Kavips is Right. This was a Big Mistake.
If you wanted to keep State Rep. John Kowalko relatively silenced, or too busy chairing a committee and involved in the minute details of legislation to be a bother or a distraction, then you keep him on as many committees as you can. Kavips:
Committees are the black hole of government. Bills go in there and very few people report on what happens while there but we cheer if they come out and boo if they don’t. John was on the committee that sent SB 51 to the House floor; he was on the committee that sent HB 165 to the House floor. He was on that committee that sent HB 334 to the House Floor. He voted against every single one. Point is: what good did it do? They are all laws now.
But while out of legislature this year John has been instrumental in helping parents of Christina bring their concerns before the general public… Even the News Journal has turned against Jack Markell. John has been everywhere he needs to be, even on WDEL. Last spring, John was the prime legislator mover getting Newark citizens involved in TDC’s annulment. One can, just by making the simple comparison between his advocacy for Newark’s citizens compared to that of Baumbach’s, who seemed to pull back as the threats began to mount, is enough to convey the idea of how fearless John is, when he takes the concerns of his constituents to heart.
We need John’s voice now more than ever. Having it bottled up in a committee where he is the lone dissenting vote, thereby silencing him for months from the public’s eye, would bode ill for all Delaware’s children… He is now free, (with no strings to hold him back) to plaster the Markell administration with tons of truth sticky-notes Truths which will tie Markell up as he is forced to defend; something that has not happened yet in his six years.
This removal is probably the best thing that could have happened. What will happen in the committee will still get relayed to John, he will continue to be on top of it, who can then relay it to Allan at noon and night… A much smarter move for Schwartzkopf would have been to have kept him on that committee, tied down, bedazzled, and worn thin….
This move was stupid because it has also reawakened and galvanized the progressive left, not just because “one of our own” was removed, but because the move was so transparent.
A very optimistic view of a very dispiriting development. Thanks, kavips–hope you’re right. John certainly won’t be silenced.
Another way of looking at this is that there are people without power and people with power. Schwartzkopf probably thinks, “Let those impotent dopes bray all they want. So what.”
Is there any chance that Sussex County GOP finally is able to swallow up the lone remaining Dem seat in the County? Dare I hope?
[Pause in case Mitch Crane checks in to tell me how awesome Officer Pete is]
As long as Pete is here, he holds the seat. He is just republican enough to keep the non tea party republican vote. Once he moves on to higher office, it will go republican.
Higher office? C’mon, man… I can’t throw up onto my keyboard AND get work done…
Moves on/tries to….whatevs.
The point is the 14th is “republican lite”
SusAnon:
No matter what the party registration numbers say, you won’t get much of an argument if you said most of Delaware, including its Democratic party, is “Republican lite.”
The way the dems are going, they will be in the basement within the next couple of elections anyway.
And as long as “you can’t be a legislator and be an activist.” is acceptable, not much is going to change.
Except when, you know, you are advocating not raising the minimum wage on behalf of small business owners or micro managing DelDoT on RTE 1 improvements. Then you are a “good legislator representing your constituents.”
Delaware: come for the low taxes, but leave for the dirty water/air, cancer clusters, brownsites, traffic, toll-booth shakedowns, faltering education and overall declining quality of life.
That is putting a friendly spin on it, but you just know that the Republicans will find a candidate to run against John and will use this as an argument as to why he shouldn’t be re-elected. Can’t you just hear it now? “So incompetent that he was fired by his own party. It’s time for you to for fire him also.” Or some nonsense like that. And although I don’t think Pete S is smart enough to calculate that outcome, don’t put it past Gov. Markell to be that smart.
“The way the dems are going, they will be in the basement within the next couple of elections”
Exactly. If both parties are full of crooks, the public’s best option is to exchange parties in power regularly.