It was a bad December in Sussex county in the last two weeks of the month, while they should have been enjoying family and friends, Sussex citizens were fretting about crimes. There was an abduction and murder of a young girl just over the state line in Maryland (her body was found on Christmas day). Ordinarily, that would dominate the news, but there is another cloud over Sussex.
There is a huge mountain of evidence building in a case of a pediatrician that may have molested at least 100 children. That mountain of evidence is being compiled by Beau Biden’s Attorney General office. Biden has been very engaged in the whole process. This is the role that an Attorney General is built for. And by all accounts, Beau’s presence has been a comfort for victims families. He is building a case for these citizens against one of the worst kinds of criminals.
From a purely political standpoint (and I am a little hesitant to even bring it up, but hear me out…) Beau is finally getting an opportunity to be what we all hoped that he would be, an AG that can make a difference in this state and not just a guy biding his time for a higher office. He can make a name for himself that is distinct from his father’s legacy and can give him a base upon which he can aspire to future office on his own merits. But the timing sucks.
This is announcement season. If I were in Beau’s position, I would have announced months ago to engage in a conversation with voters, to raise money and to prove that he has the electoral chops required to be a Senator. But his tenure in his only elective office has been diminished by his deployment to Iraq. Both are valid ways to spend your time, but he hasn’t exactly had a lot of time in the AG’s office. He can make up for that with a solid case against this doctor and quality community engagement to alleviate some of the suffering of these Sussex families.
And there’s the rub. Can Beau be a full-time AG prosecuting a major case that has garnered him respect in “enemy territory” of Sussex and be a candidate for the junior Senator from Delaware? Let me say right now that I think that Beau will come to the conclusion that the prosecution of Dr. Earl Bradley is more important that taking on Mike Castle for a partial Senate term and we will be stuck with Mike Castle for another 4 years. But we will have a grateful Sussex County that won’t forget the hard work of a fully committed Attorney General that made the worst days of their lives a little more bearable.