Breaking: Tom Carper Stopped John Carney From Taking on Mike Castle
Carney got as far as “game planning” a run against Castle
In late April and early May of this year, while Senator Tom Carper unsuccessfully tried to get Jack Markell to drop out of the Governors race, he successfully stopped John Carney from taking on Mike Castle.
A source has disclosed that Carney got as far as “game planning” a run against Castle with a small group of his closest advisors who agreed that Carney could beat Castle. However, one of Carney’s primary advisors, Tom Carper, scuttled the plan. While not privy to what type of pressure Carper used to disabuse Carney of the idea of taking out Castle, my source relates that Carney clearly saw that office within his grasp as polling showed that it was increasingly obvious that Markell was mounting a serious campaign at the same time John McCain campaign lurched to the right damaging the Republican brand in Delaware.
Having made his decision in the spring to acquiesce to Carper’s wishes, Carney ramped up his campaign against Markell during the summer thanks to a cash infusion from the Delaware Democratic Party, but went on to lose a close primary race against Markell. Had Carney made the other choice, given Castle’s many weaknesses, there is little doubt that this would be a “top tier” race and a likely Democratic pick-up.
“A source has disclosed…”
More details, please. Sources are a dime a dozen.
How good is your source?
In which camp? Did he/she play a role in either campaign? Was it high-ranking or low-grade?
What are his/her motivations, especially at disclosing this information at this point in the game?
What did the polling from the spring indicate specifically about Markell’s surge?
I just find it hard to believe that Carney, a guy whose ambition for years – probably decades – was to serve as governor, would back off his dream, especially when he’d already committed to the race and gotten a ton of party support.
Personally, I’ve wondered why Carper didn’t try to get Markell to run against Castle when it became clear the “deal” for a Carney-Markell ticket was being thwarted by Ted Blunt.
If true, this solidifies the fact that Carper is the Joe Lieberman of Delaware politics.
DPN,
I’d like to know why Carper was so set on Markell and so opposed to Carney. My theory is that Carper knew at the outset that Markell would stay in so it was easy for Carper to be seen as trying to push that option knowing he would come up dry.
It is like begging someone to come to a party when you know that they have tickets to Hawaii. You get credit for the begging without having to worry about the person showing up.
Darn! I wondered why the Democrats did not put up a strong candidate against Castle this year. I hope Carney will consider running in 2010. I think Carney is very good, I just preferred Markell. I hope Carney will have a long future in Delaware politics. But, since the Senate seat will be opening up (cross your fingers) perhaps Carney will run for that and Beau Biden will run for Congress.
That is it!
I now want John Carney to challenge Tom Carper in 2012.
Attention Al Mascitti, I want this discussed this morning, please. This is huge if correct.
Why is Tom Carper playing God. Why is he protecting Mike Castle?
and tom carper promised that they would use the DNc’s cash to secure a win?
amazing
he deserves to lose and I’m glad he did
I think it is safe to say that Daniello didn’t make the call to spend all that money on his own.
It is not hard to connect the dots here.
DelDem: Lots of things are huge stories “if true.” If it’s true, it’s a news story. It’s not much of a discussion topic, frankly, because what is there to say?
I think if Carney wants to run against either Castle (or Copeland) in 2010, or Carper in 2012, he will find the love from progressives he didn’t get this time around.
Here is the angle: Why is Tom Carper protecting Mike Castle to his own party’s detriment?
Carper’s contributors prefer Castle.
Carper and Castle have been protecting each other for decades ever since The Swap. Neither has ever had a meaningful opponent.
I am not sure exactly why…. anything I come up with would be an educated guess. I wish somebody would lay it out for us.
anything I come up with would be an educated guess.
and we all know how bad Delaware’s education system is…
Another oddity in all of this. Carper ran against Roth upsetting the “political establishment” in Delaware. Then when the Democrats have a golden opportunity to fire Castle, Carper does what he can to keep the status quo.
Carper and Castle: BFF!
What you don’t realize is that if Carney did run for Congress, he would have had to start fundraising from scratch, as he couldn’t have transferred any gubernatorial campaign funds into a Federal election account.
if Carney did run for Congress, he would have had to start fundraising from scratch
… and also without any help from Carper or (sorry to say) Joe Biden.
Didn’t Del Dems dump $300k on Carney after May?
Couldn’t they have done the same thing PLUS leveraged national fundsraising sources for a shot at a big Dem Pickup?
Wouldn’t rank and file Dem shave lined up to fund Carney?
Yes, yes and yes.
Money would not have been a problem.
Didn’t Del Dems dump $300k on Carney after May?
Against Markell, yes. Against Castle, fat chance.
Running against Mike Castle is the third rail of Delaware politics.
Perhaps Carper telling Carney that he would not be getting any money was the leverage. Even so, Carney could have raised the money easily. I think we all know that.
“Here is the angle: Why is Tom Carper protecting Mike Castle to his own party’s detriment?”
It might be an angle for a Democratic Party gathering, but it doesn’t exactly inspire outrage among anyone else.
I suppose Carney could do pretty well just raising money on his own name. Even so, he’d have to catch up to Castle’s bankroll. It would be a dogfight.
Just imagine Castle running negative ads designed by Delaware GOPers.
Plus Carney strikes me as way more risk-adverse than Markell. It seems tougher for him to jump off of the cliff without the usual suspects giving him their blessing.
It would have been interesting though — Carney would have had plenty of money, Carper or no, and if he could have prevailed against Castle, both Carney and Markell would have owned all functioning bits of the party on November 5. Meaning that Carper could no longer call the shots.
Too bad.
Well, when you don’t have millions of dollars to fall back on, you are often more risk adverse.
I would strongly support Carney against Castle in 2010, although I’d actually like to see Carney get Biden’s Senate seat assuming an Obama victory. Beau could go after Castle in 2010. To run against Carper, we’ll need a self-funding outsider, like a Ned Lamont. No one from the establishment has the guts to take him on (although I’d love Matt Denn to prove me wrong).
I now want John Carney to challenge Tom Carper in 2012.
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Why is Tom Carper playing God. Why is he protecting Mike Castle?
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So now maybe you’ll believe me…with all that I had been told about Carper holding court with who-the-freaking-party is or isn’t supporting?
He ain’t g-o-d and hopefully he will be spirited out of Delaware politics for good in four years. Four years to long.
Carper’s contributors prefer Castle.
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Anyone take a close look at Coons supporters this time around? The Centreville crowd in spades.
I too like to know more about the source.
But that aside, as a conservative Republican if there were a Carney-Castle match up there would be a Carney sign in my front yard.
Carper has The Name.
Recognition is hugely important, and he arguably has the most.
Sources or you got nothing! Carper/Carney/Castle is the Delaware Way! Markells’s win affects the blue dog dems which is what Carper/Carney are. Markell upset their little “power” apple cart. The voters have their own ideas and it has nothing to do with party loyalty.
The voters have their own ideas and it has nothing to do with party loyalty.
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yeah, and the crazy kids at DE Lib can’t see the forest for the teflon schmucks like Denn and Coons….ugh.
Now you are a Copeland fan too?
Instead of all this whining, why aren’t you highlighting Castle’s vote yesterday?
Nancy: One doesn’t have to like Coons to dislike Gordon. One doesn’t have to like Castle to dislike Hartley-Nagle. Coons is hardly Teflon. Castle is now vulnerable, but not to KHN. It’s hard enough to unseat incumbents; flawed candidates make it that much harder.
I don’t think that KHN has ever claimed that more voters would be going DEM for her rather than by default, has she?
Coons is frickin’ teflon. His land use dept is a developer romp in the park and he loves it when Pam Scott-Paul Clarky gets all the heat for it.
Whis WFH problem isn’t even sticking to his ass as much as it should be. He was mighty embarrassed in the ‘informational meeting’ when not one single member of the community ‘bought it’. The population of development industry lobbyists, attornies and otherwise in the room outnumbered us regular Joes, by the way. But nary a one spoke into the mic.
When their one shill got up, they were all patting each other on the back as to how well she did for them.