John Carney Primary Challenge Update
The filing deadline is July 8th. (18 days)
Primary day is September 9th. (83 days)
The filing fee is $3,480
About $700.00 was pledged in the last thread on this topic, so I’d need to kick in $2,780. That is doable.
I have…
…a general idea that the Delaware Democratic Party is too far to the right on economic issues because they are never primaried, and so they don’t feel the need to address the concerns of the core Democratic voters.
I need…
…a more fleshed out platform and a better elevator speech. Threading the needle and being regarded as a meaningful grassroots campaign that brings important issues to the table, and not a crank is going to be tough. The default view of this kind of thing is that “a crazy misfit got ants in his pants.” I need to be locked down on why this is important and I’m not right now.
I have….
…achievable goals. This project is limited in scope by nature. I want to have a chance to tell John Carney to his face that he is wrong to take $300k from the financial services industry. The financial services industry money should be tainted by the end of this. I want to make the case that he is wrong to use his seat to benefit billionaires like Pete Peterson at the expense of Delawareans he is supposed to be representing.
I need…
…more quantifiable goals. The “just blowing off steam” nature of my goals bends this campaign into “crank” territory. I need the facts and figures of how John Carney is helping the 1% at the expense of the middle class. I need to build a tight case around the idea that the economic polices he is pursuing are actually doing significant damage.
I have….
…you folks. A body of kindred spirits, many of whom would take on this task as their own.
I need…
…you folks and some pros. Even a limited scope campaign would need to meet filing and reporting deadlines.
I have…
…an ego big enough to go for it.
I need…
…courage. Even though this is a limited scope project aimed at making John Carney take the legitimate concerns the core Democratic voters more seriously. I wouldn’t expect him (or the hangers on who benefit from the status quo) to take kindly to a primary challenge. As this becomes more real, I’ve confronted the fact that I’d need a little courage to light the fuse.
No comments?…. LOL How does that help one’s confidence. Looks like Jerry Maguire… “Who’s coming with me?”
I’ll pledge $100.00 to help get this going.
My blood was boiling last week when I saw that DuPont was begging for tariff relief last week. They just can’t make enough money AND they don’t pay any federal tax?
LovesHerWine, Thanks for the pity comment. Someone had to break the ice.
Thanks for the support Jim C. Carper has made a career out of excusing DuPont from paying taxes and tariffs. The posts I wrote about how Castle and Carper teamed up to save DuPont $120,000,000 in tariffs suspensions are still worth revisiting once in a while.
Not a problem buddy. Although, so far your campaign looks like its based on “F the financial sector and Du Pont”… Do you have a position that would not completely damn two of the state’s largest employers? Du Pont is as much a part of this state as anything. They pay a lot of employees in this state and a lot of pensions. Should our legislators not work hard to keep them viable? I mean, for example, Chase is the largest tax base in the City of Wilmington, is your position that they should go F themselves? Just trying to get an understanding. I consider myself liberal, but I am also a pragmatist. A fire-breathing anti-business politician that would sacrifice Delaware jobs and Delaware industries to satisfy a national populist narrative would not be appealing to me. As they say, all politics is local.
Should our legislators not work hard to keep them viable?
No.
And certainly not at my expense. The viability of these firms is the work of their management and shareholders. Not taxpayers.
But what if the tax payers benefit from their success? (i.e. Job production and/or security, higher wages, more tax revenue, and increased spending in the local economy) Under your argument Cassandra, you would have been against Fisker, the President bailing out the auto plants, and our current system that allows citizens to enjoy tax free shopping…. You would be going so far to the left that you would end up on the right, sounding like a Tea Partier. I would be more interested in hearing from Jason though. Although I do appreciate your input Cas.
But what if the tax payers benefit from their success?
Taxpayers should benefit from their success, but they shouldn’t be the investors. While we all wanted Fisker to succeed, we see what happens, right? Delaware taxpayers took on financial risk that is what shareholders are supposed to do. I was opposed to bailing our auto plants, although I get why they did it. I was opposed to bailing out banks, because when you make bad business decisions, you should pay the price for that. Not taxpayers, who had nothing to do with those decisions. Tax free shopping is a decision of the DE legislature — not the Congressional delegation.
What I want is for Congress to stop funneling my tax dollars to businesses who have shareholders and access to capital to get their business done. But I don’t doubt that in the DC environs, knowing something about how businesses work is beyond you. And while you’re at it, tell Sen Carper that he should stop talking about cutting Social Security and start talking about fixing it.
Cassandra, Well put.
The true success of wingnut-o-nomics can be seen in comments like the one above. Not only have we allowed corporations to shirk their financial responsibilities, but we elevate the shirking and treat it as some kind of patriotic contribution to society.
While they give lip service to the small businesses who were not only badly hurt by the Great Recession, but who don’t get the kind of access to taxpayer funds OR the kind of backstop against failure that the businesses who can write the big checks get.
Giving a tax break to a multibillion dollar profitable company is in no way beneficial to the public.
And Cass is right, while HUGE multinational profitable corporations walk hand in hand off into the sunset with the gov’t, small and micro-business get screwed.
Just saw an article today where Carney, commenting on a UD research group being awarded a large amount of grant money for energy research, basically said that he believed lower energy costs were good for the economy.
what. a. hero.
Jason. This man is an empty suit-puppet. please primary him. If there’s an official PAC, i’ll give ya some cabbage
I doubt very much you will file.
“Decline of Delaware Dems”? That’s a pathetic moniker.