Hillary Clinton delivered a drubbing to Barack Obama in West Virginia, but the real winner of the Mountain State's Democratic primary may actually be Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham.  More on that later, but first a quick history lesson.  The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has backed two embarrassing candidacies for the Supreme Court the past two election cycles, and each year the voters delivered a unanimous verdict in sticking with the incumbents (Justices Leah Ward Sears and Carol Hunstein).  Benham, the first African American member of the court, appointed and elected in 1990 is the potential high profile target of the Chamber and its mostly Republican allies, but it appears he may get a pass.

Instead of taking yet another shot at an incumbent who is almost certain to win, the Chamber appears more likely to pick sides in the open Court of Appeals race, where there is no incumbent and at least two prominent lawyers have already entered the fray.  The Court of Appeals, just below the Supreme Court, has its hands on many cases that are of interest to the business community before they reach the top Court, as well as many that never get to the highest level.  And since the Appeals seat is open, they may have more luck than they've had in prior campaigns when members of the legal community from both parties rallied to defend an incumbent Justice that was favored to win.  So, what does West Virginia have to do with any of this?  West Virginia Chief Justice Spike Maynard, a Democrat, was well known as an ally of big business and had even been photographed on an island vacation with a top corporate leader in the state.  And he finished in 3rd place in his re-election race, well behind two challengers who repeatedly hammered him for his corporate ties.  Couple that with prior Georgia losses, and the story of Sue Bell Cobb, Alabama's pro-consumer Chief Justice who recently ousted a Chamber backed incumbent should make Benham rest a little easier as judicial qualifying approaches.