Matt Denn is Running for AG!

Matt Denn is Running for AG!

37 Comments
Is this the good news of the day or what? From Denn's website:
[...]But as I have thought about it and talked it over with my family, I’ve realized that the Attorney General’s office would allow me to take a leadership role on some issues that are critical to our state, while still staying involved in the issues involving Delaware’s children that have been the core of my work over the last six years. The Attorney General, as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, must be someone with the judgment, impartiality and will to prosecute and punish those who have violated the laws of our state. He or she should also possess compassion for our most vulnerable residents, a respect for all citizens of our state regardless of their background, and a vision to prevent crime from occurring by combining smart crime prevention with a commitment to providing Delawareans with real opportunity and hope. I believe that I possess these traits. That's why I have filed to be the Democratic candidate for Attorney General of Delaware in 2014.[...]
Delaware To Tackle Human Trafficking

Delaware To Tackle Human Trafficking

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Make no mistake. Delaware needs to tackle human trafficking. According to activists, Delaware ranks near the bottom when it comes to addressing the issue of, let's not mince words, slavery. Which, IMHO, is why, as 'Lazy Reader' pointed out (major tip of the 'Bulo sombrero), that Delaware has had this sudden proliferation of Asian massage 'spas'. Within the past year, New Jersey has enacted perhaps the most comprehensive statute in the country. The Pennsylvania legislature is likely to pass a comprehensive bill by the end of the current legislative session, and already has a stronger statute than Delaware. As to Delaware, while it comes relatively late in the session, there should be no reason why SB 197(Blevins) doesn't get enacted into law by the end of June.  I think that one of the elements driving the increased spa proliferation in Delaware is, in fact, likely the stronger statutes enacted elsewhere. Delaware offers a soft underbelly for those with no conscience. Just to give you an idea of the extent of the sprouting of these spas, My Friend At Work (huge sombrero tip to her), who is deeply involved in this issue, suggested a website that pretty much lays it out there. While I will not give the website any undeserving traffic, it promotes, both under 'escorts' and 'body rubs', many of these spas. Generalized locations include Philly Pike in Claymont,  Shoppes of Camelot in Rehoboth, Market Street in Wilmington, Foulk Road in Brandywine Hundred, State Street in Dover, Naamans Road in Brandywine Hundred, N. Broad Street in Middletown,  Silverside Road in Brandywine Hundred, N. DuPont Hwy. in Dover, Chestnut Hill Plaza in Newark, S. Maryland Ave. in Wilmington, Pulaski Highway in Bear, and Jenmar Plaza in Newark. 
Sooo… Who is running for AG?

Sooo… Who is running for AG?

7 Comments
The field is frozen until Lt. Governor Matt Denn decides what he wants to do, much like Hillary Clinton has frozen the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary. If he runs, he is the nominee, and I doubt he will garner any challengers. But if Matt Denn doesn't run, then the floodgates are wide open. Celia Cohen has her uses. She is plugged into to the mover and shakers, the behind the scenes people in the know, on both sides of the aisle, though her bias and writing style leaves much to be desired. Still, she offers a wide range of potential candidates, so of which will garner a declaration of "WHAT????!!!" and some of which will leave you saying "Hmmmm, that's interesting."
Saturday Open Thread [4.19.14]

Saturday Open Thread [4.19.14]

Stan Greenberg had been previously telling these spineless cowards to campaign on moving past Obamacare. Now he is telling them to embrace it. Because his polling tells him it is the better idea.
"Until now, this is an issue where the intensity has been on the other side," he says. But defending Obamacare, he adds, has emerged as "a values argument for our base." Greenberg now believes Democrats "ought to lean much more strongly" to campaign on the virtues of Obamacare as a means of boosting progressive turnout. "Not apologizing for Obamacare and embracing it actually wins the argument nationally," he says. "And it produces much more engagement of Democratic voters. That's a critical thing in off-year elections."
No fucking shit. Seriously, if you wonder why Progressives have absolutely no respect for our corporatist spineless establishment party, what with people like Chris Coons, Tom Carper, John Daniello et al, it is because we are nearly always proven right, and yet we are the ones treated with disdain by them.

Saturday Daily Delawhere [4.19.14]

The William H. Todd Memorial, in Brandywine Park near Baynard Boulevard in Wilmington. The memorial, also known as the Soldiers and Sailors of Delaware Monument, was dedicated in 1925 and features a bronze figure of Victory.

Friday Open Thread [4.18.14]

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Good news on the deficit on this Good Friday:
The U.S. government’s deficit will fall to $492 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a steeper drop than originally predicted from $680 billion in fiscal year 2013. The 2014 deficit will be 2.8 percent of the economy, according to CBO, almost 32 percent below fiscal year 2013, when it was 4.1 percent. The deficit will shrink again in fiscal 2015 to $469 billion.... “This will be the fifth consecutive year in which the deficit has declined as a share of GDP since peaking at 9.8 percent in 2009,” CBO said in a report released today. The 2.8 figure as a percentage of gross domestic product is lower than the 3.1 percent average of the last 40 years, CBO said.
And we have some polling goodness inside...
Biden to remain silent until January 2015.

Biden to remain silent until January 2015.

21 Comments
Alan Loudell:
Molly Magarik told me Beau Biden would not be available to further discuss his political intentions as long as he remains Attorney General (No surprise!). But we have a circular loop, because - as noted earlier on this blog - the Attorney General has been noticeably unavailable for media interviews ever since his hospitalization in Texas.
Loudell also wonders if Biden can simply not campaign and not make any appearances and just rely on the Biden name to get elected. The answer to that is a resounding no. And Biden and his people need to understand that. Because I am sure it has crossed some mind somewhere in the Biden camp. I will vote Republican if that is his plan, and I will work tirelessly for that Republican, and encourage everyone I know to vote Republican. Even if that Republican is Christine O'Donnell. Even if Sarah Palin herself moves to Delaware to hunt foxes and decides "you betcha this state is small enough for me to be Governor in." I would place "Evil (R) for Governor" bumperstickers all over my car. And the reason is that if Biden follows the Loudell hypothetical, it will be a sign of such disrespect for all Delawareans that the shower of that disrespect will need to be destroyed, in the figurative sense of course. He cannot run for public executive office and keep his medical condition a secret, all the while using that medical condition as a reason to not make public appearances. Running for public office involves sacrifice. Sacrifice of time away from your family. Sacrifice of long hours you rather spend watching baseball instead of another rubber chicken dinner at another RD fundraiser. And you sacrifice some of your privacy. And I am not even talking about full disclosure. I don't need every medical record, every prescription, every boo boo Biden has ever had. No, we are entitled to know what procedure Biden underwent. What the diagnosis was. What the prognosis is. All Biden would have to say to satisfy me is....
Delaware Political Weekly: April 12-18, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: April 12-18, 2014

14 Comments
Beau Biden's 'letter to his supporters' announcing that he would not run for reelection for AG but, rather, would run for Governor in 2016, was an act of breathtaking cynicism.  So let's make one thing totally clear: He is not running for reelection because of his health. Period. With perhaps a dollop of 'I suck so bad as AG that maybe people will forget just how bad if I'm out of office for a couple of years'. So, let's first look at 2016 and work our way backwards, shall we? With all that money in the bank, Beau hopes to scare off would-be challengers. If Biden's successful, this would make it almost a certainty that your Democratic nominee for governor in 2016 would either be Beau Biden or...Tom Gordon.  You see, Tommy's waiting in the wings with the implicit blessing of the Bidenistas. Either way, Joe Biden gets to play kingmaker. You like that? Neither do I. That's why I find this maneuver so cynical. And so typical of all involved. OK, let's become Matt Denn for just a second. He'd like to be governor, but he's enough of a realist to recognize that waiting for 2016 in (a) the oft-chance that Biden won't run and/or (b) the hope that he'll somehow be able to raise enough money to be competitive with Beau are possible but far from sure things. The position of AG has just opened up for this November. I betcha Matt Denn thinks he'd be a great AG. I agree. I also betcha that leaders in the Party are already beating a track to his door.  I don't think anyone could come close to defeating Denn, should he run for AG. With no information whatsoever, I think and hope that that's what he'll do. He'd be an effective and progressive AG. Which is better than what we have now.