The hapless Delaware GOP has decided to show the world just how toothless they currently are by deciding to try to gin up some pressure on Governor Jack Markell to not take a job that he doesn’t have an offer for yet. Seriously — this is what they want to talk about *today*. Remember, Politico posted up their highly speculative article, guessing that Gov. Markell would be selected for Secretary of Education in President Obama’s second term on September 14 (and Delaware Dem wrote about it the same day). 19 days later, GOP Chair Siglar and Gov. candidate Jeff Cragg are haplessly demanding that Governor Markell pledge to serve out his full term. More weak sauce from the Delaware GOP.
Asking for pledges to complete terms always strikes me as desperate. And asking for said pledge based on some speculation from the horse race press is especially desperate. Waiting to ask for this pledge 19 days after it was first reported is close to political malpractice. And this is especially easy for Jeff Cragg to ask for since he is in no danger of going anywhere except back to his business in November. I may have missed this one, but has Mr. Cragg pledged to give up his small business if by some miracle he manages to win in November?
A party out of power ought to be way more bold that this –especially in a place where some boldness might be welcome. But I think that what we are seeing here is the real weakness of the GOP message. Folks get that much of this is just BS and doesn’t have much to do with their daily lives. Is it possible? And we certainly do not have a GOP that is ready to step away from the party line and actually work for the people of this state (rather than themselves), which accounts for their sinking fortunes.
But seriously, you guys are going to have to do better than demanding “pledges” to get people to take you seriously.