Committee Assignments (Post #4)

From the beginning of his congressional career in 1984, Senator Jay Rockefeller has served on the Senate Intelligence Committee where he resided as Chairman from 2004 until his retirement in January of 2009. During his stint as Chairman, Senator Rockefeller had a reputation of being highly condemning of the War on Terror especially the campaign in Iraq. His personal senate website reflects this stating that he is “critical of the nation's mismanagement of the Iraq war, and continues to press the United States to refocus its mission and resources on al Qaida and global terrorism.” 

With a name like Rockefeller, it seems ironic that he is critical of a war that is dripping in oil, but perhaps he redeemed himself in great grandpa’s eyes as he actually voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in October of 2002 (From Washington Post database). However, his opinion seems to have changed after a number of trips to the Middle East. In an interview with Fox News upon his return he states, “We are called the Senate Intelligence Committee. We get a lot more than the rest of the Senate, but it was incomplete as to what the president gets, and it was obviously entirely wrong, which raises the question of why was it wrong… I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq, that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11” (source).

Though he makes his point, I can’t help but find satirical musings in the fact that the current head of a family who made their fortune in oil (and ruthless business deals) would be campaigning for friendship/confidence with the leaders from some of the world’s largest oil producing countries using an “America was in it for business reasons” platform. 

In the end, Rockefeller was successful in implementing a two phase investigation into the series of events that led up to the Iraq War and was subsequently instrumental in the intelligence reforms of 2007 and 2008 (read more here). 

After his retirement a Chairman of the Intelligence Committee in 2009, Senator Rockefeller accepted the position as Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (where South Dakota’s Senator Thune is a ranking member and often serves as the Republican voice). As the Senior Senator from West Virginia and given the state’s mining/industry based economy, Rockefeller’s role here is in line with his constituent interests. According to the committee website, he is currently working to pass the American Infrastructure Investment Fund Act which would allocate funds for “rails, roads, bridges, ports, transit systems, and other infrastructure in order to meet the needs of our country” (source) and continues to call for increased cyber security and education for the 21st century (see video).

“Just as harnessing technological innovation is crucial to our economic future, addressing the dangers of a completely interconnected world is just as critical.  Cyber security is one of the great national security challenges we face – it is a challenge that the government and the private sector must work collaboratively to solve.  I am confident we will.” (quotes from committee press release).

In addition, Senator Rockefeller is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health Care. In this position he was a primary supporter of the Health Care legislation proposed by President Clinton in 1994. He was also instrumental in the passage of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Today, his proposed legislation focuses on reducing prescription drug addiction which happens to be unusually high in his state of West Virginia (An estimated 150,000 West Virginians need treatment for addiction each year which is much higher than the national average).

Other positions Senator Rockefeller holds in Congress: he serves on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Joint Committee on Taxation, is Co-chairman of the Senate Steel Caucus, and is a United States Trade Advisor. He favors tax credits and incentives as well as progressive tax reform, and has recently proposed legislation to protect both miners’ and veterans’ retirement benefits (see his website homepage for more information).

A full listing of his committee assignments and links to the committees’ pages can be found on his senate website here. 

Sources:
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/about-jay
http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=298775
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=2c48227e-9b09-4e9d-a5fc-79f5b205ebe2 
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=ea21aaca-84b4-425c-9b14-206c08c822ac
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175433,00.html
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/committee-assignments
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/R000361/votes/

Campaign Strategy (Post #2)

A quick refresher on my politician:

Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Senior Senator from West Virginia, was elected in 1984 winning a highly contested race against Republican John Raese. He has gone on to win four largely uncontested reelections and will retire from the Senate at the end of his current term having spent 30 years in office.

He has served as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee (retiring in January 2009) and is currently the Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He is known for his open criticism on the War in Iraq and is a primary supporter of nationalized health care legislation.

Last Election:

Rockefeller won reelection in 2008 defeating Republican challenger Jay Wolfe by 27 points even though McCain won the state by 13 points (a 40 point gap). This was not a surprise as Rockefeller also defeated Wolfe in the 2002 Senatorial race and had never won re-election with less than 63% of the vote. However, one can imagine it would be hard for any candidate to win with Rockefeller outspending $2.3 million to $136,000 (almost 17 to 1) in the 2002 race and $6 million to $124,000 (48 to 1) in the 2008 race.

Rockefeller himself has not contributed any funds to his own Senatorial campaigns, but is affiliated with a Democratic PAC known as the Mountaineer PAC and is supported by a number of companies and industries (see below).

Voting in 2012 vs. 2013:

In 2012, Rockefeller backed President Obama despite the President’s unpopularity in West Virginia (he lost to Republican Mitt Romney by nearly 27 percentage points in 2012). However, throughout the reelection process Rockefeller remained a strong supporter of industries such as coal that often came under fire from the administration. With his upcoming retirement that has changed, and Rockefeller has now openly supported the President’s “War on Coal” and other environmental policies (this video is one example).

Outlook for the Senator's Seat in 2014:

With Senator Rockefeller’s retirement, experts predict a likely win for Republicans in 2014. Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) who has served in the US House for the last thirteen years declared her candidacy in November and is favored to win the vacated seat (view her campaign page here).

No Democrats have come forward with intent to run for the Senatorial seat, and, according to Politico Experts, the bench of potential candidates doesn’t appear to be very deep.  U.S. Attorney, Booth Goodwin; state House Speaker, Rick Thompson; West Virginia Secretary of State, Natalie Tennant; and Carte Goodwin, who served as interim U.S. Senator after Robert Byrd died in 2010, have been named as possible Democratic contenders.

Although Rockefeller's seat has been under Democratic control since 1958, the predicted Republic upset is largely due to the aversion of President Obama in West Virginia and the popularity of Representative Capito.

Sources:

http://fec-political-committees.findthedata.org/l/22852/Friends-of-Jay-Wolfe-Committee

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/senate/wv/west_virginia_senate-926.html

http://fec-political-committees.findthedata.org/l/14245/Mountaineer-Pac

http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/electionate/110549/democratic-losses-in-coal-country-put-rockefeller-in-danger

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00459651&cycle=2012

http://www.newrepublic.com/tags/jay-rockefeller

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=Career&type=I&cid=N00001685&newMem=N

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/senate-control-elections-2014-republicans-86766.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/11/25/Moore-Capito-to-seek-Rockefellers-seat/UPI-16611353903378/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/01/11/jay-rockefeller-senate-retirement-west-virginia/1826535/

Introduction (Post #1)

Following Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller

Introduction: According to his website, Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (WV-D) was born on June 18, 1937. At seventy-five years old, he has served the people of West Virginia in various political positions for over 40 years, and announced in January that he will not be seeking reelection.

As you may have guessed by his name, Senator Rockefeller is the great-grandson of oil tycoon, John D. Rockefeller. He was born in New York City and attended preparatory school at Phillips Exeter Academy graduating in 1955. He spent three years studying Japanese at the International Christian University in Tokyo and went on to graduate with an A.B. in Far Eastern Languages and History from Harvard in 1961 (information also found on http://www.rollcall.com/members/538.html).

After serving in the Peace Corps and subsequently gaining friendship with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Senator Rockefeller was assigned the position of Operations Director for the Corps' program in the Philippines in 1962. He returned home to begin a long career of public service by joining the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program in 1964. Placed in Emmons, West Virginia, Senator Rockefeller was tasked with improving conditions of the small mining community. His work during this period would gain him the confidence and support of the West Virginian people and give him his constituent base from which to launch a political career.

In 1966, Rockefeller was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates and in two short years he became West Virginia’s Secretary of State. Running for governor in 1972 he was defeated by Republican incumbent Arch Moore. Recouping from his in the gubernatorial race, Rockefeller took a break from politics to serve as the President of Wesleyan College from 1973-1976, but went on to become Governor of West Virginia in 1976. Having served most of his second term as governor, Jay Rockefeller was elected Senator of West Virginia winning a highly contested race against Republican John Raese in 1984. He has gone on to win four largely uncontested reelections and will retire from the Senate at the end of his current term (30 years in office).

He has served as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee (retiring in January 2009) and is currently the Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He is known for his open criticism on the War in Iraq and is a primary supporter of nationalized health care legislation.

In 1967, Rockefeller married fellow Presbyterian, Sharon Percy Rockefeller (former Chief Executive Officer of WETA-TV and daughter of Senator Charles H. Percy).  They have four children: John D. Rockefeller V (Jamie), Valerie, Charles, and Justin. They also have four granddaughters and two grandsons. Although Senator Rockefeller maintains permanent residence in Charleston, West Virginia, he and his family reside in Northwest Washington, DC.

State Facts: From the 2010 US census data, West Virginia has a population of 1,855,413 making it 37^th in the nation. Major cities include its capitol Charleston and the city of Huntington. According to a 2011 Gallup poll, 75% of West Virginians are protestant. The economy of the state is based on agriculture and mining. Agricultural products include cattle, dairy products, poultry and apples.  Industrial products include coal, primary metals, stone, clay, and glass.

Fun Facts: Jay Rockefeller is the only Democratic politician in a long family lineage of strong Republican political figures, and as Senator he voted against the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement which was heavily backed by his uncle David Rockefeller (read his reasoning here). During his first race for the Senate, he won his seat despite Ronald Regan securing the presidential electoral votes from West Virginia that same year. Rockefeller entertained the idea of running for the 1992 Presidential seat, but was advised to instead support candidate Bill Clinton and never ran for the Democratic nomination. 

Congressional Strategy (Post #3)

Congressional Strategy

Upon declaring his retirement, Senator Rockefeller has spent comparatively less time in West Virginia in 2013 than at other times in his career especially the last campaign season when Democrats were largely unpopular in the state (this information comes from tracking his press releases and twitter which are public acknowledgements from his office of his whereabouts and public appearances). Since his family home and permanent residence is in Washington DC, this would be a logical trend since he is much less beholden to the people of West Virginia, no longer needing their vote to maintain his position. Less harshly, he is an older man and travel may be difficult. 

Throughout his career, Senator Rockefeller has created weekly video segments creatively titled "A Minute with Jay". He releases these both on his Facebook page and his You Tube channel. In January one of his chat segments dealt specifically with his out look for his final term in the Senate (see the video below). In the video, he outlines eight issue points including: 1) Create and save jobs in West Virginia and boost the state’s economy, 2) Fulfill the promise of affordable health care for all West Virginians, 3) Protect workers’ safety and benefits. 4) Use our energy resources safely and effectively, 5) Make sure all our schools and libraries have access to the most up to date technologies, 6) Protect veterans’ benefits, health care, and education, 7) Protect consumer information and strengthen privacy protections on the Internet, and 8) Expose consumer abuses and government waste, and stop them.

In order to reach these goals he proposes a number of actions including: tax credits, safety-net programs, pipeline safety and clean energy initiatives (important due to his position on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee), E-rate school internet programs, improving cyber-security regulation, and cracking down on health insurance marketing and business practices.

A Minute with Jay: My Plans for the Future

Recent press releases, mailings, and video segments from Senator Rockefeller deal with four issues that are particularly important to him and his career - the Violence Against Women Act, retirement benefits and healthcare particularly for retired miners, reducing prescription drug addiction (An estimated 150,000 West Virginians need treatment for addiction each year which is much higher than the national average), and national pipeline infrastructure (see his committee's press release on the pipeline issue here). 

The issues addressed in his video and press releases are indicative of the bills he has sponsored and co-sponsored. According to the Library of Congress Thomas Database, Rockefeller has introduced nine and co-sponsored eighteen bills in the Senate in 2013. His bills deal with cyber regulation, prescription drug addition, retirement benefit extensions for miners, tax reformation, and fishery standards. All are currently sitting in committee with no indication from his social media sites or press releases that movement will be taking place in the near future. Of the bills he's co-sponsored, the majority have been introduces by Senator Harry Reid and/or deal with social issues such as gun regulation, student debt, private loan and banking controls, mental health legislation, and job creation bills. You can view the Senator's full voting record here or a synopsis of key votes put together by the Washington Post here. 


Sources:
https://twitter.com/search?q=jay%20rockefeller&src=typd
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/committee-statements?ID=4ccad8d9-1518-480d-a745-02c446dcdf0b
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/sponsored-legislation
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/voting-record
http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/co-sponsored-legislation
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/r000361/
https://www.facebook.com/SenRockefeller?ref=ts&fref=ts