Raese Keeping His Name in the Mix

John Raese gave a speech to the Marion County Republican Executive Committee last week that sounded awfully like a campaign stumper to The Times West Virginian of Fairmont.

Headlining the GOP group's annual fundraising dinner, the industrialist and media owner took swipes at the Democratic presidential field, the state's U.S. Senate delegation and the theory of climate change, the newspaper reported.

“There’s no scientific proof whatsoever that greenhouse emissions are caused by fossil fuels,” Raese said.

Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., meanwhile have failed to "defend the coal industry against environmentalists and proponents of global warming," Raese said.

The article notes that Raese lost to Byrd last year and that while he lost narrowly to Rockefeller in 1984, "he's considering running again" against Rockefeller in 2008, Raese told the crowd.

Toward the end, Raese touched on the poll he commissioned earlier this year, which found Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani leading their respective fields in West Virginia and Clinton taking the state in November.

And Raese touted Giuliani as the GOP's best hope, particularly in states with the most electoral votes.

“A lot of the things Rudy stands for I think play well in a lot of those states, plus he’s a national hero,” the newspaper quotes Raese as saying.

But Raese strayed from the Republican playbook on one key point: "He also bashed Forbes magazine for knocking the state’s business climate, recently ranking it 49th."

“My family has been doing business in West Virginia since 1905. A lot of people have done business and done very well in West Virginia,” Raese told the audience.

Shortly after the speech, Raese's wife hosted the inaugural meeting of a new political group she has founded. More than 100 joined Liz Raese in Morgantown for Saturday's launch of "Conservative Women of West Virginia."