Will Biden Be Unopposed?
Beau Biden left the hospital today, and I am starting to wonder if the scare to his health last week will be the only scare he will face this election year. The Republicans held their convention last Saturday, and failed to nominate a candidate to challenge the first term Democratic Attorney General.
The notion advanced by the News Journal and others last week was that Beau’s stroke makes him unlikely to face an opponent.
After Beau Biden suffered a mild stroke on Tuesday, those prospects [in fielding a candidate for AG] dimmed to virtually impossible, GOP pundits said. Politicians know that any appearance of gloating over an opponent’s misfortune carries the danger of public ire and a sympathetic backlash.
Huh? Running against an incumbent does not mean you are automatically gloating over that incumbent’s misfortune or health problems. That GOP pundits conflate the two ideas (running against Beau and making fun of his stroke) is very revealing.
Republican Chairman Tom Ross said Wednesday he wouldn’t discuss challengers for Biden’s seat.
“It doesn’t feel appropriate talking about right now while the attorney general is in the hospital,” Ross said. “We still plan on having a very good candidate, and we’re going to work to do just that.”
Why is it inappropriate to talk about fielding a candidate in an upcoming election, even if the incumbent you are challenging was in the hospital at the time of your party convention? Unless, of course, questioning the incumbent’s health or attacking him personally are going to be important facets to any campaign against him.
Biden is improving and should soon resume his duties, said Joe Rogalsky, his campaign spokesman. He added that Biden remains dedicated to running for re-election. “Nothing should change,” Rogalsky said.
And nothing should have changed for the GOP either last week. Ross could have answered the question civilly without any insult to Biden, but then he would be stuck with the embarrassing notion that the GOP can’t find anyone.
As an aside, does anyone think Colm Connoly looks exactly like Peter Jennings?
Yeah, he declines to run too.
Colm may be the best candidate that the Republicans could field in any race this year. I wonder if the purity purges have kept him out?
LG: Doubtful. The only issue on which the Tea Partiers might fault him is the Second Amendment. Like most law enforcement officials in the Northeast, he’s in favor of limits so the police aren’t outgunned.
Beau has a lot of money. A challenger would also motivate the Biden voters to turn out and the GOP wants them to stay home so the top of their ticket can win. There are a couple of good reasons for them not to challenge Beau this year.
Don’t they have until July to decide? Yeah, I’m not sure either why they’re waiting but I can see the point that having a candidate suddenly jump in when Biden is in the hospital looks bad.
The GOP has until September. I would let him go. I am with Rebecca. The money would be better spent winning the house back. I don’t see him being beat. He would bring the entire team in to boost Carney and Coons along with him. Let sleeping dogs lie. If there is no candidate by June 1, leave it be. I could see picking someone who would create a record of accusations of failure to air publicly in debates and in the media for to raise negatives for later. The person could make statewide candidates for a future race.
Colm Connoly is a pretty mellow guy from what I know. As with many traditional Republicans, he probably would have a hard time getting a fire in his belly to help this new ultra right wing version of the GOP we have in Delaware. Maybe one day when Republicans gets away from the Rush Limbaugh I hate the opposition mentality, we can attract smart able professionals like Mr. Connoly.
Does the AG have to be an attorney?
I ask because the only qualifications I know of for the other positions is that the treasurer has to be pretty/handsome, the auditor has to wear suspenders and the IC has to be a hack.
“Like most law enforcement officials in the Northeast, he’s in favor of (firearms) limits so the police aren’t outgunned.”
Communist !
LOL, anon. I will tell former Treasurer and current Governor Jack Markell that you found him handsome.
And no, I do not believe one must be a lawyer to be Attorney General, although it is an informal qualification for the office.
Nope I’ve always found the late Peter Jennings very handsome, and I’m not at all attracted to Connolly. Maybe their hairline and bone structure is similar.
I doubt Connolly would run against Beau for AG. It’d be a huge pay cut. Plus he’s toyed with running for office before and didn’t. After the Capano trial he was going to run for Lt. Gov. but then didn’t.
Indications were Ferris Wharton would run for AG if Beau ran for US Sen. Who thinks after Wharton’s 2007 hit and run accident he’d be able to beat a decent Democratic candidate for AG?