This Dialogue Delaware vignette is very informative, and makes our two Democratic candidates for Governor look very sincere:
Jack Markell was at home in shorts and a T-shirt Tuesday night, hitting “refresh” on his computer screen to keep up with election returns, when a campaign staffer called to tell him to come down to the Riverfront and join the large crowd of supporters gathering there.
His last check of the numbers — with Wilmington precincts still remaining — wasn’t promising.
“When I got in the car, I thought I was going to lose,” he said. “I wasn’t doing as well in Wilmington as I had hoped, and I was making people crazy saying, ‘This doesn’t look good.’ It was not until John called me, when I was two minutes away from the Riverfront. He congratulated me.”
Carney said Markell was surprised by his call.
“He said, ‘You mean it’s over?’ And I said, ‘You’re ahead by 1,700 with only a few ED’s [election districts] left. There’s no way,’ ” Carney said. “He honestly was surprised.”
Indeed, in another article in today’s paper, Jack Markell also indicates that he holds no grudge towards Bluewater Wind in their effusive praise of John Carney after the Offshore Energy deal.
“Should I be fortunate enough to win the general election, I’ve got a very important job to do, to serve the people of this state,” Markell said. “Personal feelings are really unimportant at that point. The question is, what’s in the best interest of all the people of the state? That’s where my focus is.”
In normal politics in Washington and elsewhere, grudges and the consequences of endorsing a losing candidate are common. Look at the race between Obama and Clinton. When Hillary was the inevitable frontrunner in late 2007, many Democrats were falling over themselves to support her. And when some Democratic officials endorsed Obama, especially a young freshman Democratic Congressman like Patrick Murphy, they were literally risking their careers. Most politicians do hold grudges. It is just the nature of the business.
“The consequence is there’s some type of lashback by the opponent[,” said Majority Leader Cathcart]. Markell is “too classy” to do that, [he] said.
For once, Cathcart and I agree.