DAILY MAIL CAPITOL REPORTER
AFTER covering 293 miles in nearly 17 hours, Gov. Bob Wise and hisstaff returned to Charleston the way they left it - in darkness.
On the road, the governor and his traveling band of cabinetsecretaries and staffers made plenty of pit stops. Wise dished outgrants and plaques and cut a big yellow ribbon. He toured WestVirginia's most luxurious resort, puttering through neighborhoodswith $3 million houses, and then an hour later stood on top of amountain of coal waste, smiling the whole time.
And then there were all the handshakes and virtually endless whirlof clicking cameras.
Sound like a man on the campaign trail? It's not.
Even after he halted his political career by deciding not to seekre-election, Wise continues to be a traveling man. On Tuesday, hetook his Statehouse crew on the road for the sixth time, canvassingFayette and Greenbrier counties. It was the first road trip since heannounced in August that he would not be running in 2004 for a secondterm as governor.
"This is great," Wise said. "I believe in this. You need to takegovernment out of the Capitol."
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It was 6:30 a.m., and Wise and cabinet secretaries and staffers -about 20 of them in all - bounded onto the bus on a caffeine cloud ofenergy.
Clutching a Styrofoam cup of coffee - "He's passionate aboutStarbucks," his chef said - Wise started the day by cracking thefirst of what would be many jokes, some better than others.
"The way things are going," he said, motioning to a nearbyreporter, "are you the latest member of the cabinet?"
It's not an unreasonable question, considering three of thehighest-ranking Wise administration officials are leaving next month.
The day's agenda, though, didn't provide much time for worryingabout the difficulties of being a lame duck.
A little after 7:30 a.m., the bus pulled into the Holiday Inn inOak Hill, and Wise hopped out to greet a crowd of mostly FayetteCounty business people.
Wise skipped breakfast, instead standing in the buffet line toshake hands with everyone who passed through. He posed for a fewpictures and gave a couple of interviews to local televisionstations.
Inside, Wise shoveled down grapes and some cantaloupe as a localdignitary introduced him. Then he was in front of the microphone,where he would be for much of the day, making jokes and tellinganecdotes about the local mayors and commissioners.
He handed out 15 plaques to whitewater rafting companies, whoseindustry is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and read aproclamation recognizing Oak Hill's 100th birthday. His speech wasover in minutes, and he smiled for about 40 pictures. A Granny Smithapple was devoured on the way out the door.
At 10 a.m., Wise was standing in the middle of an empty patch ofsoggy grass, with a makeshift stage set up and a couple dozen metalfolding chairs. It was a press conference for Wolf Creek Park, a1,000-acre recreational area that was boosted by an economicdevelopment grant.
Project supporters lavished praise on Wise. Throughout the day,the governor was called a model public servant, a visionary, a man ofmoral conviction.
Back on the bus, headed now for Greenbrier County, Wise wasushered to the back row by his economic development staff. They hadnews that a state business might be cutting jobs, the details ofwhich were held under wraps. Wise was briefed.
The bus was quiet, and much of the early-morning energy seemed tohave evaporated. Wise was offered a Diet Coke, but he politelyrefused. He prefers Diet Pepsi.
Before noon, the bus pulled into the Greenbrier Valley MedicalCenter, which was unveiling $22 million in improvements.
The governor was greeted by a high school choir. Lunch was a pigroast under a tent in the hospital parking lot.
Wise ducked into a conference room to do a scheduled interviewwith a Washington Post reporter, who drove to Lewisburg to interviewthe governor on the No Child Left Behind education law.
A short speech and a 20-foot long yellow ribbon awaited. A handfulof hospital officials talked about the changes made to the facility,praised Wise for medical malpractice reform, and then it was thegovernor's turn. He trotted out a line he tried on the bus minutesbefore.
"I'm the only thing between you and a pig roast," he said. "Thereal guest of honor has an apple in his mouth."
The crowd laughed. Lunch was a few forkfuls of pork and some pastasalad, and it was off to The Greenbrier.
At 3 p.m., Wise was greeted by Greenbrier Chief Executive OfficerTed Kleisner, who was attired in a pinstriped suit. Kleisner gave thegovernor a personal bus tour of the resort's new housing community,where land plots cost up to $2 million.
Kleisner said author Tom Clancy has bought three lots, but Wisesaid he won't locate there anytime soon. The governor is alreadytrying to sell his house in Charleston, and besides, he doesn't playgolf.
At a Greenbrier reception, Wise was offered something called achocolate mint bonbon. He refused, but his staff was moreenthusiastic. ("Oh yes," said Education Secretary Kay Goodwin, whospent much of the trip in anticipation of Greenbrier chocolate.)
As the sun began to set in late afternoon, Wise boarded the busagain, this time headed for a coal dump site in Rainelle. It's calleda gob pile - mountains of unusable coal and rocks and dirt - and thisparticular site has been the source of near-constant joking on thebus.
But Wise was enthralled. During a 20-minute, bumpy bus ride to thetop of the gob pile, Wise peppered the plant operators withquestions. His staff's eyes glazed over.
The top, 3,800 feet high, provided a spectacular view of theGreenbrier Valley. A new clean-coal program, for which Wise announceda $3 million state grant on the bus trip, could turn the whole pileof waste into reusable energy.
Wise picked up a couple chunks of coal as souvenirs.
One more stop. It was off to Western Greenbrier Junior High Schoolfor a town forum. Wise ate a dinner from the school cafeteria - friedchicken, green beans and scalloped potatoes - and then he's on thestage for the last time, addressing a crowd of 100.
Anna Workman stole the show. Wise invited the 48-year-old motheronto the stage to detail her heart-rendering story of how her familylost its health insurance. Her son had leukemia and her husbandbecame disabled, and now the family pays $1,800 a month in insurance.She works two jobs - the second of which she skipped Tuesday night tospeak at the town hall meeting.
She spoke for about 20 minutes, and it dovetailed perfectly with aprogram the governor is beginning to advocate: adding a pool of smallbusinesses to the state's Public Employees Insurance Agency.
Wise talked about all-terrain vehicles (the Legislature shouldpass a scaled-down version); the 0.10 blood-alcohol content level fordrunken driving (it should be lowered to 0.08 to meet federalstandards) and a host of health-care issues.
At nearly 10 p.m., the forum was over. Wise shook a few hands, andthen scanned a wall of vending machines. No Diet Pepsi.
It was back on the road again, this time headed for home.
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Wise said the Greenbrier Valley provided a snapshot of WestVirginia's disparate economy. A matter of miles separates the luxuryof The Greenbrier from the struggles of small towns.
"That's part of why we do trips like this one - to see thediversity," the governor said. "One size doesn't fit all. I got abetter appreciation of that today.
"It's good for the cabinet to see firsthand what people areconcerned about. The interaction is very valuable."
On the bus home, some staffers dozed off. Others chatted andjoked, and the governor was in a social mood. He told jokes. Everyonelaughed.
As the bus rolled into Charleston, Wise started a rendition of"Happy Birthday to You" to staff photographer Steve Rotsch. Wisedeemed the day a success.
"We come back with a pretty full agenda," he said. "When we pullback into the government mansion, there's going to be a lot of tiredpeople, but also some people with pretty full lists."
Writer Josh Hafenbrack can be reached at 348-4810 or by e-mail atjhafenbrack@dailymail.com.
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