Courtesy of Department of Defense
Since the election was over, the Delawarean blogosphere has been searching for its identity. So much of our time was focused on a certain result up to November 4th, that after it was over, no one really knew what to do with themselves…
Since then, there has been some focus on the economy. Likewise, there has been some chatter on the selection of the cabinets. But on the other hand, more importantly, there has been a lot of self absorption. I guess that is to be expected. As readership dips everyone who takes blogging seriously scrambles around to calls of “look at me… look at me…”
But while we were doing so…. there were issues that got ignored. Events that have great importance in how things will progress over the next two, if not four years probably got less discussion here in the Delaware blogosphere, than actually occurred at the bottom of a Delaware-on-Line article…
And that is what this edition will seek to uncover… All that which was not said on the Delaware blogosphere since election day…
I will start with Delaware Liberal. Having at least 5 of 10 of Delaware’s most active bloggers (subjective of course), they of course would be the canary in the coal mine. I might as well share with you the trigger, that caused me to take this problem up a step, exposing it to see whether or not it had implications across three counties of readers…..
With a name like Delaware Liberal, one would expect that entity to be aware of liberal happenings in the state of Delaware. Naturally that would be the assumption one would get based on that blog’s official name……. So imagine my surprise when I saw these words…….
Bottom line, the seat did go to Republicans by 73 votes…. which since the state Constitution requires a super-majority to raise taxes, just one Republican vote can now shut down “the change we need”.
Not only was the issue not vetted nor discussed prior to the election, but they appeared surprised that it was even taking place. Only one blogger out of the eight on that staff seemed even slightly concerned. (Liberal Geek (so that he feels honored)).
The analysis (courtesy of John Tobin) showed…”the numbers are clear that in the five districts where Kovach won, turnout was 25.5% and the seven districts where Migliore won, turnout was 13.5%. Districtwide turnout was 18.1 %, but turnout was not evenly distributed which benefited Kovach.”
Obviously the other side was ready. “We will be at the total mercy of the Democrats who will have very little when it is a choice between their pet projects and your wallet. No excuses, just take 15 minutes out of your day and vote. Turnout appears low. Your vote is vital.”
But Delaware Liberal was preoccupied that day as well as the week leading up to Saturday’s vote with a video clip from “The Office“, a chimpanzee banging on a manual typewriter, and Mike Castle’s apology to Chrysler workers…. as well as an eloquent rating of DV’s posts that day of December…..
Point is not to take anything away from their humor and levity, but instead, to refocus all of our attention again back to “what is really important…”
So since November, what other issues have slipped past the watchdogs of the media? While we’ve been sleeping, you know the enemy has not… ( The enemy being corruption, misuse of power, and insubordination to public authority.)
Workforce Housing was stayed for a couple of weeks (Check out the upcoming January 13th meeting). Continuance of that proposal will turn lower New Castle County, into a Wilmington suburb, with overcrowded roads, over crowded schools, over extended police services, and tons of shit dumped into the water supply because sewers are not developed in those areas… It was sneaked through once. The same players will sneak it through again… Only Nancy at Delaware Way has published anything on the topic.
Which makes these words somewhat ironic, when they were uttered on Delaware Liberal recently, considering that the largest issue impacting our state locally over the next 15 years… has been met largely with silence except by her…..
Other issues not mentioned across Delaware’s blogosphere… The upcoming SEU finagle that Harris McDowell set up last session so that it could slip by unnoticed, just as soon as the new legislature takes effect, which is I believe…. just nineteen days from now…
Equally quiet was the election of the leadership of the Democratic Assembly… There were three weeks between the election and the Senate leadership. Due to the vacuum of silence, the same group is running the Senate. Perhaps if enough noise had been made beforehand…….
Wind farming is now on the back burner… Only Tommywonk has written anything regarding Delaware’s economic lifeboat.
Healthcare for Delaware. Not much has been written. Where do we go from here… We have a new governor, we have a Democratic majority in both houses, and we have a depression slamming into us with gale force winds and the health insurance industry just raised their rates in January by another 19%.
Sussex County overdevelopment. You know developers are not sleeping. That was a hot topic down South this past election season. But since the election… silence? Again it is only Nancy who has been the conduit of that information northward….
So when one looks at all that which important to us locally, our General Assembly, our utility bills, our health care, our quality of life, our neighborhoods, we see nothing but a black hole… Something that sucks in everything relevant and lets nothing out to be aired or discussed… As we discovered with wind, the airing and discussion is really the driving force that gets conversations going where people discuss the outcomes… As we have discovered since…. when there is lack of discussion, weird things can get passed, simply because only far too few individuals are allowed the clue to what is really going on… If we persist dancing around these black holes we encounter, we are no better than the New Journal was this entire millennium!
There is a telling parallel between the dying MSM and today’s Delaware blogosphere…. Commercialism… Mike Matthews is different from when he first began his blog… Some may say better, but it is hard to say which is better or worse, but I think even he will agree, he is different now… Some things are taboo if one is interested in promoting oneself.. The internal struggles of Delaware Liberal have sort of shown that same propensity… Keep it safe..
I am calling it as I see it, for I remember well having discussions prior with Jason330, regarding the News Journal’s failure stemming from its inability to print what people really wanted to hear… the news… Like… what is going on around here today…. That local interest is what carried papers through most of the 20th Century. Today, it’s all about advertising.
So I raise a question. Can one be an dirt digging blogger and still create a commercially viable blog? Or does one have to sell out so others are comfortable placing bets on their blog, expecting that that those ads will reach others? Once attributed to selling out, your audience leaves to go elsewhere.
I believe one builds ratings doing what they are there to do. If an advertiser signs on, it is because he is guaranteed readership… not because he wants to control the programing.
Finally our conversation brings us around to the biggest black hole imaginable… the one that occurred to fellow bloggers Mat Marshall and Dominique…. Each time I think… I sigh, and just can’t imagine… But reading through the comments was like reading a who’s who of Delaware bloggers.. We do have a community after all, between the commentators, and bloggers themselves and as each of us realized the scope of the loss, our differences became quite small. We are, after all, 99.9% alike… And something on this scope…really drives it home that we all do need to work together; sharing the tremendous amount we have in common, working for something we can all agree on, instead of squabbling over the tiniest of differences we have among us…
It’s getting hard to write through tears. I must end it now.
kavips 
33 comments
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December 26, 2008 at 8:30 am
rsmitty
Good morning, Mr. Kavips (Spivak [John]??? 🙂 ).
You said what needed to be said, if we (a collective “we”) want to be an influential force. I do agree with you on that point. When the election season is high, we are all buzzing around our beehives, trying to protect it, or get revenge because some kid (the opposition) just put a hole in it with his foot. Of course, when the big election is over, the buzzing starts to wane, as the impetus for all the activity has immensely diminished.
We (the collective “we”) really need to determine what it is we want to accomplish. Some want to be that force of change, some want to be the watchdog, others simply want to entertain.
Another factor, as I see it, becomes what is that contributor’s day job and what is life like at home? Blogging about our political scene and being an influence is really no easy task. There are a decent handful of us that do this from work and really that needs to stop, in fairness to our employer and for our own good. That bring us to home-based blogging. Well, family really should come first in any home. Using my world as an example, I have three youngin’s, aged six or younger. Blogging absolutely takes a back seat to them. After the kids go to bed, then it’s unwind time for Dad and Mom. Some people have varying influences going on there. I, for one, have a great relationship with the Mrs and I look forward to this time with her. I do see it as a fleeting opportunity, as much of life is, so I maximize those moments. Then, alas, as she goes to bed, I am increasingly finding myself in need of elusive sleep. I don’t know if that is age, lifestyle, or plain laziness, but that call of sleep is monsterous. And so goes my day of blogging.
Again, your point is valid, quite valid, but those are some thoughts I have as to why we ended up where we are, in your view. Election ’08 was indeed massive and for the most part, just about everything that the majority of people wanted to happen, did happen. When it was over, people were stuffed from their feast(s) and simply wanted to push off and digest it all.
Not to mention, it really appears the management of the turnover of RD6, from the General Election to it becoming a vacant seat was quite poor. I absolutely believe that had it been up for grabs in the General Election, it would have remained in Democratic hands, easily.
December 26, 2008 at 8:59 am
jason330
The special election totally caught DelawareLiberal with its pants down. Perhaps the gen. election results combines with Tobin’s nuber crunching gave eveyone th impression that the outcome was a forgone conclusion. Perhaps not.
Perhaps we just got caught up in holiday silliness and bullshit as (Mrs ?) Kavips suggests….? Maybe the candidate sucked and should have tried to get out attention…? Bloggers want to blog,right?
For whatever the reason – we dropped the ball. The special in the 6th was exactly the kind of race that we should have been involved in and (with its 75 vote margin) was exactly the kind of race in which we could have had some impact.
December 26, 2008 at 10:35 am
Shirley
“…the Delaware blogosphere has been searching for its identity.”
Are you saying here that people who blog are a collective? I don’t see it that way. I see a bunch of nimrods (and I include myself in that) who express their opinions online (usually in their underwear). Bloggers are a dime a dozen, and I think it is presumptuous to attach much importance to them or their influence.
MSM still has the resources to do true investigative reporting. One may b**tch and moan, but in the end they get the real stories and provide the real value to the public. However you may view their particular “spin” is subjective, but you have to admit most bloggers pick and choose off of MSM stories. Without them, we would be nothing.
Who, for example, would have had the wherewithal to produce an online database of rejections for firearm purchases? What blogger is filing an FOIA request with any agency to provide real information instead of snarky asides tethered firmly in their own world view? None, including myself.
“….working for something we can all agree on, instead of squabbling over the tiniest of differences we have among us…”.
The operative word being “work”. As rsmitty points out, most of us have jobs that provide us with a paycheck (at least for the time being: when I get laid off….watch out !!!). Making a real difference means doing real work, and that involves time.
“Wind farming is now on the back burner… Only Tommywonk has written anything regarding Delaware’s economic lifeboat.”
Economic lifeboat? We will see. I predict about 15 jobs at $10-$15/hour in Sussex County where no one will be able to afford to drive to, even those that live there.
A great post, kavips. I happen to think that bloggers have a bit of an overblown sense of their own importance. I personally have no interest in becoming “commercially viable”, and besides some few rare instances I think it is ludicrous to even consider that. What matters is not a blogpost, but action in the streets. A post may reinforce those actions, but can never replace them.
December 26, 2008 at 10:39 am
LiberalGeek
I tend to favor the Smitty theory. I certainly know that I have been more involved in other things for the past month. Between the upcoming Inaugural Ball, the holidays and a busy work schedule things have been tough for me. I wonder how many bloggers promised their better halves that they would spend more time with the family after Nov. 4th? I know Mrs. Geek is only so tolerant of my blogging, social and political activities.
I actually wonder if being paid to blog would make you more of an activist, as you would have more time for it.
December 26, 2008 at 10:58 am
rsmitty
I actually wonder if being paid to blog would make you more of an activist, as you would have more time for it.
BINGO!
But, of course, this is a double-edged sword. As soon as you get paid, do you then have to fight off charges that you’ve been compromised or bought?
December 26, 2008 at 11:14 am
jason330
:whip sound effect:
But seriously folks. We need to monitize this mutha. If we don’t monitize it for good, someone will figure out how to monitize it for evil.
Thinking aloud now….
Political/PR consultancy…? I’ve seen some really terrible campaigns in my short time paying attention.
Talk amoungst yourselves to work up a business plan and I’ll swoop in to be the angle investor. (When this powerball ticket hits!)
js out.
December 26, 2008 at 12:05 pm
anonone
Kavips and RSmitty,
“squabbling over the tiniest of differences we have among us” is kind of fun, you must admit. But we do have much in common. (We also have much in common with chimpanzees.) Over the past year, we have had our differences but I have always felt, no matter how strong our differences, that we appreciated the engagement and enjoyed the reparté. At least I did. I think that you are both very thoughtful people.
One thing that the three of us have in common is young children. Having kids is our greatest connection to the future. When we read about Dominique’s tragic loss, it was a reminder of our own fragility. It was also a reminder of the common threads that bond us with an Iraqi parent holding the bloodied shredded body of her child or a Somali orphan searching for food or any of the millions of children in the world whose parents love them no less than we love our own but face a future of unbearable hopelessness.
Yes, we often write with strong words and opinions. But let us together commit anew to working toward a better future for all our children in 2009.
December 26, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Kilroy
Shirley
“Are you saying here that people who blog are a collective? I don’t see it that way. I see a bunch of nimrods (and I include myself in that)”
And that’s why I try to differentiate Kilroy’s from the rest of the pack, LOL. Politically, I am glad I moved to the middle because those who hang their hats on one party tend to loose sight of reality. Though my good friend from downstate thinks I am traitor for bailing on the Delaware GOP I still respect him. I never realized sitting in the middle could be so lonely and irrelevant. However, as many know like a broken record over and over and over I bitch and advocate for full financial transparency of public schools including DOE.
I doubt there isn’t one blogger out there that doesn’t oppose full financial transparency of our government and its agencies but because of being Left, Right, Center, Left of Center, Right of Center all that political bullshit we cannot unite to make it happen!
rsmitty
“I actually wonder if being paid to blog would make you more of an activist, as you would have more time for it.”
BINGO!
“But, of course, this is a double-edged sword. As soon as you get paid, do you then have to fight off charges that you’ve been compromised or bought?”
Paid! Then you’re labeled a lobbyist! Take a look at the so-called local civil rights activist all with hands out and mouths shout. I keep looking in the mirror to see if I am black and I’m white. Why am I the loudest specking out for minorities re: education? Surely living through the 60’s and 70’s was impactful and burns within me. Before blogger there were protesters like the ones who died at Kent State! They were the turning point that ended the war in Vietnam.
I don’t enjoy blogging but the “activist” in me tells me it’s my responsibility to step-up on the soapbox!
Kavips you’re a bit hard on Delaware Liberal as it’s not their responsibility to beat the drum for others to follow. I do wish they take up some common ground issue to help pull us all together but one shouldn’t wait around looking for the Pied-Piper. Kavips, you’re like the pot calling the kettle black! But surely you can see that no one is paying too much attention to your wonderful “serious” blog posts but will feed of the negative shock and awl post like this one!
I wouldn’t call Delaware Liberal a canary in a coalmine but more like a canary in a cage with the door opened afraid to fly out on their own. I guess it’s easy for a Left Winger Bird to hang his ass out of his safe cage and shit of the Right but an Eagle doesn’t fear the shots from the left or right because he represents turn independence.
December 26, 2008 at 1:03 pm
kavips
As usual, great questions spawn even greater answers.
You did not disappoint.
I think we can all coalesce around ridding ourselves of the “desk drawer” veto.
I think we can all get behind less carcinogens in our Delaware environment.
I think we can all get behind making Delaware a more economically viable place to do business, than our neighboring states…
I think we can do so for these reasons.
Our smallness. We have the ability to personalize the issue to a face….That face has to shop, fix their car, and mingle with us for non political part of the year… We should be able to make great changes because of our tightness as a governmental community.
Our lack of a state television media outlet. We are a bigger part of the discussion here than say bloggers in the heart of Philadelphia or New York. Thirteen television stations?
Our proximity to America’s historical center. Every time one thinks of Delaware, our nickname.. “the first state” reminds us of our connectivity to the U. S. Constitution. Unlike people living in Cleveland, or Des Moines, or even Springfield, Illinois, we are reminded of the legacy given to us by our founding fathers.
They were volunteers themselves, with families, with jobs, with other commitments. But somehow they found the wherewithal to start a new country…
…and unlike Shirley… they didn’t do it in their underwear…..lol
December 26, 2008 at 1:33 pm
kavips
… and now my humorist side takes over….
I guess that we need to train ourselves to recognize that when we are about to drop the ball, we need to throw it out of bounds… Sometimes after 4 tries you just have to punt….
Shirley questions the use of the word “collective”. I would point out the distinction as being similar to that within a family. Among themselves the differences are exaggerated. Yet anyone on the outside looking on, would recognize the immediate similarities… It’s that way with us. Even if it is the fact that we are the very few who take a few minutes out of every day to actually think about something,… before we say it…
As for blogging in one’s underwear…. Shirley… why did you forever curse us with that indelible image now every time one thinks of you?
I agree that the resources provided by the MSM are extensive. .. but I also believe that having someone in their underwear with an interest in a cover up, should be able to use the internet resources to do the investigative work needed and then send it out, and let the MSM carry the story if it has viability. The MSM cannot do it all. For one, their cutbacks and corporate filters, tend to leave what is important, out of the mix….
Since bloggers came onto the scene, the News Journal has become a better paper. Since bloggers came on the scene, WDEL has become a better source of real information. Since bloggers have come into their own, legislators are for once, looking over their shoulders…
If we are to connect blogging to money sources, the plan is to write what people will read. Then collect sponsors wanting to be seen… Putting all of us together might do the trick, but splitting up the revenue stream so many ways would not make it worthwhile.. And seriously… on the internet, who reads the ads anyway? Just like with DVR, who watches them anymore on television…
Upon reflection, radio is the only medium that has any potential of reaching me. So there really is no reason for one to advertise on a blog.
Subscription is not the answer either. It closes one down to catering to ones financiers….
Kilroy has moved to the center. Actually his blog along with Red Clay may portend the way. They have become the news source for their topic. Education. No one covers it better. As soon as an MSM story regarding education comes to our attention, they have details in print.
Kilroy calls me the pot that calls the kettle black. I had better be careful then. We all know what happens to the pot… It gets smoked…
But a reminder for Kilroy as he brags about his fearless eagle. It takes just a tiny bit of PCB’s to wipe an eagle colony completely out… their existence too is quite fragile. Meanwhile after they are gone, there will still be sparrows, starlings, and robins, all closer in family to the canary. Being an eagle is not all it is cut out to be….
lol.
December 26, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Shirley
“As for blogging in one’s underwear…. Shirley… why did you forever curse us with that indelible image now every time one thinks of you?”
You are now cursed with that image. And believe me, I am in dire need of new underwear.
Radio is dead. No one listens to it but old people. I don’t know one person under 50 that listens to the radio.
“Since bloggers came onto the scene, the News Journal has become a better paper. Since bloggers came on the scene, WDEL has become a better source of real information. Since bloggers have come into their own, legislators are for once, looking over their shoulders…”
Examples?
December 26, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Mike Protack
Your comments are well taken, I commented this year 80% of blogging is electronic graffiti and 20% substance. A lot of folks took offense but when we look at the challenges of the day the endless sniping gets old.
Last week after a few weeks of consulting within Republican circles we will be launching an interactive web site which will be an effort to rejuvenate issue/policy discussion in Delaware to a higher level. We will also launch a specific effort within the GOP to rebuild.
Happy Holidays.
December 26, 2008 at 10:50 pm
John Tobin
I think this election is an example of the current limitations of the influence of blogging (as opposed to bloggers) on local elections. If the 8 contributors on Delaware Liberal had blogged about this issue, they would have been read by people who either (1) already had their mind made up or (2) did not live in the 6th Representative District.
Blogging is a wholesale endeavor. The message potentially goes world wide. In this special election that is not a good way to win.
Counting for only one of 41 state rep seats and only 16,619 voters of 603,615 voters statewide (2.7% of the statewide electorate), this type of election was essentially retail. These two candidates were fighting over the 18% who voted of 2.7% of the voters in one of the smallest states in the country.
This retail politics may require more retail methods. If each of the 8 bloggers had reviewed a copy of the printout of registered voters in this representative district (which is available at $2.00 per election district from the Board of Elections, last time I purchased) and identified 10 friends apiece who are casual registered voters and motivated them based on their personal relationship, those 80 voters would have been the difference.
I am not judging anyone because I did not do what I just described. I am just saying that when a race is this local, you have to make it personal, sometimes.
I did not think this method up. I first heard of it when Republican Tom Brady used it to beat Democrat Lee Cassidy in the Special Election after State Rep. Fran Jornlin died back in the mid-1970s in Wilmington. Brady’s campaign had folks who had moved out of the city call their former neighbors,so it was not a stranger talking politics-but an old friend making a quasi-social call. Brady held the seat until the 1982 reapportionment when he got put in the same district as Republican Kevin Free and Brady retired instead of forcing a primary.
This is a link to the registration totals :
http://elections.delaware.gov/reports/e70r2601.shtml
December 27, 2008 at 2:23 am
kavips
Shirley you can’t be serious (Thanks Leslie Neilsen for that classic pun.)
Yes, that image has been permanently seared I’m almost afraid to meet you face to face, and since no one can ever get too much underware, I offer you and other readers this link.
Secondly you state that radio is dead. Apparently it isn’t during the morning and evening commutes. Listening to Traffic Watch has become a religion of sorts on 95… “Hi Robin Bryson…” So the fillers between reports are being listened to as well… ( and yes, some of those drivers are under 50, believe it or not…)
And third, you asked for one example of where bloggers have elevated the MSM’s level of reporting…. Shirley you can’t be serious… I will give you three.
The first: one Shirley Vandever writes an op-ed piece that appears in Delaware’s only paper: The News Journal. Despite massive cuts given it during the editing process,… enough of the good bled through, raising that issue to a readable level…
Secondly: one Shirley Vandever sits down with Tommywonk and in that brief timeframe, gives that station it’s greatest hour.
Thirdly: one Shirley Vandever, along with Mike Matthews, and David Anderson, discuss blogging and windpower on WHYY, giving that public station its brief moment when it actually made a difference…
Not to mention the myriad appearances by Tyler Nixon, Jason Scott, Tommywonk on Allan Loudell, comments by Dave Burris, as well as Mike Matthews appearances. Nor shall we cover those stories or angles broken by bloggers and then picked up and run with by the MSM…. Surely you don’t discount Tyler’s contribution to the Wilmington Sidewalk fiasco, or Tommywonk’s explanations of wind-power, or Dave Burris protestations of John Adkins, as being inconsequential?
Shirley…. You are NOT serious… 🙂
December 27, 2008 at 2:49 am
kavips
Yes, Mike Protack.
I would agree that there is chatter across blogger’s airwaves that has no meaning. But the same argument (sticking strictly locally now) could be said about those commenting on Al Mascitti or Rick Jensen’s shows as well.. And heaven help whoever calls up WGMD….
🙂
But yet there is still substance out there on the internet; you guessed 20%. Some may put it as high as 45%.
But blogging offers an audience to politicians. It offers access. Let us take your case, if I may. Had you not entertained blogs, you would have been pegged just as Ron Williams and Charlie Copeland’s Hennesy Drinkers wanted.
Blogging allowed you to make an end run around their defenders. It is unfortunate that your party’s loyalists were not computer literate. For if they were, they could have found out that you are not as you have been portrayed. I am impressed that those of your party who are computer savvy, who do comment across the wide spectrum that makes up the Delaware blogosphere, for the most part were in your camp… Which shows that at least among smart people, you made sense…
Your interactive website should help… Some advice.. Keep it real.. The side that is the “most real”, usually wins…
And another piece of advice recently gleaned by me from the last Great Depression.. Your party has been blemished from the past 8 years as was Hoover’s in the ’30’s. Accept it, and join the opposition and assist in the solution of problems: that is the exact opposite of what Republicans did during the 30’s, they fought the changes. It was not until after WWII was over, that Republicans were suddenly in favor during the boom years that followed.. (Remember even the New York Times thought Dewey won in ’48) .. As long as things are bad, Republicans will continue to be blamed. As soon as things turn well, the past is quickly forgotten..
So assist in the rebuilding. Fix things right, have the public get used to seeing you on the winning side, and your drought in office will be short. Fight against the change, and your party will go the way of the Federalists and Whigs.
Tell your party to forget about values.. You are fighting for your party’s survival.
December 27, 2008 at 3:15 am
kavips
John, I always feel blessed when you take the time to respond. First, I agree with your assessments. I particularly enjoyed your use of wholesale and retail analogies to explain the difference between statewide, and local election politics. Secondly, I enjoyed hearing the historical insights which you provided from Delaware’s past.
Local elections are indeed won on a vote by vote campaign, as opposed to mass mailings across district boundaries. The methods you described could have been used had savvy enough politico’s been intent to employ them…
Words are like double edged swords; they cut both ways… When I admonished everyone’s dropping the ball on a special election of historical importance, I was talking more about our lack of fervor, and was not considering whether we could or could not have made a difference.
A pebble dropped in a pond sends ripples to the far shore. A pebble tossed into an ocean, theoretically does the same… but from our perspective on shore, it just sinks like a stone……
So I guess for bloggers to make a difference one must account for the arena in which those bloggers are issuing their challenge.
What could have happened, in this special election, is that had all the blogs turned up the heat, it would have bled over to the News Journal, then onto WDEL’s talk platforms, whereas more exposure would be granted to the candidates, and greater numbers of voters would have experience the chatter and possibly made a better informed decision. Unfortunately I am not one of those better informed voters… I could tell you very little about either candidate without looking it up, except to tell you that one of them worked for Biden… and why is that?
Because I did not start the process. I want to be clear about that. The blame falls on me, and solely me that this event was not elevated to a higher level.. Yes, someone else could have stepped up and begun the drumbeat, but you see, I have no control over that… What I did have control over… fell by the wayside and did not get done.
So back to local politics… “All politics is local” as the saying goes. Obama, because of who he is, kind of eclipsed that this year by elevating politics to a much higher plane than is ordinary, possibly bringing voters to the polls who will not return again for a long time… quite possible.
But vetting this election in the blogosphere would not in itself reach voters, it would reach those who are responsible.. for reaching voters. You see what I’m getting at? A small pebble in a still pond, still bounces a floating twig….
December 27, 2008 at 10:00 am
anonone
Kavips, if we were living after the Civil War, you’d be giving advice to the Confederacy on how to come back.
The repubs still love Bush and Cheney. They haven’t changed from who they have been since Nixon. Why are you so interested in helping them make a political comeback? Do you want more wars, lies, deficits, corruption, and lawlessness? Are you fond of the Limbaugh song “Barack the Magic Negro” currently being circulated by a potential RNC head?
“When your opponent is drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil.”
James Carville
December 27, 2008 at 4:03 pm
kilroy
anonone
“When your opponent is drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil.”
James Carville
OUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Kavips, I still have some Copeland Crow Pie left! Shall I UPS it to you?
December 27, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Mike Protack
Thanks for the comments, you can count on ‘real’ items and ‘real’ policy.
December 28, 2008 at 7:19 am
Nancy Willing
Am I right in assuming that in some part, this post was about the tendency for Delaware Liberal to be a black hole of censureship?
They are already an echo-chamber. They are verging on censure.
December 28, 2008 at 9:27 pm
John Tobin
Kavips ,
Thanks for your kind remarks . I read with interest the perspective you bring to issues.
On Nov 16th the Eagles played to a 13-13 tie with the Benglas,a team that ended the season 4-11-1 .Today the Eagles beat the Cowboys 44-6 to clinch a playoff berth. The Eagles are 9-6-1 and the Cowboys ended with 9-7 season. Earlier in the season the Cowboys beat the Eagles 41-37. The Eagles lost a close game against a good team, tied an awful team and then later routed the good team that had beaten them. It’s a “any given Sunday” situation.
I think that is what is at work in some of these Special Elections. The team that looks to have the advantage on paper wins more often, but every once in awhile the underdog wins (or ties in football). It’s all about who shows up on game day (election day).
Tip O’Neill said “All politics is local”.When Harold Washington ran successfully to become the first African-American mayor of Chicago he pointed out his support for the residential communities & neighborhoods which he felt had been ignored in favor of business interests by stating “I worship the hoods”.
I think sometimes that fervor is missing.
If more candidates and elected officials expressed and acted on that type of commitment to where people live and the quality of life they experience , people might respond in kind.
December 29, 2008 at 8:13 am
RSmitty
Mike Protack – in your quest to improve the party, I asked you some legitimate questions on Delaware Watch a while back that went unanswered. If you want to be the leader of the new face, then they are very valid questions. Please do check them out and consider answering them here, given this is a much more recent post. Thanks.
Here is the comment that is unanswered.
December 29, 2008 at 8:15 am
RSmitty
Oh, screw it, to hell with the link. This is a copy/paste of my post. Please answer.
Question to you, Mike Protack. You’re so hell bent on being the answer to the ills,
– could you do this without being such a devisive figure going forward?
– Can you allow dissenting opinions to your views?
– Can you consider and/or formulate compromise when facing opposition to your views (when necessary, of course)?
– When faced with opposition of opinion or office, can you do so without scoffing in perceived offense?
– Can you accept that you may not have the popular vote for certain offices, but could for other offices?
– Can you accept that you may not have the popular vote for certain offices, but your ideologies could in fact be used to help rebuild (in other words, be a behind-the-scenes force)?
Honestly, Mike, I think you have workable ideas, but I have never met such an isolating figure as yourself. I’m not saying this to be an ass, but as a wakeup. I’m predicting you won’t even consider any of this, but I see that not so much condenscending as I do it as a failure to criticize self.
C’mon, Mike. There are indeed people like you that want to work with you, but your history of isolating your opposition and boxing them into labels has made you pretty much toxic.
Are you willing to work on that or more of the same?
December 29, 2008 at 2:11 pm
kavips
If I may add to the inter-party discussion, there are some very important points being made. One, Protack’s ideas have merit; two he is held back by his (perceived) decisiveness; three, he is a prominent force in the fact that he is being discussed here.
As RSmitty brings forth, there are some perceived inconsistencies within the Republican party that tend to dismiss Protack out of hand. There are those however (still in that party), who are looking for a practical way to move the Republican Party back from their holding down of the wilderness fringe, back across the river of mainstream thought, and back again into the realm of practicality.
Mike Protack would be a good bridgehead on which to stage a comeback. Not being an ideologically pure Republican say along the lines of a Clatworthy or Copeland, he instead, as a card carrying member of a Union, can split and confuse that stumbling block the Republican party seems to have had placed before it within this state… not getting past that bloc has ruined Republican’s chances in this state.
His past campaign has shown practicality, intellectual stoutness, and a firmer presence against Democratic candidates than the “official” republican party could barely muster…… so the roots are there.
His negatives… if one looks at the large picture… don’t animate from him, but seem to come from “that other” bloc of people who feel they are entitled to certain positions… and are above the work necessary of having to earn them from the people….
If one looks without prejudice at the past year’s campaign, Protack debated far more often than did Bill Lee.. Protack actually surprised me with two good ideas, both which were hitherto unheard by me; one of which will probably take place during the Markell administration…
That was a breath of wisdom, of course, as compared to Lee’s foot-in-mouth disease and the curse of Copeland hung around his neck…. Perhaps the albatross as fallen ,,,, The Republican Party should hope so.
Seriously a meeting between Cathcart, Protack, and two fifths is a must for the Republican party, if it seeks to go forward into the future against what today looks to be a super Democratic administration on both the state and national government levels….
Opening argument for that precipitous meeting? What does the Republican Party need to become in order to win?
December 29, 2008 at 2:26 pm
RSmitty
I absolutely concur that he gets dismissed out of hand, some of it far overblown, some of it earned. Some of it is, unfortunately, embellished. The rest of it, is not. Using “perceived” to describe it, at least to me, indicates an attempt to pretend it’s all contrived, which it isn’t. I will be more than willing to say that the criticisms that do stick to him are not fatal flaws, but flaws nonetheless. There absolutely is something workable here, which is what led to my list of questions. I’d like to see his ideas be given serious consideration and him as well, but not with the with-me-or-FU attitude that has tagged along with it in the past.
December 29, 2008 at 3:34 pm
kavips
I am curious over your selection of the word “contrived”. I would venture to offer the word “obsolete” in its place. Apparently there is some history dating back before 2007 which is playing a part in this discussion.
We all change. Occasionally, some do for the better. I agree that an honest approach to answering your questions could initiate the healing that pre-existing wound.
And as a follow up: take a hard look at “who” those are that are dismissing him out of hand…. Those “who” don’t really do your party any favors…..
December 29, 2008 at 5:00 pm
RSmitty
Just getting him to acknowledge this past would be a start, k. Yes, burned bridges can be rebuilt, but in doing so, you learn where that vulnerability was that allowed it to be burnt and you address it by improving on it. I have no idea if he’s rebuilding a bridge or making a new island!
Apparently there is some history dating back before 2007 which is playing a part in this discussion.
Yes, to learn of the pattern, you must review the history.
December 29, 2008 at 6:07 pm
kavips
So you are saying the wood should be removed and replaced with concrete, metaphorically speaking that is?
As for being an island, every political figure who gets passed over on election day, becomes an island for a while… just so you know… It’s a natural passing…. But the reaching out heard so far, sounds to me like the slurping of a foundation is being poured.
December 30, 2008 at 1:42 pm
arthur
It seems most bloggers start out with somewhere to else to blab since most of the people they interact with usually can’t stand to listen to them. then they begin to think they are making a difference and begin to believe they are actually a big deal. then they begin citing their opinions as fact. next they have no more readership and become a vacuum. and somewhere in that they believe MSN, FOX, CNBC, etc are going to call them up to be special guest commentators. As you can see, in delaware if you are really lucky, you get to go on WDEL. If not you have to start your own radio station and the process begins all over again.
December 30, 2008 at 2:34 pm
David
I wouldn’t worry about it my friend. Events will produce the issues. I do think eminent domain and open government will continue to unite us. I think we will be engaged though not united over the economy and the state and federal budgets. It is ok to take a month to recover while everyone is out of session. Even sports teams have an off season. We have been in this election season for almost 2 years. It is natural to have a temporary pause. People like you will keep us focused. Happy New Year, my friends.
January 1, 2009 at 12:48 am
kavips
So arthur, what bloggers do you personally know that caused you to create your fluffed-up generalizations?
January 1, 2009 at 12:51 am
kavips
Yes indeed. Events will push the issues…..
Happy New Year to all as well, and thanks for a phenomenal 2008.
January 3, 2009 at 5:05 pm
rsmitty
K – FYI, my questions to MP still remain unanswered. Not exactly bridge building…yet. The door won’t close on them, though.