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Right click to open full image… Pictograph Courtesy of Viral..
So, can someone tell me again, why we shouldn’t tax the rich, and instead, balance the budget on the backs of everyone else?…….
I seem to be missing that little detail where that all makes sense……
Having recently seen the Harry Potter movie, it is scary. Ever since watching…. I now see giants everywhere. Before when I looked, I never knew they were there…
Two giants will be doing battle here in Delaware… (The recession is finally paying off for our little state.)
Papers were filed with the ITC (International Trade Commission) by the South Korean giant Samsung LED against a division of another giant this time from Germany, Siemens….. over 8 patient infringements.
Samsung LED also said it filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Delaware to seek damages and a permanent injunction to bar Siemen’s subsidary, Osram’s alleged patent infringement from entering this country.
At stake is the financial future of these two companies. One will win, and the other for lack of a better word, will be vanquished.
Since Siemens actually has a plant in Delaware, next to the Glasgow Park off Route 40 and 896, I’m putting my bets on that giant…. if they get hurt, it will cost jobs.
Hotels, restaurants, transportation companies all stand to be a little busier as this gigantic fight, gets under way…. It would be helpful to practice on the Korean and German dialects now, before the event gets under way…
Sprechen sie deutsch?
니미럴 개자식 ….
It should be an interesting fight.
In my yearly burst of genius, ( only happens that frequently), I thought that if I were to lay the Senate candidates strategies out now, the very ones that will play out over the next few months, then registered voters wiser at knowing ahead of what will happen, can by their questions force the candidates to battle person against person. idea against idea… We the voters will finally be given a choice between two stripped down men, and not have to be swayed by glossy ads, television spots, and dandy jingles on WDEL as well as WGMD…
We all know that it is a very few people who actually know what is going on. They set the parameters for the rest of us… We listen to a news report and gasp… not knowing that the timing of its release was calculated to achieve that very optimal effect… So what I’m envisioning, is to make the blog world so interesting that readers are attracted to what gets said here, that we will control the election cycle instead of the high paid advisers who get paid to manipulate our thoughts and feelings..
In full disclosure, many of you know that Republican policies are a flat fail… If you don’t know that yet, read the archives… They are and there is nothing anyone can do about it.. However, that said, if Mike Castle were to impress me more than Chris Coons, I am not above voting for him. I want only the best for my children and grand children. Therefore it is in my best interest to make this campaign more man against man, and put all the crap that sucks up your political donations, into a pile called irrelevant.
But fans of Mike Castle should see this as the single most valuable opportunity of their campaign. For if they can convince this writer their belief that their candidate is better, they have a fighting chance despite what the polls say today… For if they can convince me in that their candidate has some form of merit, as I said … I really don’t care whether a Democrat or Republican wins this seat. I do care deeply and sincerely, that it is the best man who wins. Again, if you want proof, read my archives.
Mike Castle’s strategy will be to run on his record. With his close medical scare last election, he has now assumed stateman-like status, similar to that of Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts who like Castle, continued to get elected because of his name, his longevity, his personal association with people located in his home state. Most voters have no clue on how Mike Castle voted. They might remember he was a good governor, and they have remember seeing his green and blue signs parked in the same spots every two years… Mike’s strategy will be to keep that advantage going, by making personal appearances and handing out the very big government checks against which he voted. As I said, voters are not aware or do they care how a candidate actually voted….
Mike’s prime strategy will be to keep voter’s who have always voted for him before, to vote for him again. In 2008, against a poorly run campaign but a nice candidate, Mike Castle won by 89,003 votes... Assuming the numbers of voters going to the polls will be similar as 2008, to achieve a win by one vote assuming a two party race, he needs this total: 192,729 … The number who flat out will not vote for him (in other words the floor), stands at 146,434 ….. The battle is strictly for the difference between the two: that roughly 46,295 votes between who didn’t vote for KHN and the number he needs to win….
That number 47,000 should be posted in giant letters on every wall of every Republican household and on the window of every Republican headquarters….
This race boils down to that one number. Mike Castle’s entire strategy is to keep 47,000 of those who voted for him in 2008, from straying into the other camp in 2010….. He doesn’t need to do anything else.. He needs no grand speeches, he needs no great bills passed between now and November, he needs to do nothing, except make sure he doesn’t piss off those extra 47,000 voters… The 47,001 voter? Who cares, he or she is not needed. …
By the count of the last election cycle, Mike has a surplus of 42,708 votes he can piss away… So as we hear the Democrats inspiring stories of people peeling off from Mike Castle’s Republican-styled-run campaign, disgusted by his association with the “Party of Ideas That Destroyed A Nation”, we need to realize that unless it is more than 42,709 voters defecting, any and all such reports are irrelevant.
On the other hand, Chris Coons is no KHN. Whereas Mike has been banished for 18 years in Lobby-wontanimo, Chris Coons has been operating in the executive capacity since 2000, a reality that slightly closer to the perspective experienced by most of us average Americans. His strategy will be to take Karen’s 2008 base at 138,683, and find 54047 votes out of those previously in Mike’s camp, which will side with him.
In his favor, if you take a state race with everything factored out, and isolate party versus party, you have trends pointing for Coons to take the race… In 2008, the great Matt Denn carried the race by 225028 to 141043, and the surprise winning Democratic Insurance Commissioner, carried her race by 208351 to 148,016. Therefore we see that along party lines, Coons has slightly more than the 192,729 needed to win a seat to the United States Senate, thereby ensuring that the United States of America does not return to the Bush Republican era and it’s failing philosophies….
To achieve these results the strategy is rather simple. Castle needs to distance himself from everything Republican. He needs to run on his laurels and hope that fewer than 47,000 defect to the party of good ideas. Coons, needs to embrace his party as one of the future, and needs to excite his party structure, and needs to paint Mike as a nice guy who is nevertheless, responsible for the collapsing economy. Coons needs to tie Mike to George Bush, Mike needs to tie himself to Obama..
Whichever is more successful, wins.
….. and now Steve Newton of Delaware Libertarian is bowing out….
Forgive me for getting some out of order, but his name now goes up on the wall next to those of Dana Garrett, Mike Matthews, Jason Scott, Shirley Vandever, Dave Burris.
All gone, leaving only these few greats are still left: Nancy, Tommywonk, Kilroy, LiberalGeek, Pandora, David Anderson, & Hube.
The era over which these giants roamed was between the elections of 06 and 08. Some started earlier, but these few individuals were the only source of information during that time stamp.
Today, the News Journal has lost its paternalistic viewpoint touting the union of construction labor and developers formerly known as the Delaware Way, and is actually reporting news ahead of bloggers for a change. Likewise today, WDEL has both on its morning show with Al Mascitti and afternoon show with Rick Jensen, steered discussion away from the likes of (who?) Sean Hannity… and Al Loudell has kept us abreast of local politics in ways unheard of before bloggers began typing in their briefs…
So in a way, since these bloggers were successful back then, today they are not as vital as they once were… Many saw their blogs as the only way to get the truth past the News Journal censors, those higher ups who would not publish any truth that showed an elected official in bad light….
Those studying this phenomena will see that there was much agreement between bloggers on both sides of the aisle… It was very rare for this group to be divisive over the prime issues of this state’s business.. All of them were for Atkins removal. All of them were for beginning offshore wind in Delaware, … All of them were for the slowdown of work force housing… all of them were for the betterment of Delaware’s educational opportunities…
Of course we quibbled on who would become the next president, but that is to be expected… No family lives without arguing at least once…
There were rises and falls among each giant’s influence… But at the core of each individual was the feeling that each had a unique insight into the current problem staring us down, and wrote about it with an urgency that turned out usually to be correct… And usually, if agreement was not forthcoming by the first comment, by the end of the comment thread, some form of agreement among the blogger’s roundtable, was visible…
As politicians came to realize the News Journal wasn’t changing, they began contributing to these giant’s pages, giving substance in ways unheard of among those writing for the Community Board of the News Journal… Reading the blogs gave us a real time insight into the workings of our state government in Dover……
But it was the wind controversy that elevated the giants to their current stature… Only the blogs could get the message out that Delmarva was incredibly concerned about losing control of their monopoly, and that wind power for Delaware would by offering competition, lower our energy prices. And they did, so well, that the entire legislature at the end of their 2007 session, voted unanimously to approve of the landmark agreement between Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power….
Some of us think that they, shaking in their boots, didn’t dare vote otherwise… For bloggers have long memories as well as does the public….
But these giants among men, did more than just push wind. They publicized the eminent domain controversy. They scoured local politics. They broke the work force housing pact apart. They clamored against Atkins, forcing him to resign. They dogged the SEU. They picked apart candidates so much that those who had flaws, couldn’t win. Dana Garrett could be heard almost weekly on WVUD.. Tommy Noyes, for a while was a weekly guest on Al Loudell’s award winning newscast. They OOGAcised the fight for open government, forcing one flustered legislator to call out for a prayer dedicated to just for the bloggers, asking for their salvation of their souls… Apparently those prayers were answered; for by their souls we have open government today….
But amongst the best, the very concept of government was debated back and forth, no doubt as it once was during the beginning of this nation during its infancy… Torture, domestic spying, gun ownership, thieving Vice Presidents, all had their day in court upon these pages….
And today, there are new names who in the years ahead might be considered to be the giants of this contemporary time zone..
Deldem, RSmitty, El “S”, Donviti, Cassandra, all came into prominence after the defining moment of passing the wind act…. As well as Sussex Green, Red Water Lily, Mourning Constitution,… all of which became big as the 2008 election season came upon us….
And from the ranks of commentators came a Sussex County Councilwomen, a candidate for a House seat, as well as a last minute candidate who took on Mr. Pam Scott, and began nailing his shoes to the floor…. Miro had a contender for once; that commentator speaks up often…
Steve Newton will be missed.
With his passing is the last of the great thinkers… Today, we have bullets fed to us… But Steve took on all other blogs, all other commentators and wrote posts about them… Steve looked at everything with fresh eyes…. Giants can do that, since they see things from way up…….
I won’t go in to praising Steve… for I’m here to call attention to the passing of a era. Perhaps those times when benevolent giants roamed our state, will be considered by us dying men and women, to be the glory times we hark back to, the second we close our eyes for their last time…..
For when you look back as what we’ve done, the word “giants” is not really a bad moniker….
Most of you don’t attend these… Like LG you have other obligations, and that’s ok.
Because here is what happened…. More or less.
Castle looked good.. O’Donnell came in late so he spoke by himself, then stood by himself after the process was done… Shortly afterward he ducked out….
Gates was speaking, or trying to. A decent looking guy, he should have been a Bollywood star, but public speaking was not his forte… He is running against the Delaware Favorite: John Kowalko. His campaign signs are lapis and lime green. If you live in Newark you’ve seen them… Since I wasn’t planning to write anything, I didn’t take notes.. But he came across as a typical Republican with typical Republican answers, at a time when we know Republican answers don’t work… When asked by a petitioner of his views on taxing pension benefits (I think), his answer was to leave it to the market place… (Huh?) His time ran out and no one bothered a follow up, as we were all anxious for Kowalko to speak…
Kowalko, gosh darn I love him, but he needs someone to help him with his public speaking… I sympathize. He and I share the same affliction of big ideas rushing out through a small hole, unfortunately making as much sense as jet engine…. Having bragged about him highly, my partner turned to me with a quizzical eye, and raising the left eyebrow, said “really”? ” I was left to repeating the old adage, one uses anytime events don’t correlate with ones expectations… Bush uses the phrase a lot…. “Trust me,” I said. “He’s a saint…” It’s obvious John cares about those who are victims… But I should volunteer my speech writing skills to him; even one of his constituents with whom John worked to remove a crack house in a neighborhood, required some clarification by John….
Of course John was most proud of his efforts to bring Bluewater Wind to Delaware… as well he should be…and that is where John, gosh darn I love him, is at his finest….and the reason why his constituents as well as those from the rest of the state, should be praying that John is returned to office. Gates just does not have the capacity to decipher a thick folder thrown down by someone like Delmarva power, full of nothing really. John on the other hand, can read throught their gobbly-gook, absorb that it is garbage, and tell them so… “sir, your facts make no sense!” And what paid consultants who made stuff up thought would sail right past the legislature…… never got past the House Committee on Energy etc. And so six years from now then all of our out of state friends read about our low electric bills, and turn green with envy, we can thank John. We can thank him now, if living in the 25th, by voting for the better man…
Stephanie Ulbrich was ironically sitting across the aisle from him… It must have been uncomfortable for her to be so close to the one who beat her down two years ago… She is probably a much better person than she appeared to be tonight…with all that emotional baggage she was carrying around… But her snippety question (I forgot what it was about, but will forever remember the tone of her voice) sent a chill throughout the room… John was gracious and answered it… The other note of interest was that upon returning to his seat, John gave Gates somewhat of an ackward hug…(maybe just a misplaced pat on the back) Gate’s face turned radish.
Next up was Amick’s old seat… the tenth. Weldin went first… a gracious man, schooled in emergency technicalities, he did not embarrass himself… In a rather likable presentation he slowly laid out his candidacy and why he was running… If I could put a theme on it, I would say he was running on Law and Order, based on his experience… But on other issues, he would follow the Republican line all the way… yawn…zzzz
The next speaker was like jumping from the complacent eye of a hurricane through the eyewall into peak winds. Bethany Hall-Long suddenly brought the room to life.. Excitement in her voice, interesting modulations of her voice, zapped the room back to attention… In the short time she had to speak, she covered a lot of ground… so much that I can’t remember anything she said… but if it was good, she said it… Now some may call me partisan because I whitewashed her speech, describing style and no substance.. But that friends, is just the way it stuck.. others who were there could fill in those details… All I can remember is that there was a lot of substance there, but none of it sank in….. I do remember being puzzled by one thing that took place during the Q & A session… When answering a question on open government, she danced around quite a lot; too much…. Enough to make me who of course knows nothing about HB4, SB4, or any other open government bills, go hmmm……. The dancing was like that of a marionette,… one where Thurman Adams was pulling the strings… It was as if she was afraid to step on his toes. In what was a golden public opportunity to say that bills should not be locked in drawers but voted on up or down…. she hedged….. Why I wonder? Hmm…..
The announcer (timekeeper) mentioned a scheduled change as someone with a Brady sticker on his lapel edged along the side of the far wall. That doesn’t look like John Brady I thought… it wasn’t… Dave Jones, Republican spokesperson for Pencader High (charter school) showed up to speak in John’s behalf… His message was this… John is a lawyer, John is not rich, John does pro bono work for those who cannot get legal help and therefore are victimized, John will work the same vein as insurance commissioner.. John wants to make Delaware the insurance capital of the world, just as Wilmington became the credit card capital of the world…. As old manufacturing jobs leave, insurance jobs come in….
Sounded good, but without John’s charisma to sell it, I began to wonder where Delaware would be as banking consolidation begins worldwide because of the current financial crises… And since the liberal credit laws were passed in Delaware, the amounts owed by citizens here and out of state, has soared… So if we were to make Delaware an Insurance very-very friendly state…. what kind of protections would we have covering ourselves? Weak? I will need more information. On the other hand, if as with banking we could get a twenty year ride out of it before the floor caves in…..( and being smarter now, were we to elect in our future, Democratic internet inventors over Republican cowboy oil strikers, our floor may just stay intact…) As I said, I wasn’t sold.
Biden spokeperson, Meg Stapleton??, next took the mike and read Joe’s message to us… A reverent silence came over the room… I’ve had that feeling just once before. It was after 9/11 when we were ready to do anything, anything for our country.. And back then it was Bush who was talking… Some belittle what was said, but the emotion of that Bush televised conference, was suddenly resurrected in that room. I am sure a copy of this letter will turn up, so I don’t want to massacre Biden’s words here, but instead discuss the emotion I felt as it resonated through me… I would almost say it was similar to what a Revolutionary battle captain would read to his men on the field, as penned by the Commander George Washington.. I am not good with words, but I got the feeling that our country was fighting for its survival in this banking war; and as of yet, the outcome is not decided; it could still fail; and that our efforts were needed, and only through them, could we prevent that from happening… It was a beautiful moment. Biden has moved on from just being a Senator.. He has become a part of the history of this great country… And I decided then, that this election is not about the little things… it is about who can better lead this country….
Christine O’Donnell grabbed the mike, and began touting that Biden wasn’t there… How COULD he care, if he was not there? And if he is elected Vice President, Ruth Ann Minner will appoint the next Senator… herself? Why not? In her best Fox talking heads voice, with energy and excitement, she tried to pull the room back into the present. Unfortunately a good reporter I am not… for while she was talking I turned to look at Mike Matthews who was sitting three rows behind me. His face went from light rose, to red, to crimson, to scarlet, and held for a couple of minutes before it gradually returned to its natural color. Delaware Talk Radio should have more about that tomorrow afternoon when he is on. Please call and tease him… it was my highlight of the meeting. Oh my goodness, even I felt somewhat embarrassed for him… When he stood up and asked her a question, and the rest of you turned around, his facial color was back to normal by then… but yep, it was scarlet. lol
Being an expert of the bailout, I was surprised that she beat the bailout drum…. we shouldn’t be doing it… Apparently she as many others who do not understand the consequences of NOT doing it, insisted on calling bailing out banks worldwide, a slide towards socialism… “Sorry Honey, but we are already there… In case you didn’t know, the Fed’s today bought a majority of preferred shares of the top 9 banks…guaranteeing they will not fail… and at a 900 Dow Jones stock points rise in one day, investors worldwide cheered the advent of socialism… In truth, if it weren’t for socialism, every bank would be broke today, every stock market would be stalled near the bottom .. So during uncertain times, socialism is not a bad thing… it occasionally saves our ass. Christine, bless her, is still not on top of her financial facts. Constituent concerns… maybe; but facts… no. To be honest, as rapidly as things moved forward this past week, it would be a reasonable assumption that very few people are economically up to speed….
But most of what she said was covered up by her make up… By that I mean I kept thinking about her makeup, and lost focus of what she said… Too much dark around the eyes honey. Girl to girl, you look better with lighter shadow. I looked at your on line images and nowhere, nowhere do you use the dark like you did this night… Maybe it was the position of the overhead light, which accented the shadows of your eye sockets, hiding your eyes entirely, maybe it was the black Gothic outfit you wore… maybe being late, you didn’t primp as much as you could have… but just between us, lose the dark?… But even despite that…girl… you can still light up a room…
But honestly, you are not yet the stature of Biden yet. But I was able to figure out where you could be most effective… After this election, start gearing up for a primary run against Castle…. Don’t worry about party hierarchy… pull a Markell.. If you run against Castle you will get every Democratic male pulling for you in the primary, maybe recapturing those who left your party to side with Markell, and with that buzz pulling in your direction, you will win among Republicans, and then ride that wave of good fortune over the next two months through the election… That is your niche.
Matt Denn stepped up to the microphone… He mentioned four things he wished for in that room four years ago in 2004.. All four were accomplished… Insurance rates are not tied to credit scoring. Your housing insurance could not be dropped from a claim caused by a freak storm. Retired doctors could work around malpractice clauses and assist at the Veterans Hospital in Elsmere…Foster children could get car insurance after all. On education, Matt says we need to keep focused. Graduation rates are the statistic that is truly important. Equally important, although not politically expedient, helping those with disabilities to achieve a better life, is just something that Matt Denn likes to do… As Lieutenant Governor he will work with Markell to improve governments role in our daily lives.. Things are changing rapidly, making it hard to deal in specifics, but keeping Delaware’s options open, would be a primary focus in the Markell/Denn administration. But, Matt… you need to wear a lighter suit.. With your red hair and light skin, a stiff dark suit takes away way too much from you… You are at your best in a pair of khaki’s and blue chambray shirt… if you have to wear a suit, go with a double breasted navy, left open, undercut by a blue oxford and colonial buff tie… But despite that small distraction, you are a man who fights for little people. Which in corporate coded Delaware, makes you a hero…
I should mention that Stephanie Ulbrich stood up during Matt’s Q & A to comment that all schools were public, both charter and public schools, since they all relied on the state stipend per student… The difference was in who paid the capital costs… private or taxpayers… The rest of us exchanged knowing glances, like “yeah…ok… so just why are you bringing that up?” She might as well have stood up and stated that “the moon is 240,000 miles from earth..” The fact checks out, but the relevancy does not…. umm… ok… Afraid people had forgotten who you were, Steph?
Next was Charlie Copeland, and wow, did the negative energy level go up… Not by Copeland himself, but from the room in front of him. He gave a generic speech worthy mostly for its unworthiness.. His approach was biographical. Duke, physics, computers, family business, AGS, from 10 to 80 people, won a software award in Germany…. can grow jobs, only person running who’s run a business and made a payroll. When done he took a question on his view of charter schools… He spoke of cutting spending. I couldn’t help but think of Red Clay’s students, using the facilities and afterward just rinsing their hands under plain water then going back to class, putting their hands all over their desk…bell rings, class changes, and a new person sits down.. How much more can we cut? He spoke of need for new jobs, new sources of energy, and not once, not one single time, did he mention Bluewater Wind building an offshore wind farm off Rehoboth, bringing 500 start-up jobs, with 100 remaining over the twenty five year period.. I wonder why… Then John Kowalko, slowly stands up to ask a question…and I think “oh, boy.. here it comes… History will be made…” but John asked about Copeland’s vote on an insurance bill instead… Lastly someone asked how he stood on minimum wage bills… ” I’m one for three” Copeland responded back.. “when the economy is good, I voted for one, when it is bad, I didn’t vote for two.. Most likely you are referring to my “no” vote on the tipped wage minimum upgrade.”
And that’s the difference, ladies and gentlemen, between these two candidates.. “When times were bad” Matt Denn sided with the people… Charlie Copeland sided with big businesses. That… Is… The… Difference. In a nutshell… It is only when times are good according to Charlie that we should say, ” Oh darn it, let the people have something… throw them a bone…”
Wow. Just curious as to how you feel; since we have bad times coming… who do you want to be in charge”…( ok, ok, yeah I know it’s an office that does nothing). But that doesn’t mean you still can’t vote your conscious now, does it?
Markell couldn’t make it, another engagement previously arranged. But Bill Lee could….. almost… He staggered up to the podium, after putting a hand on Matt Denn’s sturdy shoulder to keep from falling in his lap. ( no, no, it wasn’t THAT… he tripped on the carpet! ) lol Lee is no Jack Markell. I got the impression Lee was like a prom date that said yes, knowing the outcome wasn’t going to be pretty. He’s a nice guy, but is not up to running a state.. We’ve had eight years of that.. (nice guy not up to running a state). He got some flack from one member of the audience for when he said “he didn’t care if he was running for governor” implying win or lose, it didn’t matter to him…”How can anyone take your run for office seriously, after hearing a statement like that?” Bill laughed it off.. :”it’s good for Delaware if I don’t care” he said… huh? (what he was trying to say was that someone who cared deeply would try dirty tricks to make sure they one, but not he, since he didn’t care, dirty tricks were not in his agenda… just bringing up Markell’s Nextel Lawsuit…) Bottom line, Republicans should have left both the governors and Lieutenant Governors spots blank this year, considering the damage those two candidate may do to their party… But watching it made me realize that in politics everyone is a nice guy… our job is to elect the smarter nice guy, or the nice guys who are selfless, instead of selfish….
Tom Savage for Insurance Commissioner. He is a one issue candidate running on a bill drawn up 11 years ago hat has not yet been passed… or perhaps even voted upon… Tom lost the Democratic primary and is running as an independent.. After listening to him, there is a reason he runs as an Independent. No one else can stand to be around him… He started out with a populist approach against Thurmond Adams that was refreshing, but quickly turned into a rambling attack on all those against him… Sometimes loud, too loud, and sometimes extremely too loud, as one who has not been prevalent in the public eye, it was obvious that he had some misconceptions on how to win friends and influence people… I guess if I were nice, I would say he just self destructed…. accusing Karen Weldin Stewart of taking money from insurers… Like an old character in a black and white movie, he refused to yield the podium when his time was up… perhaps figuring it was his only moment to publicize his cause and he was not giving an inch of it away.. Unfortunately by this time i was watching the spectacle and to be honest, I have forgotten what he was talking about…. I hope he writes in and chews my ear off so i can at least get it in writing and remember what he said… My take away was that perhaps his cause was good, but unfortunately it was carried by the wrong messenger.. As he sat down next to his poor wife, (in a lovely green dress by the way, it really pulled out her eyes, she started the critique.)
Karen Weldin Stewart spoke about herself.. She has a hard time pronouncing her S’s… almost using the Georgian form of pronouncing it with as a “ts”. I began to wonder if she hailed from the Caucuses themselves. She spoke of her business expertise, but to be honest it was in vague terms, not in plain talk. She was an interim CEO, but not a CEO.. She apparently during her reign grew whatever she was doing… But since she was last, I didn’t pay attention as much as I would have liked… I remember thinking to myself… oh dear,… this insurance thing is going to take a lot of work, isn’t it…. But I do remember what she wore… An unnaturally bright teal blazer over a white blouse, with matching black skirt and hair… I didn’t think of it at the time, but she was wearing Estonia’s national colors… Maybe she was from Estonia… Unfortunately I don’t know too much about their language…. (alas, perhaps I’ll learn if they get invaded).
After taking one question from the audience, Tom Savage put up his hand… The time keeper said “he’s a candidate, he’s had his time, you don’t have to take his question if you don’t want to..” But to Karen Weldin Stewart’s credit… she took it.. (To myself I said, “damn girl. You take it on”. Tom savagely said, (like that?) “you took insurance money! You’re a liar!”; i think was a direct quote. Karen responded, ” Actually it’s illegal to take insurance money when you are the insurance commissioner. I have not taken any money from them..” “Times up,” stated the moderator…”thank the candidates for coming, thank those of you for coming, time to go…By the way, the other candidate for Congress, Karen Hartley-Nagle has just arrived and will not speak, but will take your questions in the lobby”.
As everyone was getting up KHN trapsed in wearing the same dress she used on the televised primary debate, which she got pinged for, and I guess she had something wrong with her shoes, for her gait was rather odd.. Maybe someone will enlighten me (and everyone else) if there is something i should know, but it reminded me of walking on Acme spring shoes.. like that of the coyote on old Roadrunner cartoons…
But the event was not yet over…. as Tom passed by Karen Weldin Stewart on his way out, “you lied, you took money from the insurance firms. It’s in your report”… pointing to a blue binder he was carrying. Karen, gosh darn it, held her composure, saying she had not.. Keep in mind this guy is yelling at her. (What was he thinking?… Oh that’s right… he was an independant… they don’t have people skills…That’s why they are always independant.) ” I’m going to report you; you can’t get away with this..” To which Karen said “call the Election Board and file a complaint… Let them look at it.” Mr. Savage’s wife had enough. Sliding her arm under Tom’s, she pressed his arm hard against her and pulled him off balance out the double doors… She left him in the Embassy lobby briefly to return to Karen, and with those beautiful green eyes, I think a couple of tears were starting to well, she told Karen, “I told him..I told him… I’m so sorry….” The guy can’t be all bad if he has a good women like that sticking to him…..
Don’t look at the candidates. Look at who’s behind them…
Matt Denn took on all insurance companies to stop them from charging higher rates than we deserved to pay….
Charlie Copeland took on 90% of Delawareans, because Bluewater would prevent Delmarva Power from charging us rates 60% higher than we deserved to pay.
Matt Denn supports Delaware’s citizens. Charlie Copeland supports any Delaware business person who wishes to gouge a Delaware citizen.
Don’t look at the candidates. Look at who’s behind them…
Matt Denn supports raising the minimum wage for servers up from $2.38 per hour, a wage rate that is way below the Federal level…
Charlie believes that slave wage should remain the same as it was in 1987. No change…
Don’t look at the candidates. Look at who’s behind them…
Matt Denn believes the education of our state’s children is our state’s highest long term priority.
Charlie Copeland believes that we need to cut educational expenses even more… Who cares whether there is soap in any school bathroom?
Don’t look at the candidates. Look at who’s behind them…
Matt Denn has new ideas on how we can make government work for the people.
Charlie Copeland has old ideas that today’s crises have shown will not work for the people, just big businesses.
Don’t look at the candidates. Look at who’s behind them…
Matt Denn, along with Jack Markell, was one of the first public officials to favor the building of a windfarm off Delaware’s coast.
Charlie Copeland, along with Harris McDowell, and Thurman “Desk Drawer” Adams,was one of the last public officials to go along with Bluewater’s proposal, voting for it so they would not automatically preclude themselves, from ever seeking public office again.
Don’t look at the candidates. Look at who’s behind them…
Matt Denn believes in open government. He made the Insurance Commissioners office available to the public.
Charlie Copeland says he believes in open government, but then he and his fellow Republicans, backed the opposite of open government, Senator “Desk Drawer” Adams, to run the Senate as president pro tempore, thereby insuring all open government bills would never be heard in the Senate, (unless of course you could fit all the senators inside of a desk drawer….)
We can’t afford Charlie Copeland… Look at who’s behind him…..
Courtesy of Department of Defense
Obviously the conventions would dominate those weeks in which they take place within our local blogosphere….
Since the Democrats began their convention, the number of posts relating to just national politics were as follows.
Delaware Liberal 77
Delaware Libertarian 6
Delaware Politics.Net 26
Delaware Watch 5
Delaware Way 5
Down With Absolutes 13
The Colossus of Rhodey 20
The number of posts relating to our state races were as follows:
Delaware Liberal 12
Delaware Libertarian 5
Delaware Politics.Net 5
Delaware Watch 2
Delaware Way 7
Down With Absolutes 13
The Colossus of Rhodey 6
Of course there were some judgment calls. Most particularly with our Senator running as Vice President, that always forced a judgment on whether the post should be considered local or national.
I say it should be no wonder that most local posts remained focused on the national fracus… For these are historic times… The first person with Afro-American blood is right now, running for the White House. The first conservative female (ever) is vying to survive the achievement of the Vice Presidency…. The first Delawarean in anyone’s lifetime, is right now on the national ticket…There was even a storm that looked like Katrina all over again…and the Republican convention downsized accordingly…. Out West, the police busted up a group of drinking conservatives who allegedly threatened to assassinate Obama… The other convention’s police, not to be outdone, were able to arrest Amy Goodman….
So I don’t want to fault those who ignored local politics in order to focus on the national agenda…
I just want to debate whether that is the most effective use of our time, irregardless of whatever party we are discussing…. The underlying question begs to be asked…. Does anything we say or picture upon our blogosphere …make even the slightest difference in the National Race?
Meanwhile we have local people desperately trying to find out about their candidates, as well as candidates trying to get their message past the WNJ’s blockade……and can’t; because we are not talking about it…And it certainly wasn’t a very quiet week in local politics.
The last week before the Primary begins today. On the Republican side, we have the hard liners fighting new blood… After 8 years of Bush, Republicans must consider whether they should stay the course, or molt into a new party still sporting the same name? Protack versus Copeland-Lee is about to determine that….Should Protack upset the regular party faithful, as his state’s highest ranked candidate, he will have considerable input on the direction his party must take, at least until a new figure emerges…. Conventional wisdom considering his win, says there is no way…. But across this nation, Republicans have lost three seats in special elections, all in reportedly safe districts…. If enough of Delaware’s Republicans want to force their party to run on issues, instead of running on slander, then Protack could just get enough bounce to go over the top…..
Stranger things have happened.
On the Democratic side, the governors race is heating up. But you would never know it if you only read the blogs for information (Unless you read Down With Absolutes)… Since a majority of bloggers consider themselves not only Democrats, but progressives, this is a tragic silence. Fortunately the News Journal stepped in, and took over the bloggers role this time, and published a great comparison of both candidates. Hats of to their editing department for their picturesque face off: that put bloggers to shame.
One would think there would be some buzz over the Democratic race to pick Mike Castle’s successor. Granted, the candidate we wanted to run is either going to win or lose the governor’s race next Tuesday, but irregardless, in a Democratic year, nothing substantial has been said about any of these candidates…
Fortunately WPVI Channel 6 stepped in and carried the bloggers role by televising their debate last Sunday morning…. But none would know by just reading the blogs…. It was actually a good chance to see who was honest and direct, who was prompted with canned answers, and who was trying to toe the center by not giving specifics and speaking in platitudes…..
And our insurance commissioners are infighting among the Democrats to see who takes on John Brady…. To be honest, the only one I know anything about is Gene Reed, and that is because of Mike Matthews. There have been three debates yet no one has mentioned them in blogworld…..
But the big, really big race. ie the one affecting us (up North) the most, is the Gordon-Coons battle. Tuesday decides it; there is no Republican challenger…. Fortunately this race has gotten some mention. Before the conventions started, cassandra m wrapped up a synopsis of their debate, that was not flattering to Gordon… But where we get our hard nuggets of info, are out of comments, as one side’s supporters bash those representing the other side…. But the real question of who will better reign in our developers ravaging our countryside, has yet to be answered…..
Equally strategic, is whether Bill Dunn can upset Paul Clark…. Clark is better funded, but previously committed official endorsements for Clark are now dropping like flies, since Bill Dunn has now entered the race….At stake is the question of whether developers should have unlimited access to our county government? Or should they have only the same rights as everyone else? Dunn is for reform… Clark is “the way we were”……
Up North, the big General Assembly race is in the fourth… the seat previously held by Copeland…. Three Republicans, and two Democrats, are battling among themselves for the right to go to Dover… All are well funded for a Primary and the fourth is covered with election signs… However very little has been said about this race within the blogosphere. What will be done when they are elected, will be anyone’s guess….
Democrats in the 6th Senate have a battle on their hands between John McKenzie and Mike Terranova. That race has not registered in our little blogosphere…. Nor has the Republican race for the 10th….between Andrea Daley and James Weldin…. Andrea is a frequent writer on Nancy’s Blog, Delaware Way…… But has any blog covered the pros and cons of either candidate? No.
County Council 8 and 12 are up for grabs on the Democrat’s side. In the 8th, John Cartier and Carl S. Colantuono go head to head for the grand prize… Carl Colantuono was previously highly recommended during a different race two years ago… In the 12th, the new guy Thomas Scherer is giving William Bell a run for his money…. Bell has all the trappings at his disposal that come with being an incumbent, but it appears that Tom is making up the discrepancy on the ground……
In town since Republicans do not exist in the city proper, the mayor, city council president, and the members of Districts 1,2,3,4,8 are all to be settled next Tuesday… But if one were reading the blogs for news, no one would ever know…. Before he left, Tommywonk featured Campbell Hay, who has the dubious distinction of being the only city candidate featured in blogland….
Kent County has a primary in the 3rd district of Levy court, just among the Democrats… and that winner goes against blogger David Anderson, I presume? Further south, Sussex County has a three way Republican race in the 2nd District, and a two way Republican race in the 3rd. In the last race, one of our states more insightful bloggers has put his hat into the ring… To find out his stance on everything, just Google Jud’s Rants Delaware... It should lead you right there……
So all that aside, during this week of conventions, what did we learn locally?
1) We learned we are more exited about the national circus than we normally let on…. It can suck up all our energy…..
2) We learned that we did not live up to our reader’s expectations; who will walk in to the booth on primary day, still in the dark, as if we didn’t exist at all.
3) We learned that candidates need to use us by sending their info to be published, and in order to distinguish ourselves from the News Journal, we need to print it…..
4) We learned we need to apply endorsements based on our values, and adequately explain to readers why our support is forthcoming…..
5) We all have favorites. But if you read the local blogs during this past week of convention coverage….. you would never know it…..
With one week to go in the primaries, we can make some inroads. However the lesson that we take for this week, is that as thoughtful bloggers, we CAN make real impacts on local races decided by the slimmest of margins. Talking mostly about national campaigns, only helps keep things running in our state, the same way as they always have been.
And none of us would agree that running in the same way…is good…..
kavips 
