Friday, May 4, 2012

Manchin Faces Former Opponent

{Charleston, West Virginia}...It's been 18 months since former West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin became a U.S. Senator. In his bid for a full six-year term on Capitol Hill, Manchin faces former Monongalia County legislator Sheirl Fletcher in Tuesday's primary. Fletcher garnered just 6 percent of the vote in the 2010 special primary two months after the death of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd. Manchin has come under recent scrutiny about his decisions and party loyalty, in part for saying he's not sure whether he'll vote for President Barack Obama or Republican nominee Mitt Romney in November. Manchin has been a critic of the Obama administration's economic and energy policies, particularly coal, and he's been critical of Romney's stances to raise the future retirement age for full Medicare benefits and privatize Social Security.