WV GOP: Fat Lady Already Sang

Things just aren't trending so red in WV and the GOP isn't feeling so bullish. From the Daily Mail in Charleston:

The GOP learned just days earlier that Secretary of State Betty Ireland, its only executive branch officeholder, had decided against seeking another term. One of the party's most promising campaigners, Ireland plans to sit out the upcoming election entirely.

Another of its star players, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, announced in May that she would stay in the 2nd Congressional District. Republicans had hoped she would instead challenge U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., next year.

Other factors signal tough sledding for the GOP, from the uphill road it faces in challenging a popular Gov. Joe Manchin next year, to the looming fight to keep the state Senate seat being vacated by former Minority Leader Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha.

The party is also looking to rebound after a rough 2006. With the midterm ballot dominated by Legislative races, the GOP lost ground in both the Senate and House of Delegates after several successive elections of gains.

Not only is leadership continuing to fade, so too is the party's ability to run elections. The WVGOP is in debt and the national party is almost completely ignoring it. But the national party is tending to its own suffering, no time to think about the poor folk of WV.