Part 5 in a series
South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb said today he may vote against George W. Bush in the Electoral College, even if the president carries West Virginia's popular vote.Forget about his vote as an elector, whom do you think Robb will vote for as a citizen?
Robb, long known as a maverick Republican, said he is considering using his position as one of the state's five Republican electors to protest what he believes are misguided policies of the current administration.
Robb, who said he might reconsider if Bush changed his foreign and domestic policy priorities, said he is researching his options under state law.
"I know that among some in my own party, what I'm discussing would be considered treasonous," Robb said. "But I'm not going to cheerlead us down the primrose path when I know we're being led in the wrong direction."
Robb's complaints about Bush center on what the mayor believes was a misguided policy on Iraq and the swelling budget deficit.
"I only started to really rethink my position seriously after the accusations about Kerry's service in Vietnam, though," Robb said. "I served in Vietnam, and I think Bush's surrogates, and I think really the Bush campaign, went beyond the line with those ads."