Will Enfeebled Tom Carper Hurt Dems on Election Day ?
Carper is feeble in body and political spirit. Now that we all know that this is a “turn out the base” election on every level, it is very possible that Carper’s wishy/washy non-Dem version of being a Democrat could seriously hurt down-ticket candidates by muting the enthusiasm of what would otherwise be a fired-up Dem base.
That is not to say that Carper will lose, or that his GOP opponent stands a chance, but the reality is that the Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign is hobbled by dragging this political museum piece across the finish line.
Carper has added nothing to Dem GOTV efforts because he really has no standing to go after Republicans in the way they need to be attacked.
Bottom Line: If Dems turn out the “blue wave” in Delaware it will in spite of the deadweight at the top of the ticket.
Carper’s will to protect the rich is still strong.
Good point. He is a 1,000 year old vampire on that score.
Do us a favor (just to test your credibility): compare a large-turnout-voting-for-Carper primary ED with the turnout in the general election among Dem voters. Now do the same for a low-turnout-voting-for-Carper in the general election among Dem voters.
It would seem that, if your theory is right, Carper’s turnout figures should drag down the turnout in the general election.
Whenever the final results and data are available.
You’ve got it.
I don’t think so. People turned out for primaries for reasons that had nothing to do with Carper, so a lot of votes for Carper showed up specifically to vote in down-ticket races. That tends to happen in races in which the primary is the more important election, the city of Wilmington in particular but not exclusively. Correlation is not causation.
Also instructive – who will be the top Dem vote getter? If it isn’t Carper by a lot my thesis is supported.
BTW – Has anyone seen Mr. YMCA at the YMCA at 5:30AM lately? Any door knocking? Any campaign peeps from him since the primary?
Saw him take a victory lap at the Bethany Beach bandstand celebrating the near unanimous passing of a Water Act. Earlier in the day he was in Ellendale for another event.
@Jason330 — I thought you were agreeing to do the math. Now you’ve backed off. Whatever happened to evidence-based opinion?
Perhaps because I showed your metric is flawed?
I misread your comment to suggest looking at 2018 results. Which I may still do. Also your metric is flawed.
Whether we (meaning I) like it or not, Carper continues to poll very well with Delaware voters. So does LBR.
When you look at the list of puny challengers on the R side, I see a turnout advantage on the D side. Yes, Wilmington turnout will likely be down b/c there’s very little going on there.
But D’s will have the advantage where they NEED to have the advantage, IMO.