West Virginia Governor Appoints Chief Counsel to Vacant Senate Seat.

Not surprisingly, it's a Democrat.

Specifically, Gov. Manchin's former Chief Counsel Carte Goodwin- who's almost one-third the age of the late Robert Byrd.

He would likely hold the seat until an election is held in November for a more permanent replacement. Manchin has said he is likely to run.

Goodwin hails from a prominent family in West Virginia legal and political circles. His is the third generation of Goodwins to practice law in West Virginia, according to the website of his family’s law firm, Goodwin & Goodwin. His father chaired West Virginia University’s Board of Governors, one uncle is a federal judge, and a cousin is the U.S. Attorney for the state’s southern federal court district, according to the AP.

After working on Manchin’s 2004 campaign for governor, he became his general counsel in 2005, before returning to his family’s law firm in 2009 Manchin also turned to Goodwin last year to head a review of the state’s judiciary after conflict-of-interest scandals and concerns from business groups, according to the AP. As general counsel, he played a key role in drafting mine rescue and safety measures after deadly accidents in West Virginia coal mines in 2006.

“I know he’s going to make us all proud,’’ Governor Manchin said at a packed news conference at the state Capitol. “I know that West Virginia is better off because he’s passed this way.’’

And more importantly, he knows Goodwin will step down once Manchin's term as governor is up and he runs for Senate.

UPDATE- Carte Goodwin indicated that he would likely vote against Cap & Trade as it's currently written in a Charleston, WV Press conference on Friday.

“From what I’ve seen, they are simply not right for West Virginia,” Goodwin said at a press conference after Gov. Joe Manchin announced his appointment. “I will not support any piece of legislation that threatens any West Virginia job or any West Virginia family.”

Now-senior Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) has also come out more aggressively against the bill that was passed in the US House last year. Voting for complex and punitive taxes on coal makes very little sense in one of the world's most productive coal mining reigons, regardless of political affiliation.

Having said that, I'll have to take both Goodwin and Rockefeller's opposition to Cap & Trade with a grain of salt. Remember that back in March, Bart Stupak was a 'pro-life' Democrat who basically sold out the unborn in exchange for a worthless piece of paper signed by President Obama.

UPDATE #2- Well well well....looks like the recently departed nonegenarian Klansman Byrd was getting ready to decimate West Virginia's economy to make nice with the Chicago-San Francisco axis of the Democrat party:

Byrd had been sending strong signals over the last year that he could vote for a bill that places a price on greenhouse gas emissions. "West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it,” he said last December.

Anybody else wanna savor the irony of a 92 year old Kleagle lecturing others on the merits of 'change'?