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Justice Has a Decision to Make · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: Even people who don't live and breathe West Virginia politics
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  Speaker 1: can probably see it coming. Jim Justice might might want
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  Speaker 1: to run for governor again in twenty twenty eight, and
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  Speaker 1: with the Greenbrier's immediate future apparently stabilized, Justice may soon
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  Speaker 1: have to decide. Because the twenty twenty eight campaign has
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  Speaker 1: already started. Patrick Morrissey is raising money, campaign pieces are
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  Speaker 1: hitting mailboxes, His political machinery is running. So let's spitball.
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  Speaker 1: If Justice is serious, announce before the twenty twenty seven
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  Speaker 1: legislative session, and immediately become West Virginia's shadow governor. Borrow
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  Speaker 1: the concept from parliamentary government, challenge the administration issue by issue,
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  Speaker 1: and offer alternatives economic development, foster care, workforce participation, education, roads, energy,
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  Speaker 1: data centers, flock cameras, anything and everything before the state.
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  Speaker 1: But that requires organization, staff, policy expertise, communications, and money.
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  Speaker 1: Morrissey is a prolific fundraiser with a formidable political apparatus.
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  Speaker 1: Justice can raise money too, but he can't afford to
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  Speaker 1: start late. And if Justice runs, the field probably clears.
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  Speaker 1: Treasurer Larry Pack has already said he won't run if
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  Speaker 1: Justice does, but Pack is clearly positioned if Justice doesn't
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  Speaker 1: traveling the state, building relationships and possessing both a substantial
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  Speaker 1: political network and the ability to raise money, then comes
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  Speaker 1: the contrast. Morrissey can run on infrastructure, opposition to vaccine
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  Speaker 1: mandates HB twenty fourteen, and his data center strategy. Justice
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  Speaker 1: would likely respond small ball. He could argue Morrissey harvested
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  Speaker 1: economic development projects planned during the Justice administration. Justice can
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  Speaker 1: point to roads to prosperity, his handling of COVID, larger
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  Speaker 1: tax cuts, and his relationship with the legislature. But the
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  Speaker 1: sharper argument may be cultural, not policy. Justice could try
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  Speaker 1: to make the race about one fundamental question, who really
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  Speaker 1: understands West Virginia. Expect scrutiny of Morrissey's out of state fundraising,
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  Speaker 1: dark money support, late night Facebook battles, and episodes like
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  Speaker 1: the controversy over Willie Akers number forty four governor's license plate. Individually,
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  Speaker 1: those things may seem small. Collectively, a campaign can turn
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  Speaker 1: them into a narrative. Of course, Justice may stay in
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  Speaker 1: the Senate, he could support Pack, or he could run.
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  Speaker 1: But here's the fascinating part. In last year's Metro New's
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  Speaker 1: West Virginia poll, respondents were asked to name their favorite
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  Speaker 1: West Virginia governor of all time, Thirty two percent chose
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  Speaker 1: Jim Justice, nine percent chose Patrick Morrissey. That wasn't an election,
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  Speaker 1: but in twenty twenty eight, West Virginia voters may get
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity to tell us whether it was merely a
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  Speaker 1: preference or a preview