With the passing of Thurman Adams, the Delaware State Senate will never be the same.
And the State of Delaware will be much the better for it. While one wishes Adams’ family best wishes and mourns their loss, it must be said that, in the last few years, Adams almost singlehandedly kept the Senate’s tradition of obstinance and obfuscation alive.
Coming on the heels of the recent passing of Sen. Jim Vaughn, the institutional disdain for open government that had lasted for decades is gone for good. The only remaining proponent of secret government is Nancy Cook. She will either have to adjust or find her influence diminished considerably.
Here is what will change: There will be no more desk-drawer vetoes. There will be far less killing bills by putting them in ‘unfriendly’ committees. There likely will be no more denying R’s the opportunity to run their own bills on the floor. There will be much less Sussex County domination of the Senate, even if a D wins the Special Election, since George Bunting is a moderate at worst and Bob Venables has always been a follower of Adams and is too far out to assume a leading role.
This trend will likely accelerate as Senators who have become comfortable with, if not entirely committed to, the secretive way of doing things retire.
The Senate Democratic Caucus was so secretive that it is/was the only Caucus not to have its key staff people in the Caucus. That helps explain some of the PR blunders that the Caucus walked right into headlong. However, the real explanation was that the Caucus simply didn’t care what the public thought. It is impossible to convey the disdain for the public and the press that was shared by senators like Tom Sharp, Jake Zimmerman, Richard Cordrey, Herman Holloway, Sr., Vaughn, Cook and Adams, among others. All but Cook are gone.
There has been a great deal of understandable fondness expressed for Thurman Adams upon his passage. ‘Bulo himself will always remember his solicitous and courteous manner.
That fondness, however, must not morph into nostalgia for, or the desire to maintain, the era of secrecy and disdain for openness which characterized Adams’ governmental philosophy and the era in which he served.
El Somnambulo doesn’t believe that will happen. While he is indeed sorry that the Senator has passed, he is nonetheless pleased that the institutional decrepitude that accompanied his times is also likely an artifact of the past.
However, it’s up to each and every one of you who believe in open government to make sure that this is change you can believe in. Stay involved and hold them accountable.