damage he ll do in washington with his friend, barack obama. i m john racy and i approve of this message because i won t be a rubber stamp for obama s cap and trade bill. reporter: president obama did not win this state and he is very unpopular here, don. i talked to the governor just a short while ago and i asked him about that and whether or not there s hurting him. how much is the president, in all honesty, dragging you down and making this race competitive for the senate? i think it is it has made a big difference in my race. it truly has made a difference in my race. reporter: in what way? president obama s not on the ballot. he will not be a u.s. senator and definitely not on the ballot in west virginia, it s me. is he trying to distance himself, dana? reporter: he is. he s doing it, it seems, much more aggressively. for example, he told me that the stimulus package, which is something that people here are
catherine herridge in d.c.. reporter: you re welcome. jon: now from america s election headquarters is a massachusetts-style upset in the making in west virgina? there s a surprisingly tight race for the seat held by democratic senator robert bid for decades. the democratic governor there, joe manchin is head-to-head against republican businessman john racy. chief political correspondent carl cameron live in sistersville, west virgina. it has been a democratic seat for decades. what is different this time around? reporter: joe manchin was thought to be virtual shoe-in. a very popular democratic governor in this state. he faces a problem not in his republican rival, mostly in president barack obama and democrats agenda in washington. while manchin is popular here for his work as governor of west virgina, the national agenda for
hand and now they re having a special election to fill his seat. john racy has run for office three times before in this state, twice for senate in the paand each time come up short. this time, however, the polls suggest this race is going to go right down to the wire, the latest from the public policy institute, a democratic leaning poll, suggests that it s a tossup but raese has a tiny lead and across the state it s the obama agenda and the idea of nationalized health care reform, the cap and trade program that many here believe would gut the coal industry of west virginia, has put joe manchin at odds with the president and national democrats and it s hurting him, this popular governor is in serious trouble when it comes to his run for senate. bill: the way you lay that out, it suggests quite clearly that president obama is not helping in that part of the country. is that a fair statement? reporter: it is. it is a fair statement. in fact, it s a statement that joe manchin himself m
back to virginia, we re awaiting on the president s introduction to the u.n. pb but on the campaign trail now, this was not expected to be a race in west virginia, and t-z. democrats have held that seat for 50 years. governor joe manchin, a come a democrat, hugely popular politician, yet he finds himself in a very competitive fight against a businessman by the name of john racy. carl cameron is in the town of sitzville, virginia. this race was not expected to be this tight and now why is it one of the closest races in the country? carl, good morning. reporter: good morning. it is a petri dish of what s happening, west virginia now perhaps more than anywhere else is going through what way get determined and called the obama effect. governor joe manchin is tremendously popular in this state, as governor, his approval ratings are in the mid to high 60s and he would easily be reelected governor had he chosen to do that, but with the death of bob byrd essentially forced his
virginia, paul. that s next, right? you are absolutely right, wolf. we re talking about robert byrd. the democratic senator died earlier this year. this is going to be a special election in november. the democratic governor there, pretty popular, is the nominee, but republicans think they have a good shot at taking back this seat. look at this. the freedom works, a conservative grassroots group here in d.c. but they back tea party movement organizations. and they are now eyeing that seat. they say they ll help the republican candidate there, john racy. they ll help him get out the vote. i tell you, they targeting west virginia now, freedom works. if they can take west virginia, the republicans have a shot at winning back the senate. wolf some. let me bring in mark for a moment. mark, the the democrats are pushing back against this whole tea party phenomenon right now. the president and the vice president, for example, they re on the road. they are, wolf. really, look, the presi