The other thing to consider I guess, is what are the GOP planning to do with their new majority? They of course need to be wary of a backlash a la Colorado Democrats. The obvious red button issue would be right-to-work legislation.
They need to be aware of their constituency and dance with them that brung 'em.
A West Virginia Republican simply cannot govern the way a Texas or Arizona or Florida Republican can govern. There aren't enough well-off suburbanites in gated communities and office parks. There aren't a lot of local business interests outside of coal. If they make it harder to get food stamps in WV, those people are going to get pretty damn pissed off. They can't point the finger at the non-whites because there are none to scapegoat like in someplace like Georgia or North Carolina.
I'm not sure what the WV GOP will do with their power. It's not as if Big Coal hasn't been getting what it wants with the Democrats in power anyway. They could try to do something about the alarming number of people there who are all hopped up on Oxycontin and meth and smoking like chimneys. But that, again, would require government action.
