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Independent is no longer a bad word.
Sit back and I’ll tell you a tale of a perfect candidate for the House of Delegates in West Virginia trying to overcome the establishment on both sides of the political aisle working against him. A family man, a union leader, an understanding ear in a political world that seems detached from the cares and concerns of the actual electorate, and a true son of Appalachia.
Dave Cantrell is running for House District 3 in the Northern Panhandle of our great state. While those of us that live in the Northern Panhandle know this all too well, as Cantrell has been campaigning harder than most, the rest of the state might not be hearing much about him. You see, Dave is running as an Independent. Which seems to mean Charleston doesn’t care about him. He, like many of us, has been disillusioned by the aforementioned establishment in party politics that has railroaded our state for far too long.
He ran as a Democrat in the last election and got a first hand lesson on why the Democratic party is failing. There are simply races that they are fine losing as long as the core holds its power. How you are convinced the party will help you while you run, but find that you are on your own if they don’t deem your race necessary. You even see them recruit placeholder candidates just so there is a party member on the ballot. Do you want to vote for a placeholder?
Cantrell saw that the voters weren’t interested in “team” politics anymore. They were starved for good candidates that they could depend on to make their lives better. So Dave set on his adventure to run as an Independent, raising money from the community, and representing a very impressive list of endorsements. His primary endorsements include:
Senator Bernie Sanders
IBEW LU 141
IBEW LU 596
IBEW LU 246
Teamsters LU 697
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
Upper Ohio Valley Building and Construction Trades Council
Boilermakers LU 154
Ironworkers LU 549
Operators 13
Local Central Labor Councils
Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic
WV Mountain Party/WV Worker’s Party
It seems like the workers are behind him.
Unfortunately, the alleged “party of the working class” hasn’t joined in on the excitement. The Democratic party not only refused to support Dave; they decided to run a half-present Mike Robinson with a questionable past to muddy the waters and help secure yet another seat for the Republican party.
Helping the party responsible for the current problems in our state seems like a weird proposition, yet here we are. On one hand, Robinson has said that he is not going to campaign for the next two months, yet you’d be hard pressed to not find Dave Cantrell at any event in Ohio or Brooke counties in which he can meet with the voters and secure their trust that he will take their cares and concerns to Charleston.
Why would the Democratic party decide to do this? Why not support the president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 141 and the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assembly, a true member and leader of the workforce? Who better to go to Charleston on our behalf? Democrat or not, this should have been an easy choice.
We are in a special time in the political spectrum in which we can start to blur the party lines for better candidates. There has been precedent set in both Nebraska and Idaho where the Democratic candidates for senate stepped down to allow a good quality Independent candidate a path to victory in November. If the point of all of this is to find better leaders and the improvement of our state, shouldn’t we be fighting for those that best represent those ideals, not just someone that has the same letter next to their name as yours?
I, for one, do not like to practice in insanity. The Democratic party of West Virginia, on the other hand, loves to repeat the same strategies expecting a different result. They have become uninspired, and often mirror some of the misgivings seen on the opposite side of the aisle. I always say, “if you are going to pretend to be better, you have to do better!”
We the people are starting to see through the cracks. Starting to ask the tough questions of our candidates. The days of sitting on the sidelines, or the “I don’t do politics,” mentality are gone. People are becoming more informed, they show up at meet and greets, and don’t get me started on how much any of us would give for a town hall with any one of our representatives in D.C. right now.
At the end of the day, neither party has much trust or credibility to your average West Virginian. Twenty-five percent of the voters in the state are unaffiliated. That’s only 2% less than the Democratic voter count. What if the Democrats and Independents start to pull together for the people, if it really is about the bettering of the state. Seems to me like the Independent voters are extremely important when it comes to getting elected. Why should they not have representation when it comes to candidates. Why would the Democratic party turn a blind eye to so many potential voters and candidates?
Why would the Democratic Executive Committee entertain voting on a rule that prohibits supporting candidates outside of the party if there might be quality Independent candidates?
Wouldn’t unity toward a common goal prove more beneficial?
One would hope that the Democratic party does the right thing and asks Mr. Robinson to withdraw from the race before the deadline to allow for the better candidate to run, and hopefully win in November. The people of House District 3 deserve better. Contrary to party beliefs, this isn’t a game. We are fighting for the future of our state.
We, as West Virginians, have to do something different. We cannot afford to continue down this dead end road. Electing people from two parties that are more concerned for their donors, the CEOs at their no show jobs, or outside investors gets us nowhere. People that continue to strip our state for parts, promising better for the workforce while continuously legislating for the opposite. How long do we continue to wait for those within establishment politics to do the right thing for us? When is enough enough?
Johnny Haught is a former West Virginia House of Delegates candidate.