Comment Rescue
Anon writes: From the Cape Gazette (link):
“…the fate of Sussex Republican Chairman Dave Burris, who was recently appointed to the position, may be a topic of discussion at the regional meeting of the Sussex County Republicans at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 9, at Delaware Tech College.
Burris has received criticism in some Republican circles for a letter he wrote asking for Atkins’ resignation. “
If the SC-GOP and the DEGOP is stupid, petty, decayed and infected enough to give Dave a hard time for the stand he took they are in MUCH worse shape than I ever imagined.
heh, can the DEMs be any worse down there?
(Heyo Thurman)
The Burris letter blasting Atkins came well after Atkins was down and out. Kind of like kicking an unconscious guy who is well tied up, and then claiming a hard won victory. I thought the letter was a day late, a dollar short, and nothing but a grandstand play. If I was the GOP leadership in Sussex, I’d have a chat with him, too.
Dis –
And I thought I was a cynic prior to reading this take at DWA.
I happen to think you are not only cynical on this, but crazy.
Atkins’ “on again off again on again” exit puts the lie to the idea that he was a dead man walking and I’m sure Burris was under extreme pressure to clam up.
I’m with Jason. Disbelief, you are out of touch with reality. The Atkins thing was far from a slam dunk when Dave wrote that. JA was not expected to resign on the 27th, like he did. I suspect that even he didn’t know he would do it until he woke up that morning.
I agree that he (Atkins) didn’t know he would resign on the 27th until he woke up that morning, but every other GOP Rep (and quite a few Senators) knew it. The guy labeled himself, through his misdeeds and subsequent misguided damage control. Big bullseye, painted on his back, by himself.
In short, everyone except Atkins himself knew he was a dead man walking.
I still hold to the ‘beating a dead horse’ grandstand from Burris. Furthermore, I’ll bet some of the wrath Burris is now receiving is from pols who wish they had done the granstand before Burris stole their thunder.
Its good Atkins resigned. And, I still hold to the belief that the posturing on-or-about the resignation day is a bunch of self-serving hyperbole.
The only thing that annoys me more is Protack’s continued “give him another chance” song.
You’ll be (pleased?) to know that in a vote of confidence called for by Dave Burris, debated by the membership, and the vote in support of the chairman was unanimous.
Brud, a self-congratulatory circle-jerk by an organization surrounded by disapproval both on the state and national level doesn’t mean a lot, either good or bad.
The issue now is, since the Democrats have so much power, are they going to do some good or return to electing another Jimmy Carter (who now holds the record as the second worst President)?
Dis, I don’t remember seeing you there. You should have introduced yourself. I would have characterized any situation where the role of leadership is questioned, debated, and put to a vote in a less colorful way than you have.
The issue for Sussex County Republicans is not what the Democrats do with their newly-regained foothold in Congress, but what Republicans can do on the local, state and national level to advance our cause despite our electoral disadvantage. Much the same way that was the goal of Democrats two years ago on the national level.
Brud, the quality of your memory isn’t the issue.
My point was that the GOP is a non-issue in Delaware politics until such time as the party can rebuild. The ‘power-house’ players of yesteryear (Brady, Still, Wagner, Lee, Burris, Williams, et al) are gone or as good as gone, and there seems to be no one on the horizon. As a more pointed example, the Dems have two good candidates for Governor, and the election at this time will apparently be decided by a primary, not a general election, because the GOP has no candidates who come anywhere close to either Markell or Carney. When the Dems can run no-show campaigns and win (i.e., Vaughn v. Schaffer in ’06), the GOP has some serious problems.
The next election in ’08 will be another boost for the Dems. So the issue is: what can the Dems do now with their new-found power?
You use the phrase “advance our cause”. That is precisely what the Dems must avoid. These “causes” of those in power seem, in the end, to create inflamed and tender rectums. Instead of a state-wide or national “cause”, why don’t we focus on the management of issues such as health care, pollution, ending a pointless war in the Middle East, the erosion of Constitutional rights along with abuses by those in charge of these rights; in short, what can be done to manage government?
I will say one thing good about the GOP, and that is Rudy. I think he’ll be the next President. I hope he’ll be the next President. But that won’t help an empty, lackluster Delaware GOP who apparently seek validation by voting for themselves in meaningless quorums.
There are two sides to your argument. You say “there seems to be no one on the horizon”, but you take the time to belittle a chairman who is decidedly younger than the “players of yesteryear” that you described (young enough to be the son of one of them, in fact) for exhibiting leadership. Don’t bemoan the fact that there aren’t any up-and-comers, and disparage members and leaders from a younger generation who might disabuse you of that notion.
As for the phrase “advance our cause” – valid point. I should have typed “advance the values we hold dear as Republicans.” Those values have earned Sussex County Republicans all but one of the Representative seats in the county, despite registration disadvantages in some districts.
I wasn’t bemoaning, or even just moaning. I pointed out that the DE GOP has a dearth of credible candidates for both local and statewide offices. Its like pointing out that its a rainy day. There was no personal judgement of the quality of the day; just that its raining.
As to the ancestry of current GOP leaders; Burris the Prior was an empty suit, but was considered, within his own party, a great leader, somewhat like how Burris the Larger and cronies voted himself “a great all around guy” in the recent Sussex County meeting (and what a productive meeting it was). Burris the Former got his political head handed to him by a high school drop-out. He seems to have started a trend among Sussex County GOP gubernatorial candidates (with emphasis on the “goober”).
The ploy I believe Burris used in declaring Atkins a dead man is an understandable pander. But holding a meeting to declare yourself a wonderful person when there is enormous amounts of foundation work to be done is ridiculous.
Dis – sorry, but I can’t help but to read a personal-level tone in your discontent with Dave, make that the Burris family. Really, most people in his position would keep quiet in fear of disturbing the rank and file along with the ladder above.
Your opinion is an easy conclusion, likely derived without much effort to perform some due diligence. Perhaps you would have thought more of him if he just sat on his hands and kept quiet?
There is obviously no chance to convince you otherwise from your closed-thinking, but this was no safety action on his part. Not everything plays out in the papers or blogs, as I believe you think it does.
I am in no way discontent with Burris the Larger. In fact, I think he’s going to work his ass off through ’08, and regardless of his success or lack thereof, I’m prepared to be disgusted with the old guard (Still and Rakestraw) when they try to minimize his efforts in order to protect their own, well-worn out positions of power in the DE GOP. And if you think I’m cynical in my belief that the root of the DE GOP problem is that these old farts eat their own young, just ask Protack or Nixon.
With what you just said, no I don’t think you are cynical at all. It’s the obsession of trying to discredit what Dave did. It was no simple effort nor was it one taken lightly. How do you really think those “old farts” felt when Dave’s letter hit the papers and the talk shows? Dave didn’t get full support at all. He did from us, because we want to see someone that is willing to see the light and actually embrace it. There are still many lemmings among us and he is not one of them, yet, your opinions of late, attempt to paint him that way. That’s what we are talking about.
About that “circle jerk” comment…there is a time for a put-up-or-shut-up moment, and last night was it. There are wounded egos down there that were wanting to see him leave. He stood up and prevailed. Go ahead and call it what you want, but officially, it is now past. Anything else is mere ego puffing.
Speaking of ego puffing, apparently, our friend Atkins challenged Dave to be either a blogger or a chairman. What a bruised, self-pitious ass.
MOT, Dave should have returned the challenge by explaining to Atkins that if he can be both a drunk AND a wife-beater, Burris can be both a blogger and a Chairman.
now that’s funny!