WRong Williams Says Delaware’s Most Famous Bush Enabler Considering Senate
There will be no place for Mike Castle to hide if he runs for the Senate.
It will not be a couple of angry state bloggers picking over his record and throwing his Bush loving 8 years in his face every time he tries to claim to be this great moderate.
It will be the full force of the Democratic Party, plus the big guns in the national liberal blogosphere, plus the entire state Democratic Party. This will be a big national marquee race.
Castle will have the broken Republican Party, Mike Protack, Celia Cohen, Pete DuPont and Wrong Williams on his side.
Bottom Line: Caste got on the wrong side of history. He quits. If he doesn’t retire, he goes out with his ass soundly kicked.
Tags: Delaware
This will be a big national marquee race.
That he will likely win.
Castle will have the broken Republican Party, Mike Protack, Celia Cohen, Pete DuPont and Wrong Williams on his side.
You’re ignoring his greatest assets: a long string of statewide wins, his moderate “brand,” more than a decade of Democratic party indifference or worse, and, most importantly, a vast number of marginally informed voters who are in the habit of voting for him.
Not to mention that I don’t see a Democratic candidate capable of running a campaign that can overcome the above.
I hope I am wrong.
Castle is probably out of practice running a campaign. When’s the last time he had a competitive one?
Carney can win just by standing on the stage next to Castle and thanking him for his long years of service.
…or any other credible Dem.
No, Castle has lost his moderate street cred when he voted against the President’s Budget this year.
This reminds me, I need to restart the Castle Betrayal of Delaware Count again.
A vote here and there pale in comparison to Castle’s reputation. It’s the general impression that people have of him, not people hollering about individual votes, that’s going to count.
While Jason’s right that it will be a national marquee race, the Democrats STILL have to put up a credible opponent. If their pick is indeed Beau, the Republicans are ALSO going to gear up in force and put their money and resources into the race, making it a wash.
The question is, will Dems like Carper put pressure on Beau not to take on Castle this time, allowing him one last term and keeping the Delaware Way in tact. A Biden Castle race would be great theatre, but would disrupt many state alliances that have been in place for decades. Carney gets the House seat, Beau stays AG for one more term and then runs for higher office, Castle “moves up” to the Senate, and all is well. I smell a deal. Maybe the QOTD is, if not Beau, what Dem could beat Castle in 2010? Frankly, I don’t see a dem other than Beau who could beat him.
You’re ignoring his greatest assets: a long string of statewide wins, his moderate “brand,” more than a decade of Democratic party indifference or worse, and, most importantly, a vast number of marginally informed voters who are in the habit of voting for him.
People pretty much had this to say about John McCain too. A serious Dem ready to not just critique Castle’s not moderate voting record, but to hang it around his neck can make this race very competitive. Castle’s real record can be his achilles heel. It will take a great Dem candidate who is ready to highlight how bad that record is to make it work. And I have no idea who that Dem is.
And if the National Dem money pours in, then the National Repub money pours in. If the National guys decide to start sending “experts” from the national parties, the Castle trouble could start.
If Castle says “Socialism” he loses.
If we are to compare records:
Castle -vs – Beau
No contest.
I agree. And I hope it isn’t Beau.
“A Biden Castle race would be great theatre, but would disrupt many state alliances that have been in place for decades.”
What alliances? The GOP has hated JRBjr for decades but was powerless to unseat him. They chortled at the Kinnock thing but found no one willing to challenge Joe except beanbags like Janie Brady and Clatworthy.
Joe remembers well the Greenville Gang’s disdain. [“And I welcome their hatred.”] That memory will help Joe’s many friends nationwide raise millions for Beau.
Everyone who thinks Beau’s last name is liability is either stupid or dreaming.
Of course it’s a liability. How could it not be?
A potentially new Senator Biden will be the No. 1 target of the Republicans. Think about Newt Gingrich chortling about beating the vice president’s son. They can’t wait for this race.
It’s equally true that Beau will be the No. 1 beneficiary of support from the Naval Observatory machine and the DNC. Who knows how they’ll balance each other out.
But anyone who thinks the name “Biden” is not in any way a liability is blinded to reality because of their hatred of Mike Castle.
I’m surprised no one picked up on the final line in Williams’ column:
“Mike Castle was born competitive. He’s got money. Put your chips on him running for U.S. Senate. Four years and out.”
Isn’t a Senate term six years?
It’s only 4 years, A.Z. because it’s a special election to fill the rest of Biden’s term.
1. GOP surveys showed that a significant number of 2006 voters thought Joe Biden was the candidate for AG.
2. With few exceptions, some of whom are prominent this site, Mike Castle inspires few strong feelings, for or against. On the contrary, his campaign would have to decide how to deal with the vociferous, sometimes vicious anti-Biden voices surrounding his campaign.
3. Speaking for all self-styled Democratic strategists, I ask, please keep Gingrich on camera.
[ smacks head ]
Thanks, UI.
Mr Castle, if he runs will win.
For those who want to smash his voting record, go right ahead. As always, facts are stubborn things. Castle routinely has 55% concervative/45% liberal voting record which equals moderate according to the National Journal which is light years ahead of the News Journal or any Delaware blog.
The Biden name is indeed a huge plus, Republicans who do not understand that fact are clueless.
I do not see AG Biden as a powerful figure but he has many external things going for him but certainly not his record or personal abilities.
In the end, it will be his choice and of course the voters and the endless banter here will matter little.
Mike Protack
A.Z –
As far as Delaware voters are concerned the Biden name will matter to 50 or so Rick Jensen listeners, because Jensen will turn his show into a wall to wall Biden bashing freakshow.
It will also matter to a far larger number of casual voters who like voting for Bidens.
There is simply no way to paint the Biden name as a negative in Delaware because the people who hate Biden can’t hate him anymore than they already do. To argue otherwise is to take part in Wrong Williams like wishful thinking.
Now then, they could try the “lack of experience” route – but that cuts two way, becuase if experice means being like Mike Castle…then good riddance to experience.
Also, please remember that as we discuss this, Mr. Biden is simply trying to stay safe and do his duty in a war zone CREATED by lyingest President ever – George Bush, with the help of Republican, Mike Castle.
Castle routinely has 55% concervative/45% liberal voting record
You and Celia have fun with that stat. The one that matters is how often he voted with BUSH….95% baby. I’m glad that his record will be picked over by better bloggers than me and than Celia Cohen.
Castle hits the rocking chair. That is still the most probable outcome.
Jason,
You completely miss the point. Yes, Biden’s name may not be a liability among Delaware voters. But to say that it’s not a liability in a no-holds-barred U.S. Senate campaign is a completely ignorant position.
If our Attorney General were Joe Smith running for the U.S. Senate, he’d attract a moderate amount of national GOP attention. But since his name is Biden, and his daddy sits in the vice president’s mansion and helps a guy named Barack every day, the rightwing moneymen are going to be out in force.
the rightwing moneymen are going to be out in force.
They will. But the rightwing moneymen have a giant game of defense that they have to play and fund nationwide this year. They may indeed work harder at turning this seat blue, than in keeping a pretty big number of red seats currently in play. That may not be so good for us, but if they are focused here rather than defending their own seats, I guess that tells you what their priorities are and where they are ceding the field.
To get an idea of how much resources the national party, PACs and those other orgs are going to pour into a Beau race, imagine if Chelsea Clinton had run for office during the early years of the Hillary-Bill first term. All that hatred, directed at a proxy because they can’t touch the parents directly for a few years. And the anger and hate has just gotten more intense since then.
That’s a good point, cassandra_m, but in some ways, Castle is like defending an incumbent and picking up a Senate seat in the process. And Castle already has a good-sized war chest for a Delaware campaign.
AZSD’s interesting scenario needs to be fleshed out — add that the non-incumbent party needs to keep the incumbent party from getting to 60 Senate seats (while a few stalwarts have retired, leaving key seats open), and the non-incumbent party’s Senate and Congressional committees are currently being out raised.
cassandra –
Consider also that the president’s party almost invariably loses seats in a mid-term election. It’s attributable to the impatience of the American voter. The latest economic forecasts I heard indicate that the turnaround isn’t even going to start to happen until mid-2010, meaning voters are still going to be unemployed, underemployed and living three generations crammed into a house. That’s not suggestive of a resounding national victory for the Democrats.
Certainly the President’s party typically does lose seats in the mid-term and what is vulnerable are the just turned D seats that got caught up in the Blue Wave. Those freshman are actually doing OK for fundraising. The economy is definitely a question and any recovery will definitely be slow. But I don’t know how resounding a victory Dems will need if the repubs stand in a corner and stamp their feet — which is currently their tactic and a tactic that voters see right now. Or if the Rs take their money and spend it on profile and prestige here rather than in holding Senate seats being vacated.
The Republicans are going to have to play defense for a lot of seats. In fact, John Cornyn thinks that it will be hard to prevent a filibuster-proof majority in 2010. The only endangered Democrat that I know of is Chris Dodd.
You ever think Cornyn is trying to lull the other side into a sense of complacency, getting them over-confident? You know… like you guys are doing now?
Sorry to be a downer, but I just don’t share the optimism.
If the economy is still bad in 2010, all we have to do is remind voters who did it in the first place and that the party that broke it has no ideas on how to fix it.
That also happens to be the truth.
Since Bush was able to increase his party’s majority in his first off-year election, there is no reason Obama can’t, too.
I don’t us defending optimism — but making the point that inevitability is going to be really tough when 1) the number of people who count themselves as repubs is falling; 2) fundraising at the repub congressional PACs is behind their Dem counterparts and 3) the entire board is still tougher (not impossible) for repubs. And some of this is their own making.
Given the way that repubs have been acting recently, it would not surprise me in the least if they throw alot of money here. But they will do that at some cost. Some of that cost will be in the defense of other seats. I don’t see why that is controversial.
AZSD,
Delaware voters will be voting in this election, not Ms. Coulter and Mr. Hannity.
GOP Money will be wasted in Delaware and I am glad for that.
A1,
Here’s the math. It’s just not favorable to Republicans:
Retiring Democratic Senators
Ted Kaufman of Delaware
Retiring Republican Senators
Kit Bond of Missouri
Sam Brownback of Kansas
Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
Mel Martinez of Florida
George Voinovich of Ohio
Democratic incumbents
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
Barbara Boxer of California
Michael Bennet of Colorado
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Roland Burris of Illinois
Evan Bayh of Indiana
Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
Harry Reid of Nevada
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Chuck Schumer of New York
Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
Ron Wyden of Oregon
Patrick Leahy of Vermont
Patty Murray of Washington
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
Republican incumbents
Richard Shelby of Alabama
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
John McCain of Arizona
Johnny Isakson of Georgia
Mike Crapo of Idaho
Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Jim Bunning of Kentucky
David Vitter of Louisiana
Richard Burr of North Carolina
Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
Jim DeMint of South Carolina
John Thune of South Dakota
Bob Bennett of Utah
Democrats only need a net of 1 seat for filibuster-proof majority. So, which of these races is competitive. Let’s look to Nate at 538.com (Top 15):
So, 7 of the top 10 are Republican seats, and 9 of the top 15. I realize that this is the state of the race as of today, but the math just isn’t there for the Republicans. They have to hold all the open seats, plus defeat Democratic incumbents.
I wouldn’t be so casual as to bet on Mikey running for and winning our senate seat in 2010.Let’s see how he votes on the gut-check issues important to Delaware voters.Those would be “card-check”and health insurance.Will Mikey have the testicular fortitude to buck the far-right will of the Republican establishment? He hasn’t so far! If he does,he wins. If he doesn’t, even the biggest “long shot Louie”at Hialeah wouldn’t put a fin on his fate.
I join those with a serious resentment to Beau”Baby”Biden being given the opportunity to run for the same seat, but MY resentments are performance based. I will NEVER forget his office NOT recusing themselves in the investigation of the MURDER of Derek Hale.Baby’s office works DAILY with every police agency in the state. They had NO business investigating and the report issued was laughable in it’s conclusions. Eugene Hall and Baby’s office went belly up like two dollar crack whores for the cop who pulled the trigger.I will make it a point to attend every fund-raiser and rally to bring this to the publics’ attention if Baby gets the nod.
UI,
That is a great list. If I were a repub (ugh) looking at that list, I’d look for the best bang for the buck. So, for example, I think it would be cheaper to support Castle in Delaware than Tomey in Pennsylvania give equal chances of winning.
That is why I think DE is going to look so tempting – small market and smaller $ campaign than other states with a proven vote getter.
But, even if Castle wins in DE, the math is still great for the Dems!!
DE is still quite expensive because of PA media market.