Delaware Political Weekly: October 20-26, 2012

1. Parasite Sighting.

Alex Pires, who knows parasites intimately, called Tom Carper a parasite at a candidate’s forum this week.  Nothing else need be said.

2. Evan Q Still Working that Agenda 21 Meme.

Guess we gotta give him credit for consistency. In a side-by-side compare/contrast piece, this is what Q-Tip wrote:

Evan Queitsch:

“Parents Have the Right to Raise Their Children As They Believe”

Bryan Townsend:

“Welcomes United Nations Regulation of Parent/Child Interactions”.

Can we just all agree that Queitsch is batshit-insane, and must be kept away from elective office at all costs? Wonder what regulations those evil UN overlords plan to impose?

3. D’s Really Pushing Paradee Candidacy.

We get stuff forwarded to us all the time. From campaigns, from sources, from ‘sources’, and from the parties. I call it ‘working the refs’.  Part of the game, nothing wrong with it. Even if/when you don’t believe what you’re being fed, the information/propaganda is still worthwhile, b/c it at least gives you an understanding of which races the parties are prioritizing. There can now be no doubt that both the D’s and R’s are intently focusing on the  29th Rep. District, a Clayton/Dover district in Kent County. Incumbent Lincoln Willis is widely viewed in Republican circles as one of the (very few) rising stars in the Party. Were he to win this year, I would not be at all surprised to see him elected to a leadership position within the House Republican Caucus. Challenger Trey Paradee is, at worst, a live underdog in this race. You will recall that he almost defeated incumbent Pam Thornburg four years ago, the district has been redrawn in a manner that would appear to favor Paradee, and Paradee is a great campaigner. The Democratic Party has been touting this race, and the R’s have circled the wagons around Willis. When I featured my “Most Intriguing Races of 2012”, I wrote that this race was ‘under the radar’. It is under the radar no more.

4. Why R’s Are Suing To Put Brian Pettyjohn’s Name on the Ballot.

If you’re not aware, they are indeed suing. (BTW, I find it both uncanny and scary that Pettyjohn looks so much like Brad Bennett. Perhaps Delaware inbreeding was not the exclusive domain of the duPont family?)  Folks, a hypothetical: Can you imagine how much the R’s would be screaming that this was a waste of public dollars had the tables been turned? Of course you can. Now, here’s the dirty little secret the Rethugs don’t want you to know: They’re not so much scared that Pettyjohn could lose to Hovington. They’re scared that, because pushing a button is part of the write-in process, barely literate western Sussex voters could, in effect, conclude filling out their ballot when they actually do the write-in. By, you guessed it, pushing the wrong button. This would mean that they could prevent themselves from filling out the races further down ballot. So, what R’s are essentially doing is suing the Department of Elections and the State to save themselves from the idiocy of their supporters. To which I can only ask, “Why didn’t they make that argument when Bodie won the primary?”  Otherwise, why would they give two bleeps with the election only a week and a half away now? The problems facing the R’s here are problems of their own making. I don’t see why the State needs to spend any additional dollars to save the Rethugs from themselves. The State and DOE have already gone out of their way to make this situation as equitable as possible for all concerned.

5. Eisenhour Drops Out of IC Race. Nobody Notices.

Don’t know if the Libertarian taking his name off the ballot, or discontinuing his campaign (how would we even know if he ‘discontinued’ his campaign?). Don’t care. It will make no difference. KWS is your once and future IC. I’m voting for Ben Mobley b/c he is not KWS. That doesn’t matter, either. Has anyone here even gotten a mailing from him? I’ve seen all of two signs in Brandywine Hundred, one large and one lawn sign. That’s it. Man, the R’s are pathetic this year.

That’s it for this week. What did I miss and whaddayathink?