Why wait? Remembering before November

A quick glance at social media in the wake of WV's primary election results has led me to issue this proclamation: the word of the day is schadenfreude. It's German for the pleasure some people--not me, of course--derive from the misfortunes of others...especially when they seem to be well deserved.

(I couldn't find the German word for the specific pleasure victorious teachers and school employees feel when one of their adversaries loses an election. If it doesn't exist, it should.)

There are lots of giddy and gleeful memes and tweets circulating celebrating the landslide victory of pro-union and moderate Republican Bill Hamilton over the inflammatory state senator Robert Karnes, who once referred to union members as "free riders."

Hamilton, who served many terms in the WV House, won by a margin of 63 to 37 percent in a very conservative district. Karnes seemed to go out of his way to antagonize education workers during WV's recent successful teacher's strike.

According to this Vice report, of the 115 candidates endorsed by the WV Education Association, 99 won. The WV AFLCIO likewise did pretty well.  While we're at it, here's more coverage by AP, the Gazette-Mail, and WV Public Broadcasting.

Another big winner who got a boost from teachers and union supporters was Richard Ojeda, a state senator running for congress and champion of teachers and other workers. He won 52 percent of the vote in a field of several candidates, the nearest with only around 25 percent of the vote.

In terms of a blown opportunity, I still say that Senator Joe Manchin was a huge loser in not publicly championing striking education workers like Ojeda did when he had the chance. To be fair, Manchin was quietly supportive, but the situation and the moment called for more than that. He'll face a tough race in November and could easily have had a lot more enthusiasm behind him. I believe in baseball that's called an unforced error.

Manchin tries hard to be bi-partisan, but the love he shows to the Trump administration seems to be unrequited. I kind of wonder how that's working for him.