For the record I have nothing against Marshall. In fact, I happen to like the guy, in spite of his resume. Back when I knew him, he was one of the sharpest and funniest guys involved in DE politics with the possible exception of Matt Denn. He probably still is. So there is that. Mat Marshall as a integral part of the Short campaign probably means that Townsend has a steep uphill climb. But the close connection to Carper is also significant. There is a saying – When You Dance With the Devil, the Devil Don’t Change – the Devil Changes You.
With Marshall’s close links to Carper, it is hard to imagine that the Bryon Short campaign isn’t going to be run as a Team Carper subsidiary. While that didn’t exactly help Sean Barney in the general, Barney did win when only Democrats were voting in the primary. Sure, Barney knocked off a badly damaged Chip Flowers, but did his loss in the general expose the limits of Carper’s power to influence voters?
In short – is Bryon Short lining up to be Sean Barney part II?
Probably not. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will have the luxury of not running against Ken Simpler. So, more than ever, the Dem primary is the election.
An aside: Way back when there was a rally protesting Castle’s lapdog approach to the Bush Administration and its myriad fuckups. At the rally, there stood a cardboard cutout of Mike Castle upon which people were encouraged to express themselves through post-it notes. You probably can’t read it, but there was a note that read, simply: WTF? Mat Marshall posted that note, and it was the one note that came through loudly and clearly on the front page of the NJ the following day.
