First target of 2012: Joe Manchin

Let the record show that the National Republican Senatorial Committee's first shot of the 2012 political season -- taken just a week from the 2010 midterms -- was against WVa's Joe Manchin.

Republicans think they have a good shot at toppling the Senator-elect/departing Gov when he faces reelection in two years -- especially if US Rep. Shelley Moore Capito runs -- and so went after him on supporting Harry Reid as Majority Leader. (Reid -- explained the National Journal's Jeremy Jacobs -- supports cap-and-trade energy legislation, a bill that Manchin showed he really, really didn't like.

Ben Smith at Politico has the NRSC statement:

“After lining his campaign war chest with his party bosses’ cash, Manchin is now doubling down on his commitment to join them in rubberstamping President Obama’s liberal, job-killing agenda in the Senate,” Walsh continued. “We look forward to hearing Joe Manchin explain how backing an anti-coal, pro-stimulus, and pro-Obamacare liberal like Harry Reid is ‘putting West Virginia first.’”