Journalist that I am, I interviewed Tom Noyes on his upcoming trip to Denver to cover the Democratic National Convention as Delaware’s blogger representative. We talked about his trip, blogging and whether or not Tom Carper sucks. Don’t miss it.

The interview will appear here at 7:30 am.

Ron,

My readers are eager to know if you are stupid or devious? Or both?

In your July 30^th column you mentioned a “Democratic in-house poll of New Castle County and statewide candidates” that you first mentioned on July 27^th, boasting, “I have the latest in-house Democratic Party poll that includes most of the statewide and New Castle County candidates.”

The first time you mentioned this “in-house” poll you sounded suspicious of the data and mentioned frequently that you found the results “surprising.” By the second time you mentioned the poll your skepticism must have waned though because you don’t mention being so surprised. Not only that, but you take pains to build up the credibility of the poll by stating within the first paragraph that “It was run by Vince D’Anna, former staffer for Sen. Joe Biden, under the name of Delaware Survey Research. He’s done numerous polls over the years, including many for Biden and other Democrats”

But Vince D’Anna (who you neglected to note in your column is supporting John Carney by the way) disclosed, and it has since been confirmed by others, that that the poll in question was done for Tom Gordon and was not an “in-house Democratic Party” poll at all. So my readers are wondering if D’Anna lied to you about the poll or you knowing lied to your readers about the poll.

I have $5.00 riding on the fact that you lied to your readers in order to help boost the John Carney campaign, so your help in clearing this up would be most welcome.

Sincerely,

Jason

Delawareliberal

PS. I hope you don’t mind me calling you “Ron” even though we haven’t met. Since we are both in the journalism biz, I thought a bit of collegiality might be in order. Perhaps not given my question.

People see polls all the time…

Internal Republican polling shows the Carney-Markell undecideds in the 18-20% range.

Only a gullible fool (or corrupt loser) like Ron Williams would go around draging his newspaper’s credibility through the mud by trying to pass off some half-assed garbage paid for by Tom Gordon as “in-house Democratic Party” polling.

You really have to read this. I think we all have our opinions about the NRA, but after you read this I’d like to know how you feel about them.

Over at the Huffington Post there is an article about using citizens arrest to capture Karl Rove, Harriet Meirs or John Bolton. This is intriguing.  I wonder if we could turn the Delaware beaches into a bastion for apprehending criminals.

And before any of you start saying that it is not within our rights to arrest people for crimes in another state or on federal charges, remember that this is essentially what we did in Iraq, by enforcing UN resolutions with out the UN’s authorization.  I gotta go get a gun.

When Ron Williams wrote, “I have the latest in-house Democratic Party poll…” it was either a flat out lie or he was played for a sucker by Vince D’Anna.

As more water spills over Williams’ half-assed dam of lies, we know know that the poll was not recent as Williams suggests with his use of “latest” and it was in no way a “in-house Democratic Party poll.”

Rather, it was commissioned by Tom Gordon and Karen Hartley Nagle which Al Mascitti touches on  in the comments of a previous thread.   The orginal purpose of the poll, as confirmed by an source close to D’Anna,  was to offer some sort of numbers to Washington contributors.

In an effort to boost Carney and get some positive coverage after a rough week, D’Anna either told Williams that it was an “in-house” poll an assertion that Williams never questioned – or Williams knew from the start it was pure bullshit.   Either way – Williams has allowed the News Journal editorial page to be used in a way that undercuts what little integrity the paper has.

He needs a pink slip.

Celia Cohen is back from vacation with her latest rankings of Delaware’s races this fall.  I agree with her that Biden and Castle are nearly guaranteed to be reelected.   But let’s see what she has to say on the Governor’s race (Markell v. Carney v. Lee v. Protack):

For the first time in a generation since Republican Pete du Pont won in 1976, there is no clear frontrunner for governor.  (Not you, Protack).  Tilts Democrat(ic).

I suppose she means there is no individual frontfunner for Governor, for obviously either Democrat would have to be favored to defeat Bill Lee in the general.  Yeah, it might be a more competitive race with John Carney as the nominee, but come on.  It is not like Carney is going to lose to Lee.   As to there being no individual frontrunner, I agree.   As to her use of the term “tilts Democrat,” obviously she is trying to avoid the word “leans Democratic” for some reason.  Perhaps she fears a copyright lawsuit from Larry Sabato or Charlie Cook.   Also, note her improper use of “Democrat,” which further reveals her right wing tendencies.  

Continue reading →

On the Al Mascitti Show this morning, Vince D’Anna clarifies the results of his poll: 

Carney 30.5

Markell 14.6

Undecided 55%

That is the real story behind this poll.   After eight years of service as Lt. Governor, as the heir apparent of the Democratic Party, John Carney only garners 30.5% of Democrats, with over two thirds of Democrats either supporting Markell or undecided.   If Carney is such a shoo-in, if it is really his turn, if he is such the golden boy, then why is he stick in the low 30s?  

Carney is basically an incumbent, as part of the Minner-Carney Administration.  He has the establishment backing.  A basic rule of thumb in polling is if an incumbent is below 50%, he or she is in serious trouble.   Carney is at 30.5%!    That tells me that two thirds of Democrats are not happy with the choice of Carney, and are either supporting Markell or unsure of or without enough knowledge about Markell to say that they are supporting him. 

Ron Williams is lauding this poll as good news for Carney.  It is not.  It is horrible terrible devastating news for Carney.  

At the risk of this becoming a food critique blog I have posted this.  But, I won’t comment on the horrible food they serve.  Nor will I mention the disgusting hamburgers that arrive to your table dripping with fat so thick the bun has turned into a nasty spunge like object that has been soaked in a grease like product. 

The restaurant (if you can call it that) on 202 is never full, yet you have to wait 10 minutes to be seated.  Andy Rooney said it best when he said he avoids places that have “Help Wanted” signs.  (Insert crotchety Rooney voice here) If they have a help wanted sign, it must be because the management or the food is terrible, or both. 

Truly a shame….not

First they sell off Molson, they can barely hang onto the Stanley cup anymore, now even their ice is fleeing…

Check this out.

On Sunday Williams wrote, “I have the latest in-house Democratic Party poll…” and he went on to relate what a load of crap it was with crazy ass responses like “Ruth Ann Minner is popular.” …stuff nobody could believe.

Well he sequestered other results until today.   Why?  These are results that Williams wanted to push as legitimate so he kept them out of Sunday’s column.  Equally bullshity results such as “Carney is winning by a large margin.”

Not only that – but Williams called it a “in-house Democratic Party poll” but is it?

Turns out the poll, “was run by Vince D’Anna, former staffer for Sen. Joe Biden, under the name of Delaware Survey Research…” Sounds objective right? Wrong.

Williams is knowingly covering up for the fact that Vince D’Anna is a Carney supporter.

There he is as plain as day on the Carney site right between M. Edward Danberg and Mike D’Armi.

Long Story Short: Carney Camp gives Williams some bogus polling. Williams knows it is bogus but in order to get the positive Carney stuff out – he sequesters it and on top of all that he pretends that the poll was objective and not Carney material in the first place.

I suppose you could believe that Williams didn’t know that D’Anna was working for Carney, but to believe that you would have to believe Ron Williams is dumber than a box of rocks. Now that I think about it, that is a possibility.