School Boards and the big picture
What the Appo referendum brings home for me is the fact that the Republican Party never sleeps. They are very good at playing the long game. There are no small elections for them. Whenever a voting booth is set up, it is an opportunity to build up competencies, mailing lists, donor channels and candidates.
If you doubt it, just look at how “Appo Truth” goes from being “all about the kids” and “we respect the teachers” to “Markell, Denn, Ennis, Hall-Long, and Walker must be defeated” in under 300 words. Beating Democrats is the north star, and a measly little referendum is acceptable collateral damage.
When you have no policies that can connect with most voters, all you have left is hustle and they have it in spades. Between hustle and their willingness (eagerness?) to not be bound by the truth, the GOP is still a force to contend with here in Delaware and nationally.
As Democrats, we only rally ourselves to match their hustle every four years. That doesn’t cut it.
It is correct to point out that referemdum campaigns don’t require deep pockets. But school board campaigns are another matter. Look for fingerprints in the board elections. We may be getting closer to understanding who is behind Voices4Delaware or whatever.
Republicans, especially Delaware Republicans, think unions are the reason for their electoral failures (I guess Republicans don’t own any mirrors). Defunding schools is the battleground for Republicans seeking to weaken unions.
I think you are giving Republicans too much credit. When your only platform plank is that the “wealthy are too poor and need more of your money.” no matter how one referendum works out, the overall picture is not good for your party…
To win they can a) rig voting machines; b) puncture tires of Democrats on elections day; c) intimidate voters at the polls; or d) all of the above…
You look at this referendum and get all jumpy. All you have to do is see Delaware Politics.Net for a few minutes and know, … truth, justice, and the American middle class have nothing to fear…
And just sayin’ the Forstens are KEY GOPERHEADS in NCC….
….not to mention that he represents Jay Sonecha’s many thousands of new homes-to-come (and their heavy new classroom demand) taking over for Pam Scott as the City of Bayberry chief counsel.
But Forsten is juggling competing interests with his volunteer-elected School Board membership, his Saul Ewing day job and add to that his GOPer party loyalty. RE: Richard Forsten’s partially overheard conversation about Delaware Liberal blog: I would forgive the listener for their jumping to the conclusion they did especially if they had known who was speaking.
I don’t know why Republicans think breaking their unions and forcing them into lower-paid charter and private school jobs will make teachers love them more at election time. It’s just another one of those baffling Republican delusions.
@kavips – yes the GOP is morally and intellectually bankrupt, but the problem is we keep giving back hard-fought gains with our lackluster performance in special elections, and mid-terms. Part of what allows that to happen is that the Republicans are always working the margins.
Awesome — I’ve been making this point for awhile, but this is more than just elections. Even on key issues, Republicans can muster lots of phone calls, faxes, bodies in front of government buildings — at least driving a narrative. It might be a fake narrative, but they are there. And their organizations get funded to help them do specifically this too.
Nancy Willing — Sorry, I do not represent Jay Sonecha. That work is being done by another firm and has been since Pam Scott left my firm. I don’t know who started that falsehood, but it’s not true. Quite frankly, I’m getting tired of all the blatant misstatements being made here by people who don’t know me, have never talked to me, and have made no effort to talk to me or get the facts.
Yes, I am a Republican, although my views on many issues might surprise you. And yes, I am a volunteer school board member. The two are not mutually exclusive (and shame on anybody who thinks to the contrary). And, yes, I am on the board of Goodwill of Delaware, and the board of the Everett Theatre in Middletown, and the board of the Delaware State Bar Association. And, yes, I am a former member of the Board of the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware. And, yes, I even managed to play on a marathon team in the Big Ball tournament last fall.
As to the recent Appo referendum, I know I will be working for a second referendum later this spring that, hopefully, will be more appealing to the residents of the district and will pass. If anyone here is interested, I invite you to come to our school board meetings and otherwise get involved in the process. THe more people involved, the better. I’m also always available to talk about issues, although it seems to me many people here would rather presume to know what I have to say and jump to conclusions instead.
In fact, it never ceases to amaze me how many people here (as well as elsewhere on the internet) have no real knowledge about what they post, but are so quick to jump to erroneous conclusions and are so smug and sure that they are right about everything.
Maybe the listener who was the “source” for yesterday’s erroneous post, and who was, let’s face it, easedropping, which I’ve always been taught is rude and should not be done, should have introduced him or herself to me and asked about what they thought they heard, rather than just quickly jump to the worst possible conclusions. Jumping to conclusions is what started this whole mess to begin with.
“As Democrats, we only rally ourselves to match their hustle every four years. That doesn’t cut it.”
Some here don’t even rally quadrenially. See: Carper, Tom, Primary/general election 2012.
Great point.
Ummmm…..AAAhhhhh….Mr. Richard Forsten–could I borrow you for an upcoming district fundraiser if it happens, for photo ops (a fee charged of course) of you standing with knuckleheads, deep pockets, pollsters, pundits, outside interests, GOP members/heavyweights, Dems, bloggers, senior citizens, soccer moms, farmers, union members, union thugs, children, and any other celebrity houndog? If all proceeds went to the district? Your wife at your side we will charge extra–and is certainly subject to her agreement.
Of course, this is all subject to some mutual logistics being worked on as I type. But since you are here now……
And I will make it my personal promise, the district incurs no cost should my arrangements include transporting one of the marching bands to the agreed upon venue. Thank you for any consideration.
JC, you are a hoot. I can’t pay 10 grand for the secret sauce though (this GOP congress is putting a hurting on teet-sucking basket cases like myself). If If guess the secret can I get a confirmation for free?
Since you say it wasn’t robo calls, or the 35% dishonesty, hmmm… ? I’m gonna guess and say that someone spread the word that teachers are unionized. That turned all the yes votes to nos. Am I right?
My opinion is, it’s true, “…republicans ‘are’ always working the margins.” They would consider public education, another margin. And yes, they do it with vigorous enthusiasm as they know, every vote counts – when you’re the Party of,by,for the 1%. Every ‘marginalized’ vote counts.
“Defunding schools is the battleground for Republicans seeking to weaken unions.” quote by Puck, could also be true for the larger picture. De funding schools could be the battleground to weaken minds, edjicate future republican voters.
Do republicans want ‘union’ teachers out of the schools? A larger picture might well be…. republicans seeking to weaken the minds of children, not only the youngest, but the high school youths who could be the poorly educated voter, who could be a few years from becoming ‘the republican youth voter,’ that republicans feel they are missing. Republican youth voter, could be the voter whose ‘issue’ is religion, creation, prejudice, hate, guns, pollution, denial etc. A youth voter, who rejects science and math, who thereby scores lower on exams, lowering his own educational opportunity, who is unemployable in science or highly technical fields. A new youth ‘class’ of denier/liars, of the broken middle class – the next generation that doesn’t ‘make it;’ the new gun tote’n, republican warrior from the halls of ‘men with guns;’ the merkin high school gradjiate, that republicans want to mold.
Why would republicans pit religion against science; creation vs history, in the public school? Why would republicans want to cut early learning, cut childhood nutrition, pray on public lawns, reduce a child’s chance at early learning? Why would republicans ship their jobs overseas for lower wages; fight to reduce taxes for the 1% richest? Why would republicans want to shut the EPA down, remove regulations on pollution; shut down CDC funding for public health studies? Why would republicans lie about the science of climate change, denying clean energy’s benefits; backing fossil fuel dependency?
Why would republicans squeeze every last fossil fuel dollar from the present generation, for the benefit of the 1% greediest. – even when it means leaving children (whom they care so much about) – a climate changed future and all the problems it will cause them.
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/15/10415410-leaked-a-plan-to-teach-climate-change-skepticism-in-schools?lite
Republican Dick has stated, being a republican and being a school board member, are not mutually exclusive, even though republicans say believing science is an opinion, creation is a fact, not educating young children is better; hungry children can learn; lower wages are better; minimum wage is high enough and republicans still say’pretend’ they just don’t know, what causes climate change.
oh my, I will stand corrected unless and until I can dig up some notes that show something other than what Forsten is stating here.