with Iran.  At the same time, Obama needs to start mending fences with other friends and allies like Israel, Russia, and China.  Stop blaming them for everything bad and try working toward something good.

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Postscript to Charleston, SC Murders - A Lasting Legacy

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In a fitting postscript to the Charleston murders June 17, the people of South Carolina continued to demonstrate to our leaders in Washington, D.C., the people of the USA, and the rest of the world how to handle a tragedy with compassion and grace.

In a matter of less than a month one of the most divisive and controversial issues was resolved, perhaps bringing to an end, at last, our Civil War.

As mentioned earlier, the shooter in Charleston posted Facebook images of his fascination with the Battle flag of the Virginia Brigade who fought in the Civil War.

Most people and news media mistakenly called it the Confederate Flag although my earlier article about the Confederate flag proved that was false.

In fact, after the Civil War it pretty much disappeared with all the other state militia flags from the South until it was revived in the 1940's through 1960's and was hijacked from being a symbol of patriotic pride for the South to being the face of racial hatred and prejudice.

From 1962 on this flag flew over the statehouse or on statehouse grounds in Charleston.  One of the positive offshoots of the tragic shooting was the actions by Governor Nikki Haley, and the South Carolina legislature ended decades of bitter debate and removed the flag from the grounds of government to the museum where it belonged.

It will forever be a fitting tribute to the Charleston Nine and their legacy.

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