Coal miners are down, thanks to a bear market in natural gas and a decadelong war with the Democratic Party. So, this probably isn't the time for Democrats to kick them, especially considering that the party is currently defending a Senate seat in West Virginia.

Now, someone go tell that to Nancy Pelosi.

The Minority Leader made some jokes at West Virginia’s expense during an event hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California on Wednesday, apparently not sufficiently satisfied at how angry people in coal country are toward her party. It was cringeworthy.

"Sen. Byrd had a coal-powered plant fueling the Capitol, you know,” Pelosi said, reminiscing about the power of the old appropriations chairman from the Mountain State. "That’s gonna go; with all due respect to West Virginia, we’re not gonna have a coal power plant floating around.”

It wasn’t enough for Pelosi to crack jokes about how the Capitol building used to be kept warm with a coal furnace. Earlier, the California Democrat had invoked religious terms to condemn fossil fuels arguing that “some, those who believe in God’s creation,” are called to be “good stewards of it.”

[Survey: Democrats are fed up with Nancy Pelosi]



She is right on that last point. We ought to preserve creation. But more importantly, we ought to care for the created — something that her party certainly didn’t do a good job of when they went to war with coal. West Virginia voters certainly didn’t feel the love from anyone on Pelosi’s side of the aisle. And of course, Republicans quickly repackaged her remarks for their own purposes.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is barely holding on in a state Trump won in a 41-point landslide. Manchin is already being criticized for the policies of the Obama administration and for endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016. Now, he also has to distance himself from Pelosi.

His Republican challenger, Patrick Morrisey, is making that as difficult as he can, sending a statement with an attached picture of Manchin and Pelosi.

"Nancy Pelosi proved that President Trump is right about Joe Manchin putting liberal Washington Democrats and Hillary Clinton ahead of West Virginia," said Morrisey for Senate spokesperson Nathan Brand. "For all the talking Joe Manchin does about bucking Washington Democrats, his actions reflect that he is still a reliable member of the liberal anti-coal Democrat leadership in Washington. If Joe Manchin stood with West Virginia and President Trump, he'd immediately denounce Pelosi's attacks and leave the Washington Democrats' radical leadership team."

If Morrisey really wants to dig at Manchin, that Republican should pledge to introduce legislation that would install a clean-coal burning furnace on Capitol Hill. The longer Pelosi keeps talking West Virginia, the more likely that becomes a possibility.