Daily Mail - Other Candidates Criticize Tomblin, Maloney

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By Ry Rivard

Mountain Party candidate Bob Henry Baber says neither Tomblin or Maloney are capable of changing the state.

The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor are virtually indistinguishable, Mountain Party candidate Bob Henry Baber said Monday.

"Here in West Virginia, the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is minute," Baber told the Daily Mail editorial board.

Baber's said he's not alone in thinking so. He cited the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which endorsed Democrat acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin only after saying Tomblin and Republican Bill Maloney had "close similarities."

"Tomblin says, "More jobs, lower taxes.' Maloney says, "No, lower taxes, more jobs,'" Baber said. "These two gentleman are arguing over a public relations phrase that was thought up down here in some office, probably by Charles Ryan and Associates -- how absurd."

(The Charleston-based public relations firm does not appear to be involved in either man's campaign.)

Independent candidate Marla Ingels, a Mason County native who works as a school counselor in Jackson County, also was interviewed by the editorial board.

Ingels said she had decided to run for public office for the first time after praying.

"I decided I was tired of the lesser of the two evils," she said.

Baber, the former mayor of Richwood who used to be a registered Democrat, said part of the reason he entered the race was because the Democratic Party had "lost its heart and soul."

"True Democrats of West Virginia are an endangered species," he said. "Mr. Tomblin has a "D' behind his name -- he is no Democrat. He is no friend of the unions. He is no friend of the environment. He is no friend of the common person.

"He is a career politician who the governorship fell into his lap," Baber said. "That's the bottom line."

Tomblin was propelled into office by a chain of events that began last year with the death of U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd. Then Gov. Joe Manchin ran for and won the right to serve out the rest of Byrd's term. When Manchin vacated the Governor's Office on Nov. 15, Tomblin began to act as governor by virtue of being the Senate president.

Since then, Tomblin has used the office and its trappings to raise his profile with voters, something that gave him quasi-incumbent status heading into the May 14 Democratic primary.

Baber called Maloney and Tomblin "Tweedledee and Tweedledumber," though it wasn't clear whom he saw as "Tweedledumber."

Baber also complained that he, Ingels and the other third-party candidate were being excluded from a televised debate tonight, which will feature only Maloney and Tomblin.

Baber said the West Virginia Broadcasters Association's decision to bar other candidates from the debate was "undemocratic and un-American."

But Baber's criticism of the state's problems ran deep. He argued special interests had far too much say. He said neither Tomblin nor Maloney were capable of really changing the state and that neither man had significantly different visions for West Virginia.

Also, he noted the tone of the political ads in the race.

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