Epic Dem Fail in the 21st RD
Mike Ramone’s pesky creditors are at it again–this time to the tune of over $1 million. Not counting County sewer taxes. A dog-bites-man story if there ever was one, as the News-Journal probably has a standing hed on file for Ramone’s fiscal travails.
This is a great opportunity for D’s and I fully expect them to win…waitaminit, what’s that, Ramone is running unopposed? Really?
I blame Delaware Liberal, yes, our blog, for not pointing out how competitive this seat should be.
What’s that? We did? I did? You mean:
and here?
Ramone’s explanations, if one can call them that, call into question his ability to serve competently:
“Probably, I didn’t understand it (the terms of the loan) as well as I should have,” Ramone said. “Shame on me, that was my fault.”
and
Although he concedes “they have paperwork that I signed that says they are right,” Ramone said he had not requested that the swap be rewritten and called the bank’s action “a bait and switch.”Despite that, Ramone said, “Because I’m an elected official I kept paying them. … I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Can one read something into those statements other than (a) ‘I didn’t read or understand what I was signing’ and (b) ‘Had I not been a public official, I wouldn’t have paid them’?
Don’t worry, though. Ramone demonstrates that he’s capable of personal and professional growth, which is why, he claims, he deserves to be in office:
Ramone said this experience is “a learning curve for me that I think is extremely valuable” in his role as a legislator.“I can represent small-business people and say, ‘Let me tell you what we’re going through,’ ” he said.
Except, uh, for the inconvenient facts that Ramone’s much-chronicled money woes long predate the current economic downturn, and it’s not likely that many small business people want to have this serial debtor speaking for them in Dover.
Seriously, can some ‘responsible’ Democratic official explain to me how this serial debtor was allowed to escape w/o an opponent? As Shakespeare (I think) once wrote, “The past is prologue.”
The 21st RD Committee and whomever is responsible for candidate recruitment at the state or county party level have handed a seat to the R’s that should have been theirs for the taking.
The proper term, if I read the small print properly, is ‘political malpractice’.
El Som,
You make a valid, if somewhat overheated point. We should always have a candidate running in every race.
However, there are extenuating circumstances in the 21st District. First, it is one of Wayne Smith’s jerrymandered Districts and they haven’t elected a D state rep in recent memory.
Then there’s the political theory that neighbors trump party. Statistics show that people tend to vote like their neighbors, regardless of party registration. So just looking at the D’s and O’s in a district and predicting possible D victory can be very misleading if those D’s and O’s vote along with their Republican neighbors.
Which makes it very difficult to recruit a robust Democratic District Committee. But they are making progress. In 2008 the bravehearted Patty Creedon ran against Ramone. Unfortunately, she lost. But her candidacy gave the D’s in the district something to hope for and the committee reorganized in 2009 with some new members and a new chair. They are in a building phase and they are working hard. It isn’t something that happens overnight and I would expect by 2012 they will be better positioned to mount some opposition.
This year they couldn’t find anyone with enough fire-in-the-belly to smack up against this jerrymandered district. Perhaps after reappointionment the D’s in the district will be looking at a level playing field and at least stand a fighting chance.
Ramone never should have been given a foothold in Dover.
Back in 2006 it was called a “dirty campaign” and “attack ads” when Dave Sokola pointed this stuff out. It amazed me how the media and certain bloggers defended Ramone and went with the “dirty campaign” story.
Anybody who couldn’t see this in 2006 has a broken bullshit detector. Seriously – watch the videos. It’s all here:
youtube.com/watch?v=H3QcZ5kSKzA
youtube.com/watch?v=sXWx0_xU4aw
youtube.com/watch?v=m34C-eRMpTo
youtube.com/watch?v=1YmFtVHAzwo
delawaregrapevine.com/10-06campaignnotes.asp
Oh, and, this is why it is so important that we hold the majority in the House, as you have so brilliantly pointed out in prior posts.
“You make a valid, if somewhat overheated point. We should always have a candidate running in every race.”
I don’t think that’s his point, and if it is I disagree. I believe ES is saying Dems should field a candidate in races where a Republican incumbent is vulnerable; with that I do agree. Wasting resources in Republican-leaning Sussex districts is a waste of effort. A “Democrat” like John Atkins lessens us all.
I don’t agree with ceding Sussex County and I also don’t agree that there can never be more conservativve Democrats in appropriate areas. Being personally somewhat responsible for the initial election of the R in the 38th RD in ’02 it amazes me that the fairly active group of D’s who live in the 38th can’t field a credible candidate there after 4 trys. The D’s formed a circular firing squad in Thurman’s SD and we are now faced with a bad choice or the low spark of high heeled boys. Sussex county is changing demographicly in the D’s favor particularly the 36th, 37th,38th,41st and most dramiticly Pete’s 14th. Carpe Diem
Geezer’s right. I identified this as a targeted race back in April of 2009, and wrote about it.
As to ‘gerrymandering’, it may well have been an R district in 2002, when reapportionment took place. But by April of 2009, it had a plus-1200 Dem. registration plurality. If you don’t find someone willing to run in such a district, you’re not doing your job as a committee. A simple statement of fact, nothing overheated about it.
BTW, I just checked the current registation figures, and it’s now over a plus-1300 D plurality–6245-4932. How is that not at least a level playing field?
I’m sticking with my ‘political malpractice’ argument.
JP: Fair enough. I don’t know which districts have viable D populations. But I disagree on the “conservative D” argument. I want one of the parties to represent my values. I’d prefer they both do, but I want at least one, and with the exception of environmental issues, it isn’t going to be the GOP.
JP,
Fact is that Hocker’s not going to lose, ever. He’s simply too personally popular. To beat him, you need to run someone else who’s also incredibly personally popular. Personalities beat issues every time! The only way to retake the 38th is to have Hocker move up to the 20th Senatorial after Bunting eventually retires. Or if his grocery stores go into bankruptcy or something.
The same thing applies to Danny Short in Seaford and Biff Lee in Laurel. They cannot be beat unless caught in bed with a live boy or dead girl. Demographics don’t matter unless you have the people to take advantage of them.
I also disagree with Geezer’s assessment that conservative Democrats in Dover lessen us all. A conservative Democrat like Thurman Adams is still a Democrat, and can be called upon to at least support his party’s governor on key budget issues, for example. A Republican is going to dig in his heels and be a complete obstructionist. Would it be great to have progressives in those seats? Yeah.
being the slimy dealmaker that I am I would rather have a piece of a vote than none of a vote. As regards our “buddy” I think as sure as Return’s day follows election day Johnnie boy will back on the R’ side of the aisle com Jan 2011:)
Geezer,
The GOP is good on environmental issues? Umm, global-warming denial, deregulation of corporate polluters, The Koch Industries agenda? Waiting for the rapture and using up the earth in the meantime? You know better.
El Som,
How many of those D’s in the 21st switched to vote in the Markell/Carney primary and will go back to their evil ways of pushing the R button this year? Plus, 2008 was an anomaly thanks to “W”. Doing a swan dive into that voter pool is tough to recruit for, even if the R candidate is wounded. He is good at constituent service and liked within the community.
I wish we’d found someone to mount a vigorous campaign and see if your theory is correct. But there is low-hanging fruit that is a better use of limited resources.
I liked some of the songs his band did.
Som: You’re right. Giving up like this is what created the dynasties of Buckworth, Oberle, Spence, etc. If the incumbent is a wrestling coach, we should run a good candidate who happens to be the president of the PTA or Kiwanis.
Those voter registration figures rebutted Auntie’s argument even before she made it. The Democratic registration advantage has increased since 2008.
Dems from PA, NJ, NY are moving to sussex there will be big changes in the county very soon. The newcomers find the oldies a bunch of ignorant country bumpkins. There’s hope!
fatladysings,
Not entirely true. All of my neighbors are conservative Rs and most of them are transplants. There are even Bodie signs up on my street.
None story, Rep. Ramone will be just fine because there is life after debt. Our debt culture fooled a lot of people. It has nothing to do with rather or not he is a good legislator.
David, you’re so right. Nothing qualifies one for holding elective office as a fiscal conservative more than being a chronic deadbeat.
It’s a well-known wingnut rule that the only people who have to demonstrate the fiscal responsibility of paying their debts OR their taxes are Democrats.