Anne Barth

by Thomas Harding

Anne Barth grew up in various locations around West Virginia as she followed her father, who was a minister in the Methodist church. She went to junior high and high school in Charleston, then attended West Virginia University, where she met her husband of 26 years, Nick Barth. She is a Democrat running against Republican incumbent Shelley Moore Capito for the U.S. House of Representatives in West Virginia’s 2nd District.

OBSERVER: Would you have voted for the bailout package approved by Congress?

BARTH: I believe that doing nothing was not an option. I would have voted for it. This is the worst crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. has lost over 760,000 jobs since the beginning of this year. FDR said during the Great Depression: You have to try something, if that does not work, admit it and try something else. But above all do something.

OBSERVER: Your opponent, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, voted twice against the bailout package.

BARTH: She not only opposed it twice, she did not propose anything in its place.

OBSERVER: Capito has said she did not vote for the package because it lacked oversight and it would not benefit West Virginia taxpayers.

BARTH: We needed oversight before the crisis occurred, and she serves on the [House Financial] Committee, which should have been providing oversight. So she is late to the table. While on the committee she did not call for oversight, she did not hold hearings, she did not bring people in and ask them questions.

OBSERVER: Why have you raised questions about the contributors to Capito’s campaign?

BARTH: She has gotten over $300,000 from Wall Street firms, many of which are involved in the bailout. When people talk about why Congress has such low approval ratings, you need look no further.

OBSERVER: For 21 years you have worked behind the scenes in Senator Byrd’s office. In television terms, you have come from behind the camera to in front of it. How is that working out for you?

BARTH: It is huge to put your name on the ballot for the first time. It is really exciting. I want people to get to know who I am. I am proud of the upbringing I had in West Virginia. I had the chance to live around the state, and have friends and family in every nook and cranny around West Virginia.

OBSERVER: Has Senator Byrd supported you?

BARTH: He is very interested in my race, and calls almost every day. He asks who I am talking to, how I am running, where have I been? He tells me to get out there and work, work, work.

OBSERVER: Do you see this as a passing of the baton to you?

BARTH: If I can be just a little of what he has been, I will be very happy. I have learned a lot from him. I have had a front row seat to history. It has been a fantastic journey. It is very difficult to be compared to him. I have a long way to go. I will never lose track of the fact that you must listen to voters first, and not let your head be turned by Washington. You must put the Constitution first.

OBSERVER: Do you have a copy with you?

BARTH: [Laughs.] In my briefcase.

OBSERVER: What are you going to do to bridge the gap between Charles Town and Charleston?

BARTH: Clearly the road to Congress goes through the Eastern Panhandle, and the people of the Eastern Panhandle understand this. This is a huge district with a diverse range of economic engines. We need to make an effort to find common ground.

OBSERVER: You have said that the Bush administration has been a disaster?

BARTH: Yes. And Capito has been part of the Bush/Cheney team.

OBSERvER: Didn’t Capito vote against President Bush and the majority of her party for children’s health care through the S-Chip program?

BARTH: She did in the end. But there are still a lot of working people not covered. For the richest country on the planet not to be able to extend health care coverage to everyone is outrageous.

OBSERVER: Would you have voted for the Iraq War?

BARTH: I would not. When [Capito] comes to the state, she is skeptical of the war, but when she is in Washington she is 100 percent of the time for the war. I have said it is time to honor our troops and bring them home.