So says the AP:
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) will name a successor to the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D) at 2 p.m. ET today at the state Capitol in Charleston, and the Associated Press is reporting that it will be Carte Goodwin, the governor’s former general counsel who is 36 years old.
The A.P. says Goodwin worked on Manchin’s 2004 campaign for governor “before coming his chief lawyer. He served in that post until shortly after Manchin began his second term in 2009, leaving for his family’s law firm.” Goodwin’s wife, Rochelle, is state director for Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D).
I’m guessing that Carte is the son of Steve Goodwin, then, who was a big man around the state and a prominent member of the few families and organizations that run everything in WV, but who died earlier this year. I’m sure the Fifth Column and WV Blue know more about this.
beltane
Someone at DKos says that Goodwin is a member of a “prominent family” so he’s probably who you think he is. He will be the youngest member of the Senate.
monkeyboy
JC: “a prominent member of the few families and organizations that run everything in WV”
So you are basically saying that WV is run by an aristocracy?
beltane
Just saw a photo of Carte Goodwin. He will not only be the youngest senator, but the best looking as well. He leaves Centerfold Scottie in the dust in the looks department.
Bob Loblaw
What the hell kind of name is Carte in the first place?
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@beltane:
More importantly, is he as hot and sexy as Scott Brown?
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Bob Loblaw:
Short for “Carter”?Nevermind.beltane
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: I would say so: http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2010/7/16/750/18511/10#c10
Bobby Thomson
Might as well start drinking heavily. It’s only a matter of time until someone runs an obligatory photo of him with Lincoln (D?-AR).
Someone also better hep the dimmer members of the Republican caucus that he isn’t the same guy they’re trying to keep off the Ninth Circuit.
Alex S.
Seems like the Dems of WV keep a tight grip on their state. I guess Goodwin will become Lt. Governor once Tomblin succeeds Manchin who will head to the Senate.
Bill Rutherford, Princeton Admissions
Awesome, I love “You Never Even Call Me By My Name” and “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request.”
Redshirt
You know who else picked a Goodwin?
Bobby Thomson
@Redshirt: I think you mean Godwin.
cleek
Manchin.
i hope he’s got a jaw like Stan from American Dad.
Redshirt
@Bobby Thomson: You know what I mean!
Davis X. Machina
Probably a mother’s-maiden-name from somewhere up the family tree. Lots of folks in the region have what looks to the rest of us like three last names.
MTmofo
At least they didn’t put the Carte before the hearse.
Violet
@beltane:
He is a hottie. That probably won’t hurt him, but you never know with that kind of thing.
What kind of name is “Carte”? Like “a la carte”? Some kind of a family name?
shortstop
Mmmm, I dunno — shades of Jim Carrey in that face. But curiously, unlike the men of the GOP assessing female candidates, I don’t feel the need to find a man boinkworthy before I can support having him in office.
SiubhanDuinne
John, I’m disappointed. I really wanted you to title this thread “A la Carte.” Or “Carte Blanche.”
DougJ would have.
Chris G.
If it’s a family name, I’m sure he has relatives who are glad his parents didn’t blanche at the prospect of using it.
burnspbesq
The Villagers caused an earthquake in the DC area this morning, as a sign of their displeasure.
Betcha didn’t know they could do that. It was only a 3.6, a warning shot. Next time, who knows.
cleek
Smarte Carte!
Punchy
And everything he passes will be called “Goodwin’s Law”, as all liberal bloggers chuckle in unison.
John Bird
No judgement against this guy as an individual, but is it creepy to anyone else that we still see family names as guarantors of stability in American politics?
Violet
@John Bird:
Yep. I think it’s probably human nature, though. Known quantity over an unknown quantity. The good thing about the US is that non-political family folks can be elected. Obama is a good example of that. It’s not like he comes from a long political dynasty.
shortstop
I don’t know that we do. The plutocracy certainly does, though.
Comrade Mary
Blandly handsome but not hot in my books. But if he does any good as a senator during his brief, happy tenure, that will be fine by me.
Walker
@Davis X. Machina:
That is a common tradition among old families. That is how I got my name as a first name (though it became more popular after Walker, Texas Ranger).
demo woman
@SiubhanDuinne: Cute!
Thanks for the info last night about GA elections.
Corner Stone
@Violet:
Wait. His uncle is a Kenyan Prince!
How can you say he’s not part of a dynasty?
shortstop
And he’s working undercover to restore the caliphate, so there’s that.
mattH
Wow, 36. Good chance at beating Bird’s tenure.
stuckinred
Here’s some info on him
Goodwin
stuckinred
@demo woman: What about them? The candidates suck?
ajr22
In other news, Jay Bybee would like you to know he never authorized the cia to force a detainee to defecate on himself. He’s not a savage.
Violet
@Corner Stone:
Heh. How could I forget.
SiubhanDuinne
@demo woman:
My pleasure. I’m working the gubernatorial debates at GPB Sunday night. Dems 7:00-8:00, Reps 8:00-9:00. Free parking at GPB (14th St just west of the connector, across from Tech). You should come and sit in the studio audience!
(When I say “work,” it’s just a volunteer thing I do along with several others, greeting candidates and their entourages, escorting them to their green rooms, making sure they get to make-up, keeping them away from the journalists and other candidates as much as possible, and taking them down to the studio in time for live broadcast. I’ve worked every debate this cycle, since mid-June. It’s fun!)
demo woman
@stuckinred: She was responding to a question about state superintendent but admitted that she was perplexed about the candidates also. Do you have any thoughts? I’m leaning towards not voting the category.
stuckinred
@ajr22: More news
The U.S. Army on Thursday reported a record number of suicides in a single month among active duty, Guard and Reserve troops, despite an aggressive program of counseling, training and education aimed at suicide prevention.
Corner Stone
O/T via Atrios
Anyone who hasn’t had a chance to read the New Yorker article on Larry Summers should do so.
You want to talk about someone who should be tarred, feathered, and run out of public discourse ahead of a lynch mob?
Summers.
The article goes to great lengths to paint him as a genius and brilliant, just arrogant or brusque in his interactions. But when you read the things he says, and what he seems to genuinely believe, he comes across as not very smart at all.
And yes, it is by Ryan Lizza so caveat emperor and all that.
SiubhanDuinne
@demo woman:
Whoa! I don’t much like this headline that just popped up on AJC website:
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/barnes-says-he-supports-571952.html
stuckinred
@demo woman: Of schools? Joe Martin fo sho!
stuckinred
@SiubhanDuinne: Hedging for the goober vote.
Here’s his official statement from the AJC Voter guide
Roy E. Barnes: When the federal government fails to protect our nation’s borders, states like Georgia are forced to deal with the ramifications of illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws. All people – including employers who hire illegal immigrants – should be subject to these laws, and the law must be obeyed.
demo woman
@stuckinred: That’s who SD mentioned.
SiubhanDuinne @41
He is a politician…
Davis X. Machina
@SiubhanDuinne: A masterpiece of a waffle, by someone who’s already clearly running for the general election. While the position’s not as good as most of the competition — there are some smaller waffles in there — I think there’s less there than meets the eye.
I shudder to think what it would take in terms of nose-holding to get a Democratic governor in that state. It was toxic in the 80’s when I lived in Elliot Levitas’ district. I still can’t figure out how he got elected….
demo woman
@SiubhanDuinne: This is a good comment because Arizona has an unfunded mandate that sounds more like a political stunt.
Napoleon
@beltane:
Jesus, is he old enough to have a driver’s license?
stuckinred
@Davis X. Machina: Atlanta isn’t in Georgia and Athens damn sure isn’t! We’re working hard to give Braun the boot but it proly won’t happen since we are surrounded by “the real Georgia”! Yee haw.
Davis X. Machina
@Napoleon: I’m sure his dean will help convert his experience into some credit towards the poli-sci major.
stuckinred
@demo woman: Joe’s a good dude and a Nam vet to boot!
Malron
Carte Check finally passes.
Davis X. Machina
@stuckinred: I never recovered from teaching HS classes where ‘Communist’ was the default insult. “What do you mean, a pop quiz? That’s Communist!”
It was ’84, Reagan and all, and the Wall was still up, and it was the Golden Ghetto — Ashford-Dunwoody — but it was still a shock.
(Five years ago, the adjective would be ‘gay’, and today — in rural Maine, no less — it could just as easily be ‘Mexican’, so I’m not sure we’re making progress…)
Michael
OT, but Mr Sukup, please go ahead and kill yourself over the notion of having to pay the tax. I’ll guarantee that you are a complete flaming asshole, and you won’t be missed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2553822/posts
The ultimate in going Galt.
stuckinred
@Davis X. Machina: I hear ya, I moved here as you were leaving. Spent a couple of years at Tech but mostly have lived here in the People’s Republic of Athens. They gerrymandered the state government lines and made it almost impossible for us to get genuine representation. They didn’t have any problems with Mexicans in the chicken plants, carpet factories and building their out-of-control suburbs but now. . .
“
Indie Tarheel
@MTmofo: I admit it, I groaned. But I laughed too.
stuckinred
@Michael: A National Guard Veteran”!
ajr22
@stuckinred: That is just really sad. Things like this just really get to me. I’m young for these parts and grew up in an area that does not have much relation to the military. I bet you 95% of my friends couldn’t name the president of Afghanistan. These Military families are sacraficing so much, and most people in America just go on with their day to busy to be bothered by information like this. I was talking to my dad the other day about what he remembers about Vietnam(he was about 8-10) and I told him I was asking becuase it worries me that kids that age now have never even heard of Afghanistan, and we have been fighting there since the day they were born.
Brien Jackson
@John Bird:
Not really, it seems somewhat logical really. If you like X politician there’s a reasonably good chance that their son/daughter will be similar, so faced with a lot of choices you don’t really know much about, it’s a rather logical shortcut.
stuckinred
@ajr22: Your dad was 8-10 during Vietnam! As you youngin’s would say OMG, just shoot me! ” (:
Butch
So is there any clue what the guy’s politics are actually like?
shortstop
We used to use it as a tongue-in-cheek retro insult–“You don’t know the words to the (insert random TV Land staple) theme? Communist!”…”You don’t like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese? Communist!”–never dreaming that when a black guy became president, hordes of the ignorant and enraged would start applying it in earnest. How young we were.
ajr22
@stuckinred: Yes i’m only 23. Every time I say that on this blog I get about the same reaction as you just gave. I know I’m a youngin around here, but I have become accustomed to the reasonableness and snark.
KG
@Violet: I’d say that most pols are from non-political families. Looking, especially at the last 30 years or so:
Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Obama all came from non-political families. We don’t see many Adams’, Jeffersons, or Roosevelts in American politics today. It’s probably a bit more prevalent at the state level (especially in smaller states).
Then again, Dingel, Pelosi, the Bushs, the Kennedys, and I’m sure I’m missing a few others fall into the other category.
At the end of the day, as long as they are doing it for the right reasons (regardless of their politics), meaning service of country and fellow citizens, patriotism and all that jazz, I don’t mind if they come from a political family or not.
Kryptik
OT: I’ll take ‘Reasons Why I’m A Lapsed Catholic’ for $1000, Alex:
Vatican Revises Abuse Process, but Causes Stir
stuckinred
@ajr22: love ya
BruinKid
@Butch: Probably along the lines of Joe Manchin. In other words, a pro-coal conservative Democrat.
elmo
@Chris G.:
Man, you worked hard for that one!
SiubhanDuinne
O/T, but that “I Write Like . . . ” thing that everyone was twitting and posting about yesterday? There’s a very funny quick piece just posted in the NYTimes Sunday Books preview about that. Comments are hilarious.
http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/i-write-like-yeah-right/?nl=books&emc=booksupdateemb6
Back to West Virginia and the hot new Senator. . . .
Poopyman
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for the link to that!
That gave me an idea. Since I don’t want to subscribe to the online NYT, I clipped a paragraph of David Brooks from a Paul Krugman piece.
Apparently, David Brooks writes like Leo Tolstoy! Who knew?
Poopyman
BTW, it told me I write like David Foster Brooks, making me glad the analysis came to me pre-debunked.
Butch
@BruinKid: Keeping up with Colorado politics (accusations of plagiarism and a hefty fine for campaign law violations, both at the two GOP candidates for governor, and the two GOP senate hopefuls, both of whom are fully on board the crazy train) has been a full-time job; I have to admit I don’t know much about Manchin.
Poopyman
@Poopyman: I am an idiot.
David Foster Wallace
Damned machine crashed just as I went into the editor.
Cat Lady
OT, but I think I really really want to see Inception. It sounds original, and even though the reviews keep mentioning the Matrix meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I think it looks way more interesting than both. And I really like Joseph Gordon-Leavitt – he growed up right fine. It doesn’t hurt to look like Heath Ledger’s twin brother from another mother.
Ned R.
Meanwhile, VERY OT but this Ambinder piece:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/07/previewing-priest-inside-the-semi-secret-world-of-intelligence-contractors/59895/
…has, at the time of my posting this, a very amusing final sentence. I am still surprised it hasn’t been corrected yet.
Morbo
@Ned R.: I hope that they can have very productive intercourse on the subject.
fucen tarmal
cartesian politics as usual
Ned R.
@Morbo: They’ll lay into it with great gusto.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Walker: My son’s first name is Walker. I got his from Terry Brooks’ Shannara series.
licensed to kill time
@Ned R.:
“It’s OK, kids, Daddy’s not hurting Mommy, we’re just having a pubic debate…now close that door!”
SiubhanDuinne
@Ned R.: Deleted because I went back and read the sentence CAREFULLY this time. LOL!!
fucen tarmal
@Ned R.:
the cloture vote on the premature offshorifcation is coming quick