After a string of Republican victories in southwestern Virginia’s coal fields, Sen. Phil Puckett, a 13-year incumbent Democrat from far southwestern Virginia’s 38th Senate District, suddenly–for the first time ever, actually–looked extremely vulnerable. Republicans across the Commonwealth perceived the 38th to be one of the GOP’s best pick-up opportunities and, potentially, a must-win if the party hopes to reclaim the majority in the Senate.
During the 2011 regular session of the General Assembly ended, Sen. Puckett earned praise from the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation for his support of eminent domain reform and from social conservatives for his courageous vote against his party on SB 924, prompting me to ask if the recent General Assembly session saved Phil Puckett. Apparently not.
Not only does the recently proposed Howell Plan redraw the 38th District in such a way as to make Sen. Puckett’s defeat less likely, now, according to his Adam Light, his Republican challenger, Phil Puckett is attempting to reinvent himself as a “coal warrior.”
From a Light campaign press release:
Facing his first seriously competitive election since first winning his seat in 1999, Senator Phillip P. Puckett (D-Russell), opened his re-election campaign by attempting to rewrite his record of support of cap-and-trade liberals. He recently posted a “petition” claiming to collect names of people who support the coal industry, a stunning reversal from his consistent backing of political leaders who are eager to impose cap-and-trade schemes that would kill thousands of coal jobs.
…“With everyone in Southwest Virginia furious about the Obama Administration’s efforts to enact a cap-and-trade plan that would kill thousands of coal jobs, it’s no surprise that Senator Puckett would try to run from his support of pro cap-and-trade politicians right from the start of his campaign,” said [Adam] Light. “People in this area are not going to be fooled. They’re mad about what anti-coal politicians in Richmond and Washington are trying to do to us and they know Senator Puckett has supported them.
Senator Puckett has consistently worked to elect anti-coal politicians to positions where they could wreak havoc on the coal industry. In 2008, Senator Puckett supported Barack Obama for the Presidency in spite of Obama being on record as wanting a cap-and-trade law that would hurt the coal industry. In 2010, Senator Puckett stood up for Congressman Rick Boucher, who co-wrote the President’s proposed cap-and-trade plan that would have devastated the coalfields. And in Richmond, Puckett has voted for Senate leadership and Committee Chairs that have tried to undermine the coal industry by pushing burdensome new policies.
“It’s bad enough that Senator Puckett is using this web petition to try and make people forget he backed all of these pro cap-and-trade leaders,” Light commented. “But to make matters worse, his petition is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to get voters to hand over their email address for his database. If they read the petition closely, it doesn’t say what ‘signers’ are petitioning for. It’s just a slick political game that Richmond politicians play to fool people into giving up their contact information to be used in the campaign. It’s just another sign that Puckett’s been in Richmond too long, and has become disconnected with the people in Southwest Virginia.
“You can be sure in the coming months that voters are going to hear a lot more about cap-and-trade and its potential impact on our local economy,” Light continued. “And you can also be sure that Senator Puckett is going to do everything he can to run away from the fact that he supported those that supported cap-and-trade. This campaign is going to make sure he doesn’t fool anyone.”
