Delaware GOP Establishment Blames O’Donnell
The Delaware GOP establishment went running to the David Frum to find a friendly outlet for venting. The establishment blames Christine O’Donnell for its shellacking in November.
The FBI is investigating whether Christine O’Donnell misused campaign funds during her Senate run. While we wait to find out whether she’s guilty on that count, we already know that she is guilty in another way: for destroying and cannibalizing the Republican Party in Delaware. Despite the media’s continuing fascination with O’Donnell (to the point where even Chris Coons is still asked about her) less attention has been paid to O’Donnell’s negative effect on the down-ticket races in Delaware, or to the fact that the damage she did will last for several election cycles. There has also been no attempt to hold accountable the conservative media figures who endorsed O’Donnell.
O’Donnell had a consistently negative effect on the close down-ticket races in Delaware. Republican Party officials in the state who spoke to FrumForum on and off the record expressed great frustration with the damage she caused. O’Donnell did this in several different ways. She cost the GOP several candidates in the Delaware State House, giving the Democrats a super-majority. She hurt the campaign for the Republican nominee for State Treasurer. She boosted a Democratic party which has been growing stronger in the state, and solidified in the minds of many voters the view that the Republican party was an atavistic and unserious party, which the mainstream had rejected. In a year when Republicans had a wave to take advantage of and the opportunity to grow across the entire country, O’Donnell failed her party and brought it down.
I think some of this is true but Christine O’Donnell is only a symptom of what ails the Delaware GOP. The Delaware GOP has moved further and further to the right and the establishment failed to fight it. If the Delaware GOP expects to come back they are going to have to start being honest with themselves. This next part doesn’t help:
The election results show several close Delaware State House races where Democrats won by incredibly small margins. Not only were the percentages that separated these races very small, they were also small in absolute terms. The closeness of these races speaks to the success of the Democrats’ get out the vote efforts, which were driven largely by motivating voters against O’Donnell.
There were seven State House races where the Democrat won by less than than 1,000 votes. In three of those races, the Republican candidate had been recruited to take on a Democratic incumbent. The power of incumbency is hard to defeat in any election cycle, and a wave election is a rare chance to counter it. Yet in the races for the 6th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 18th, 32nd, and 41st districts, the GOP candidate lost. The vote margins were very small: 407, 282, 734, 879, 438, 296, and 939 votes respectively. (The race for the 7th was also close, decided by 1,364 votes.)
Do you see what he did here? He’s pretending that <1,000 votes means it was close and that a Republican challenger came close to upsetting a Democratic incumbent. That’s not true, if you look at the data.
The 6th Representative race was incumbent Republican Tom Kovach vs. Debra Heffernan, which she won by a comfortable 5% margin – 51.9% to Kovach’s 46.9% (the Libertarian John Flebbe got 1.2% of the vote).
The 9th was was an open set (Cathcart), which was won by Rebecca Walker by a 2.6% margin. The 10th was actually an incumbent D Dennis Williams against R challenger Robert Rhodunda. Williams won by a comfortable 9.2%, 54.6% to 45.4%. The 14th was Schwartzkopf vs. Weeks, which Schwartzkopf won by a 7.4% margin.
The 18th district was the Barbieri vs. Spence rematch, which was won by Barbieri by a 7.5% margin. Brad Bennett “squeaked by” Beth Miller in the 32nd district by a 6.5% margin, despite a DUI scandal. In the 41st, R-turned-D Atkins barely beat back Greg Hastings by a 10.6% margin.
So, they’re right that Republicans almost won, if you believe a >6.5% vote margin is a winnable race. If Republicans really want to win, they need to do a little more soul-searching. O’Donnell is only a symptom of the Delaware GOP’s disease.
Tags: Christine O'Donnell, Delaware Republicans, Shallow Bench
I think the evidence that O’Donnell got the least number of votes of the statewide candidates showed that she, as opposed to Castle who was beating Coons by double digits in the polls with a month to go, did have some personal effect in dragging down all Republicans.
So what if they are wrong about the actual numbers? As long as the college edumakated elites in the DE GOP are pissing on the Hillbilly teabagz and morlocks, I’m happy.
++ points for highly appropriate use of “atavistic.”
The day after Castle lost the primary, the DNC began pouring money and full time volunteers into Delaware. It paid off for them, as D’s turned out to vote against O’Donnell and then continued down ballot.
Conversely, the day after Castle lost, the RNSCC pulled resources out of Delaware, hurting the republican get out the vote effort.
So, while you can look at numbers or percentages, the percentages you refer to are percentages of the vote cast. If the democrats had not had 18 full time volunteers and resources in Delaware, and if the national republicans had continued to provide resources to the state, the situation could have easily flipped.
So, I think that with a different top of the ticket, the results would have been very different. O’Donnell may have reaped $7 million in contributions, but virtually none of it when to general get out the vote efforts. Instead it was spent on mailers, staff, and the infamous “I’m not a witch” ad, which only hurt (and the rest of the party) more. Frum’s thesis is pretty sound.
Ah, statistics. You can prove almost anything.
Ah yes, the old “It’s the RNC’s fault” excuse.
$7M in contributions ought to have been enough to own this state. I haven’t seen the FEC report (has anyone yet?), but I’d bet there was ALOT of stupid spending. And she left the field with $1M in the bank. $1M should could have used for her own GOTV effort if the party wasn’t helping her. So instead of whining that the RNC wasn’t helping her, she could have put on her Big Girl pants and gotten the job done on her own. It isn’t as though she didn’t have the funds for it.
This is what I heard at Return Day with an R Party organizer I work with. He basically argued that he’d been in charge of some really decent guys/good candidates and people were so grossed out by OD that they either voted when they wouldn’t usually, or voters just pulled the D lever to send a message when they normally would have been more discering. He was very angry, but it yeilded great broomstick jokes all day.
Yeah and the weeks before and after the primary the 9/12 traitors through their marketing front ( tea baggers express ) poured millions into COD’s campaign. Plus the endless media blitz done by Fox to support COD.
COD had better resources and funding than any canidate. COD and her supporters whining about money and resources is about as moronic as COD herself.
O’Donnell won Kent and Sussex – didn’t any downticket Republicans benefit from her GOTV coattails outside of New Castle County?
7 million should have owned the state, but like all pure primary winners- COD got lots of advice to tone down the rhetoric and the message turned into a big muddle.
BTW Is it true that OD “won” in Kent and Sussex? Sounds like Morlock math to me. The good news for Delaware in all of this is that COD is the gift that keeps giving.
From direct experience greeting at Olive Loss (RD9) for most of the day on Election Day, while doing so for John Marino (the narrowest margin noted above), I will contend that there was indeed anti-COD sentiment driving the vote. Easily more than half the people who told me politely (I have to note that, because they were generally polite about it) that they would be voting for Becky justified it by explaining how they liked John and would support him any other day, except not with COD on top of the ticket. It amounted to a tainted ticket thanks to her, at least in my direct experience. It was the general theme over and over for me at that location. If you want to dive into it, look at the numbers there, too (RD9/ED6). COD got crushed more than others, but the R’s in general got punched pretty hard.
No, really – COD won big in Kent and Sussex.
The row offices in Sussex went R so she had some coattails there.
Does the GOP establishment forget that Mike Castle was counting on Democratic crossover votes to win? Castle had plenty of money to get out the vote on primary day. Castle’s and the GOP’s problems predate COD. Voters left the GOP and I think the comment in the story that the DE GOP only appeals to elderly and anti-intellectual voters may explain the problem better.
I just don’t see the scenario where Castle at the top of the ticket overcomes 6.5% vote percentages.
To answer your question anon, yes, many downstate Republicans won on the coat tails of COD. Here in Sussex, nearly every Republican won, with Atkins and Scwartzkopf the exceptions. The Sussex County GOP had a strong effort at getting out the vote, with WGMD radio being a major factor in that. According to the board of elections data, Sussex lost because Rs voted and Ds stayed home. Plus, it didn’t help that the Ds had some guy no one ever heard of running in the 35th Rep. race.
To answer your question anon, yes, many downstate Republicans won on the coat tails of COD.
Well there you go.
What is the incentive for Repubs to select more moderate candidates in Delaware, as long as there is such a huge Dem tilt in New Castle County?
If Repubs don’t have a winning crossover candidate like Castle, they may as well go full wingnut and at least pick up some seats downstate.
“COD won big in Kent and Sussex.”
No, she won big in Sussex. She won by only about 6% in Kent, which is about the same margin Frum points to as “close” in down-ticket races.
Her total advantage in Kent and Sussex was around 16,000 votes — the same margin by which she lost in the city of Wilmington.
I heard that the guy running in the 35th was some kind of lib’ral.
Seriously, Jim, you ran a great campaign. You talked about issues while your opponent whined and said nothing.
“What is the incentive for Repubs to select more moderate candidates in Delaware, as long as there is such a huge Dem tilt in New Castle County?”
Because there are more registered Republicans in New Castle County than in Kent and Sussex combines.
“If Repubs don’t have a winning crossover candidate like Castle, they may as well go full wingnut and at least pick up some seats downstate.”
That assumes conservatives won’t vote for a conservative R in their own districts if there’s a moderate R at the top of the ticket. I question that logic, and I don’t think you’ll find anything to support it.
Sussex should be thrilled with the outcome of the Senate race. Coons voted for the UI extensions which are no doubt pouring into Sussex now, which was already the county that receives the most government benefits per capita. And the cherry on the top is Coons also delivered the Republican Holy Grail by voting for tax cuts for the rich. If I recall correctly, COD is on record as saying she would have voted against The Deal. So Sussex conservatives really could not have done any better for themselves, so far.
There was a positive wave. Kent picked up a house, senate and levy court seat. The balance of power on another levy court seat and row office was held by the resergent libertarians. Not only did Sussex row offices flip, but popular incumbents had to work. Pete had a competitve race. He is normally a 70% without a sweat guy. John Atkins always works hard, but he is quite popular and also had competitve race. Any race under 1000 votes and around 55/45 is competitve not winnable on election day by turnout unless it is much closer. Can you flip 350 votes in a race that you lost by 699 in a small district? No. It is a systemic problem which was did not just show up in 2010.
As for your analysis over all, you are basically right and they are wrong. I as I have written, you can make a case in the 6th and 9th. Still in Kent the Walls race flipped. The 29th open seat wasn’t close. I don’t remember the 36th open seat in Sussex but It would have been a nail biter in 2008.
A couple of hundred votes swapping locally and or staying home is reasonable. Our people found a 4% anti COD wave in NCC. There was a 9% GOP bounce over last election in Sussex and western kent. Bennett lost 7% but that oddly enough went mostly to the libertarian not the Republican. The GOP sherrif who was convicted of a DUI intimidated the party from using that against Bennett. It shouldn’t have because Higdon was going down in flames anyway.
I wouldn’t get too excited about the row offices in Sussex. The Recorder of Deeds position was held by John Brady, who was elected as an “R” but changed his registration to “D” after the 2008 election. The Register of Wills was also an elected “R” but that “R” went to the legislature in 2008 and the position was filled with a “D” by Ruth Ann Minner.
Technically, the ONLY office in Sussex that the voters changed from a “D” to an “R” in this election was the Sheriff, which was a shame because Swanson was a damn good Sheriff, regardless of party.
Hey Republican Dave, why is the Delaware Rep party is so anti-veteran? Seriously. They really hate disabled vets. They do the flag waving, but that is about it.
And delaware could do without the veterans affairs office and panel. It is a waste of money, since delaware does not really have any benefits for veterans. Not any that need an agency like that.
Besides there are enough service organizations in the state that will help with VA claims.
Please explain. The fact is that Democrats have run things the last how many years. The vet groups found O’Donnell and Urquhart to be a breath of fresh air. Even former Democrat officials in the groups supported them. I wish that O’Donnell had a month more to spend the money. It all came late in the game. Throwing it at media did no good.
Who sponsored the check off for the Home? Who sponsored the land purchase? Who got money for the vet center downstate? You will find good bi-partisanship there and GOP leadership.
I think members of both parties respect vets. I think we can do things better, but I don’t see the leadership of either party could be called anti-vet. I can’t name one elected official in either party that is. There is an anti-military fringe in the Democrats who would do not care about vets, but they don’t run anything in Delaware.
Who nationally increased Vet care and improved the average VA hospital from disgraceful to highly rated? Bush and the GOP. Who improved the medical retirement and reopened cases from the Viet Nam era? Bush.
Actually, the Brady race was close because Republicans were used to voting for him. I don’t agree the Sheriff was so great, but he was not bad. He lost for one reason, the national wave hit Sussex. The same with Brady. Kent also saw the majority go against an incumbent for a row office. The problem was the vote was split between the Republican and a Libertarian who was a Republican until this past year. He was a retired Air Force Col. is very respected.
COD being on the top of the ticket had an Enormous affect on the GOPs losses. Statistics can only prove what you want them to prove (i.e., add post hoc reasoning to fit one’s narrative or thesis).
Besides, nearly every other state in the union had a GOP wave crash across its shores, save for Delaware. I’ve never seen such a dichotomy in Delaware, especially in a GOP-dominated midterm nationally and locally.
Smitty is right. Though I’m a conservative, I’m a personal friend of Becky’s and thus helped her during her campaign. Btw, Becky got an incredible gift when the Middletown Transcript screwed up in their reporting during the primary for the 9th representative district. They reported that John Marino (R) received only 280 votes or so (he actually received about 2,000-plus votes). At the same time, they reported that Rebecca Walker (D) got close to 2,000-plus votes in the primary (which was accurate)
Any casual reader who’s new to the area (which is highly likely given the growth in the MOT area over the last 10 years) would certaintly read into these skewed numbers that were innacurtately reported. Indeed, the Transcript is only published once a week. Thus very few, if any, saw the small ‘correction’ in the paper two weeks later. While not as bad as Dewey Defeats Truman! Marino had to deal with one of the biggest editorial mistakes for a local politician that I’ve ever seen.
Correction from previous post regarding primary votes:
Sept. 14, 2010 Primary Results for Rep. Dist. 9
Rebecca Walker = 970
John Marino = 1,522
General Election Results:
Walker = 5,583
Marino = 5,301
Polemical…do I know you? Just curious, no need to ID yourself. Given three cycles now, I’d have to imagine there’d be at least some kind of acquaintance. Heck, even Becky knows me kinda well now, as both Smitty and real-name.
“What is the incentive for Repubs to select more moderate candidates in Delaware, as long as there is such a huge Dem tilt in New Castle County?”
To add to Geezer’s answer to this — Democrats in this state have the habit of voting for moderate republicans. A good moderate candidate has the chance to steal Dem votes from a Democrat in the general.
True dat, Cass.
So how do you explain the fact she almost beat the well known and likeable Dick Cathcart twice? Rebecca Walker was the favorite in that race once it was an open seat. The fact that we almost won after a tough primary and a late start shows how strong Marino was and the fact the overall district did not have an anti-Republican bent. Who knows after redistricting?
O’Donnell did not “sink” local races. There is no evidence to support that with the two exceptions that I note. In fact, the statistics so far refute that. Did O’Donnell sink the races in Maryland too? Oh, if she did then why did the one pick up occur in the eastern shore right next to us? I thought she was so “toxic” that Toomey would go down according to you guys. Didn’t we not only sweep PA statewide, but gain house, and state house seats in the local area. She was not a help, but you can’t blame a continuing trend on her. I wish you could then Republicans wouldn’t have so much work ahead.
Let’s admitt the Dems out classed us on the ground, played the media well, and utilized their natural advantages. Polls showed that the President had 51% approval. Exit polls put that around 57 to 58%. Democrats and their independents turned out better statewide. Normal turn out model and we pick up two house seats and Bonini. Urquhart gets 47% but still loses. Wagner gets 58%. At the most a great turn out machine can add 8 points. The Democrats in Delaware are about as good as they can get. They added 6 points.
In a race about Obama polices when nearly 3 of 5 voters somewhat approve, what is the surprise in the results? Unlike NY which had a lot of local discontent with the Democrats running the state senate, there was no hard core local anger to sway local races.
David – you did not stand at Olive Loss Elementary (RD9/ED6) for most of the day as I did. See my comment above, from 11:14AM. You’re not going to tell me something didn’t happen when I in fact experienced it first-hand. I will clarify that I do NOT think every result is because of COD. I’m not that naive. I don’t think the total turnout was so people could vote AGAINST her. I think the turnout here had a lot more to do with a tremendous GOTV effort by DEMS in NCCo. I do, though, think that COD had a lot to do with many of the more cross-over voters staying “home” on their side of the column than ever before. In my district (RD9), Republicans need that cross-over. For her and just about everyone else, it didn’t happen. More so for her and GU and less-so for down the ticket. Yet, where it really hurt was ED6 – Olive Loss. That is where the opinions hit home about not this year, not with COD on top of the ticket. So, while she certainly isn’t 100% to blame, there certainly is a valid argument for some of it, especially when I heard it straight from voters’ mouths.
That isn’t even a worthy delusion, David.
There is plenty of evidence presented in this post and in some of the comments that show that COD was a serious drag on the R ticket. Just ignoring all of that evidence doesn’t mean it does not exist.
Although we are delighted that you continue to believe that if you can get enough wingnut conservatives out to vote you can actually get someplace. If you are ignoring what a plain look at the numbers tell you, then Ds won’t have to worry about Rs being much of a threat for some time.
Smitty is, as usual, correct.
As a political junkie I usually have to remind myself not to talk politics to everyone. Not this time! Everyone wanted to talk about Christine. You couldn’t escape the topic. To pretend she had no, or little, influence is dishonest.
But keep up the spin, David. There’s nothing I’d like more than her name on ballet in 2012.
“O’Donnell did not “sink” local races. There is no evidence to support that with the two exceptions”
Well, okay, that sounds like “evidence” to me. Bonini only by what, 6000 votes? Flip the dynamics of the race, with a strong GOTV effort spearheaded by Castle and no strong GOTV effort by the democrats if Castle wins (because they spend their money elsewhere), and the democratic turnout goes down while the republican turnout goes up. Kovach wins, Rhodunda wins, Spence wins, Marino wins, Miller wins. In short, it is a totally different election with completely different momentum.
That O’Donnell had no coattails should be evident from the fact that Urqhart, Bonini, and Wagner all outpolled her.
Okay David,
What home? the home of the brave?
And COD was for using VA money to cover gaps in medicare, yet she was against health care reform and single payer. So is she for or against the government providing health insurance?
The problem with Delaware is that the veterans organizations have too much say, and that would be fine if they actually represented all veterans, but they don’t. The large part of their membership is people who want cheap booze and want to gamble. They have more non-veteran members than veterans.
And they provide very little in the way of service for veterans. The bar and casino is their community service and the money benefits that.
Now the republicans in Delaware are very nasty to veterans who do not agree with them. Very nasty indeed.
Honestly for the large percentage of veterans in delaware, the state really does not do much for veterans. And the few programs that benefit veterans are being bled dry of money right now.
and David. For the record. At the federal and state level Democrats have a much better record on veterans issues. Veterans do not benefit from “competition and privatization”. Veterans benefit from the same programs that republicans attack as being handouts to lazy people.
When I point this out to the tea baggers the typical response ( you really cannot make this up ). “You will benefit because less taxes and smaller government to pay for will result in more donations to charities, besides people should decided how to give their money away and not the government”. ( maybe if I am feeling spunky I will link to some of these gems ).
Basically I think the evidence says that we saw a divide among voters. I think there’s evidence for depressed NCCo Rs and fired up Sussex Rs. You can’t argue that O’Donnell had no effect on the races but the DE GOP establishment is fooling themselves if they think these weren’t long-standing problems.
Agreed U. I. I think the 9th and the 6th were exceptions. The Democrats targeted those districts and the city districts to bring out people and yes they used COD as a motivator as well as Biden and Obama.
It did affect the 17th and 18th as well, it did not change the outcome of those local races just like it didn’t in the city, but the increased outcome hurt Bonini and Wagner just like it killed Kovach and Marino.
I know better than you think where the strengths were. I walked with Glen at the shopping centers, bus stations, and train terminals. I spoke with regional coordinators and volunteers on the ground. I spent time greeting personally for 4 hours to get a feel and perform my traditonal party shift. I had access to extensive polling from multiple companies. I also studied some exit polling and some of David Stevenson’s analysis. If I told you there were no coat tails from Coons in parts of NCC, I would be lying. By the same token, if I said it determined most of the outcome, I would be as well.
U. I. is pretty close to the money on this one. The same problem trend has existed for 10 years. She didn’t cause it or stem it.
If Christine was only MORE conservative…. *sigh*
David, while COD did well in Sussex, I had numerous R’s that I know tell me that they voted for Coons. One gay couple (yes, Gay Republicans in Sussex) said they were glad they voted for Coons and that they hoped they could get back to voting for “sane Republicans.”
Jason, part of the problem is that COD took social conservatism for granted. We all took that Kool Aid. We need more full spectrum conservatism. So you are right. We needed more conservatism. She was going to be attacked anyway, she needed to articulate and rally the full spectrum of conservative voters.
Doesn’t matter, Castle is gone. He and his tired pack of lap dogs are toast.
Truth is the GOP has been a party for a long time only a Mike Castle puppet regime. yes he won but he starved the rest of the party.
COD served her purpose so Thanks
LMAO.
A hearty “Thanks” indeed.
I am a republican, a very conservative republican, and the Delaware Republican party is not conservative. Watching fox news and nodding your head is not conservative.
Delaware does not even do social conservative very well. That is why the Libertarian’s ( the 9/12 traitors) could hijack the state so easy. Being angry that the rep party is not taking anti-abortion seriously is not being social conservative.
I am not from Delaware so the politics in this state are a bit odd.
Hint: the Tax cut extension was not being a fiscal conservative. However, at single payer health care reform is being a fiscal conservative. Forget what the morons at fox say, our health care system needs to be overhauled. Fiscally it is a mess that will just get worse, and morally it is not very Christ-like to to pay so much for a system that provide so little benefit to the masses. We ration care on so many levels, more than most people think.
I actually do not do much except count my rabbits and trade. If you ever objectively looked at the numbers without politics, you would find more middle ground with the left, and help the economy.
Paratrooper, You are in danger of making David short circuit and blow up like an evil robot on Star Trek after Kirk and Spock bitch slap it silly with unfathomable logic problems.
Wheew, glad I didn’t ask him why all of the “conservative” business owners at the beach seem to hire a large number of undocumented workers for people who are very vocally against illegal immigration.
Dave.. Let me inform you about some veterans issues.
The Veterans Home, for a lack of a better term, is not an accomplishment that any political party in Delaware should be proud of.
Delaware being what it is was offered money by the federal government and the VA to build a nursing home for veterans, so they jumped at free money.
But let us be clear, that is not a Veterans Home. It is a state owned nursing home that is funded by the VA, and has a customer base who are veterans.
Contrary to the marketing campaign done to raise money for the facility and the false perception they gave the public; it is not a public service for veterans.
I visited before it opened to talk with the administrators as they were bringing in the staff. The biggest frustration they had was with the fact that everyone had this perception that it was free for veterans. Well duh, I bet they still send out that same DVD and brochure that paints the image of a charity home for veterans.
In reality it is a very expensive nursing home. They arbitrarily set the rate at 210.00 per day. That is not even a low average rate for the state of Delaware. The real insult is that the VA will only pay a max of 97 per day.
The entire reason for this VA program was to share the cost with the states to provide more nursing home beds to help veterans. The VA does not operate the facilities, but they do certify them to ensure a standard of care and cost.
So we have a nursing home that operates in the same manner as every other nursing home. Which does not address the needs of veterans. Only veterans who can pay the difference between 210-97 per day. Yeah medicaid will cover it for very poor veterans, but the poor veterans can get that aid for any facility.
The point is that veterans who are in need are the ones who cannot afford it and do not have the resources like medicaid to cover the difference.
I have not even addressed how poorly the facility is operated, and that they are at risk of losing VA certification.
And letting the DE veterans affairs have an oversight and management role in this just adds to the mess.
Veterans who have the most serious disabilites and have needs that should be addressed by the state, are not represented by anyone. The veterans organizations do not represent our needs, yet they are who everyone listens to.
Here is an example. The veterans organizations always throw up how they have to raise money to provide transportation for vets. Even COD used to raise this issue. But the reality is that severely disabled veterans are not transported by those organizations.
Those vans they buy are not even handicap accessable, plus they will not pick you up at your house. You have to drive to the legion at 4:30 am.
It is the state of DE through ParaTransit that provides handicap veterans transportation. ( the PVA will actually find transportation for us too.). Which how about not charging permenently disabled veterans to ride paratransit??
Bet you were not aware of how DE provides is the one who provides transportation for the severely disabled veterans.
The reason is that the veterans organizations are not aware of this either, because they do not represent the veterans who are the seriously disabled. They represent medicare aged people who use the VA to cover the gaps in medicare.
When you see these old vets at these posts with canes and walkers, they are not disabled veterans, though people assume they are. They are just old people with medical issues.
These issues are important to me. why? There are only 500,000 permenently disabled vets in the US.. very small minority, even among veterans. How many are there in delaware? less than 200.
I am one of them.
Do you know how much a life is worth? The VA pays totally disabled veterans 2800 a month if they have dependents. That is what my life is worth to the taxpayers.
My daughter is in college, 10,000 of that goes to paying her college expenses. Why? because the state of delaware does not offer any help to the dependents of totally disabled veterans for college. Most states do, but not delaware. Why, because we do not have any say in this.
Another 2000, and could be unlimited amount goes to paying private doctor bills for my wife and daughter. Why, Because the VA provides them insurance, but doctors and even ambulance companies do not accept assignment.
Think about it. These volunteer fire and rescue departments in Delaware, who wrap themselves in the flag for fundraising, will not accept the ChampVA assignment for emergency services.
Why? because federal law does not force them to accept assignment, unlike other federal insurance programs.
But the state could pass a law since the fire and rescue units do rely on the state and county for help.
So yeah this issue is a little personal. I can’t even get the Director of Veterans affairs to take a call from me.
But I do get to hunt and fish for free. I guess that is something.
Hey Dave.
I just looked it up. Okay I am a totally disabled vet. So the veterans home should be there for me right? Well no. because my disability money is too much for medicaid, but not enough to cover delaware’s daily rate for the place.
How does this home benefit veterans, let alone the seriously disabled like myself. I mean I am young and will probably need nursing care in a few years. I probably have a good 20 years in a nursing home.
Well actually I do not, it will be a cardboard box under a highway overpass for me.
Thanks dave for supporting us veterans who have given so much for serving our country.
@ paratrooper 18 wrote
“I am a republican, a very conservative republican, and the Delaware Republican party is not conservative. Watching fox news and nodding your head is not conservative.
Delaware does not even do social conservative very well. That is why the Libertarian’s ( the 9/12 traitors) could hijack the state so easy. Being angry that the rep party is not taking anti-abortion seriously is not being social conservative.”
Truer words have never been typed. David Anderson helped create a conservative apocalypse in Delaware this November. He helped turn the state into a wasteland for Republicans. Great work Dave and the rest of the misfits at the DP asylum. Great work.