DL Open Thread Tuesday October 19 2021
I kind blanked on the open thread this morning. (My apologies to our dear readers and generous patrons.). Anyway, here are a couple stories from the blog Lawyers Guns and Money to go with your morning coffee.
WHAT AMY CONEY BARRETT’S AMERICA WILL LOOK LIKE
If you like people having their miscarriages investigated, you’ll love America under the Kavanaugh Kourt:
Who saw THAT coming about William F. Buckley’s favorite Democrat? For the past 15 years, former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has never spoken publicly about the secret help that he received from Republicans Karl Rove and Elizabeth Dole to help him defeat Democrat Ned Lamont in the contentious 2006 Senate race. But in a new […]
I wish Jennings would have pre-emptively announced she wasn’t running for Governor ahead of the McGuiness indictment. That would have taken a major talking point away from her crackpot supporters.
I don’t care about crackpot supporters. They’re by definition crackpots.
And I really like Kathy Jennings. I also like Matt Meyer. That’s a choice I’d like to have.
I began thinking about my next challenges in politics I read the recent thread about the rise of white women in Delaware politics. Referring to to Kathy McGuiness, someone wrote something to the effect that the Black Caucus really seems to be in ‘ love with her. I contend that she merely found the price point for election day. Delaware Way politics has always held that the Black vote is an automatic and all that is necessary is to pay the right people to get us to the polls or…not. As long as the Black vote was centered in Wilmington, throwing crumbs seemed to work. What hasn’t been noted though is that there are significantly more African-Americans Legislators than ever and half of them are from outside the city. They represent more diverse districts. Understanding this is what will bring the Delaware Way to he heeI. I’ll be writing about the bylaws of politics in Black Wilmington. I want to explore some of the codes that ‘keep us in check’. They are all the rules I have pretty much violated. Here’s one:
We don’t know who controls you
When I moved back home from Chicago at the end of 1983, I had lived in the Windy City in the time of change from death of Mayor Daley to the rise of Harold Washington. I lived in Hyde Park and went to lots of Operation PUSH meetings on Saturday mornings. I worked in the People’s Movement for Voter Registration and saw the generational impact of the migration from the South. I worked in the Election Day Office of the Harold Washingoton for Mayor, the heart of the campaign. I learned the technical aspects of elections: targeting, lit drops, canvassing and election day organization. One day the lawyers asked me to make calls to selected voters asking them to attend a Board of Elections hearing. The Chicago political machine rule was that proving the challenge to a few voters would validate a precinct challenge list. Conversely, a few voters showing up would invalidate the challenge It was part of a plan to disenfranchise thousands of black voters with its core in a group of police Chicago police department. (I had come to know Don Rose, a progressive political consultant who explained this to me, “Politics is a blood sport and the first rule is learn how to count”.) I still remember the white guy who wanted to beat up the precinct captain who placed him on a challenge list. They had been friends.
After the campaign, I went on to research and speech writing for Al Raby for Congress, despite my father’s coming to Chicago to connect me with his friend, Charlie Hayes, who won the seat. Roads not taken.
The political machine that ran Wilmington had the same gears as the one in Chicago. I thought I brought skills to open up electoral politics in Wilmington. Instead, I found a tightly controlled electorate with well paid ‘leadership’. In those day,s watching cable channel 28 told everything about our politics. Self-interest for these ‘leaders’ is community interest. As I heard said on one show during the 1988 general election when the community was up in arms about Mayor Frawley, “We are the leadership. On Tuesday vote a straight ticket and we will take care of things for you.”
Their successors still take care of things for us and the return has been minimal. Black Delawareans are not sharing in the direct economic benefits of the development going on in Wilmington. There are no minority owned contracting businesses participating in the renewal of the riverfront. There will be a few people who will be given a crumb to demonstrate to the community that we do get something from the table… crumbs.
The upcoming election cycle is one on which there are no city offices up for election. Wilmington elected office holders, uniting with elected leaders from outside the confines of the city could very well form a progressive block that could set up longer term change and at the dismantling of the Delaware Way throughout the state. Understanding how to count will take us there. In order to succeed at this it will take Black politicians in Wilmington moving from the mentality of, ‘Where’s mine?’ to ‘We are all in this together.’ This combined with coalition building with Black electeds from outside the city and throughout the state and outreach and building with the Hispanic community could very well put us on a path to change that is more than heralding the ascension of white women in the Delaware Way.
All I can say is ‘Amen’. The voters are electing true progressives like Marie Pinkney, Madinah Wilson-Anton, and Larry Lambert. People who consistently place service above selves.
Challenges to the likes of Stephanie Bolden, Darius Brown, and Franklin Cooke, to name but three, can turn progressive growth in the General Assembly into a tidal wave.
There are plenty of grassroots volunteers and organizers ready to help you. All I can ask is that good people please step forward to run.
Great to see you here Mark!
There has definitely been progress on rooting out some of the machine in the past 4-5 years, but there is more to go. I have been very proud of the success of several of non-machine black candidates (inside and outside of the city) and the excellent work that they have done since winning.
There are definitely better chances for that coalition to form now, and hopefully even better after next year’s election.
A comment to all you tipsters out there. What passes for the Tipline was sorta camouflaged, even to us.
Now that we’ve figured it out, please feel to share tips. Your anonymity will be protected, and I promise you that we’ll check it every day from here on in.
What’s the most progressive thing Meyer has done in your view?
‘The most’ questions are almost impossible to answer.
Running an open and ethical administration, in contrast to his predecessor, will serve for a start.
Appreciate it. Wasn’t intended to be a trick question. That’s a good answer and a good start.
Having spent so much time in government, and viewing how Delaware government operates, I view that as no small thing.
I also like that he won’t be bullied by the police, who have far too much power in this state, or the building and construction trades, who have slow-walked opening certain of the trades to minorities.