Dave’s Post Mortem on the 14th Special
Although he quickly burried it, Dave’s take is worth a read.
(Link)
This is the money:
One other thing that was driven home for me Saturday. The Democratic Party is fueled by an old-guard combination of union leaders and farmer/firemen Dixiecrats. I didn’t see a whole lot of “movement liberals” running around. Markell has no chance of winning a primary against that.
Well….in districts like the 9th – and Kent County to be sure.
And while you can make the argument that this race did not offer “movement liberals” much to turnout for, he makes an excellent point. The people who are doing the nuts and bolts “work” of party building are (for the most part) not the noisy lefty bloggers.
Completely correct with respect to who actually does the party work, such as volunteering at campaign events, lit drops, working the polls, etc. It is not the lefty bloggers. Not yet anyway.
With respect to Markell, if he is unelectable to those “Dixiecrats,” then how did he amass the highest vote total received by a state wide candidate in Delaware history in his most recent reelection? Indeed, how did he ever get elected in the first place?
I’m a new lefty blogger – voting for Markell. I back Jack!
“With respect to Markell, if he is unelectable to those “Dixiecrats,” then how did he amass the highest vote total received by a state wide candidate in Delaware history in his most recent reelection? Indeed, how did he ever get elected in the first place?”
Because he was running against Republicans, and wounded, underfunded, longshot Republicans at that. The Dixiecrat/Thugcrat alliance will always support a D over an R. But when it comes down to D vs. D, they will make their presence felt.
So when Republicans lose, its because they’re running against thugs? How does John Still work into that equation, Skipper?
Just to be totally clear, Jack Markell DID NOT “amass the highest vote total received by a state wide candidate in Delaware history in his most recent reelection.” That’s simply inaccurate.
In 2006, Jack Markell received 174,388 votes. The record for the highest vote total received by a statewide candidate in Delaware history goes to Mike Castle (245,808 votes in 2004). That same year, the all time record for vote totals for a Democrat was claimed by John Carney (218,272 votes), who out-polled both the Governor and presidential candidate that year.
Jack Markell’s *percentage* of total votes cast in his last election is a statistical tie with Tom Carper’s vote percentage that same year, as well as Ruth Ann Minner’s vote percentage from 1996. Although, given who was running against Jack Markell in 2006, it would have been somewhat newsworthy had his opponent gotten a higher percentage than she did.
All of this information is available at the State Commissioner of Elections website. Point your browser there and you will see that the Delaware Democrat who has had more voters pull the lever and cast their vote for him is (by a very wide margin) John Carney.
“So when Republicans lose, its because they’re running against thugs?”
No, they’re running against Democratic politicians. The thugs are the ones who turn out the votes for those Democratic politicians and are rewarded handsomely by those Democratic (and a handful of Republican) politicians with union welfare like collective bargaining and prevailing wage legislation.
“it would have been somewhat newsworthy had his opponent gotten a higher percentage than she did.”
I thought it was newsworthy that she got nearly 40% of the vote in Sussex.
My apologies JoeMama. I was referencing the percentage of the vote, not actual vote totals, and I thought it was the highest ever, but I stand corrected that it only ties Carper.
Dave –
Democrats have unions and you have rich guys in Greenville who write big checks. I call it a wash.
Yeah. And Dave cannot tell me that those rich guys and corporations are not rewarded handsomely with policies such as massive tax cuts, capital gains tax cuts, corporate tax loopholes, anti-worker legislation and deregulation.
Dave acts like Republicans are as pure as the driven snow.
Acting as if we have some sort of monopoly on rich people or corporations is silly.
Unions support Democrats. Business supports the winners.
And today’s Republicans, here and in Washington, are far from pure, but that won’t stop me from trying.
ONWARD!!! Dave…stiff upper lip and all that rot.
One of the original points is Markell’s position in the Dem primary. All along I have said Carney is the more formidable opponent within the Democrat party because of those who will side with him no matter what else occurs. A sort of black and white choice.
The General Election is a different matter, then shades of gray take root. The Democratic candidate will be the favorite early on but there are two issues we can capatalize on with effectiveness which will make change the race if we are serious about winning.
Let’s just put it like this: If Carney wins the primary, I’m voting Republican. I’ve got about two dozen family members who are in the same boat with me.
Mikey,
If Levin is the nominee I am voting for Carney or Markell. So will 65% of Delaware.
Sad but true = Protack troll posting from Kinko’s.
Sad but true is a 68% to 32% loss. Were all those Ennis voters “trolls” also? If so, there are a lot of them in Delaware.
Protack – She got 10 times the votes that you did during your first run for the legislature. What does that make you?
You got 14% the first time you ran and you got 23% the first time you ran statewide. I understand why you’re jealous she got such a high percentage of the vote.