Archive for December, 2015
2016 Statewides–LG–Handicapping a Scrum
We have a Republican style free for all in the primary for Lt. Governor. For the first time in many decades, the office is open with no obvious “next in line” candidate running, hence the scrum. State Senator Bethany Hall Long seems to be the favorite, or at least, the establishment favorite, as she has garnered significant support from Legislative Hall, which of course is natural given her current job, including 14 of her fellow Democratic legislators, led by Patti Blevins and Dave McBride. But, trying to handicap this primary is more difficult than the Congressional primary because the lanes of the primary is not as obvious.
Wednesday Open Thread [12.16.2015]
![Wednesday Open Thread [12.16.2015]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.White_-240x180.png "Wednesday Open Thread [12.16.2015]")
Dylan Matthews reveals the real winner of the GOP Debate last night: Hillary Clinton.
If you asked Hillary Clinton to rank her preferred general election opponents in order, odds are that Cruz and Trump would top the list. Trump is a candidate almost tailor-made to energize Latino turnout and turn the demographic even more strongly pro-Democratic. And Cruz has most of Trump’s substantive liabilities plus has proposed a massive 16 percent sales tax on everything. Both of them are extremely potent boogeymen to get base Democrats enraged/energized. And none of them have the ability to make inroads with young and Latino voters that Marco Rubio has.
And so when Trump and Cruz win a debate, Clinton implicitly wins the debate as well. She’s getting exactly the Republican primary she wants, and it shows no signs of getting worse for her anytime soon.
In Which We Find That Bud Freel Was Right
So jump to now, where we discover that the WFD is 6 months into its budget and $300,000 over its overtime budget for the year. What does that mean? It means that the rolling company shutdowns are back as a cost cutting measure AND both Goode and Williams are now quite open to eliminating those vacant positions:
The higher-than-average overtime cost was blamed on five vacancies in the department and coverage for personnel out because of injury or extended sick leave. As a result, Goode said one of the city’s fire companies will regularly be shut down on a rotating basis to offset the costs and he could move to eliminate a handful of vacant positions in the agency. […]
Tuesday Open Thread [12.15.2015]
![Tuesday Open Thread [12.15.2015]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.Blue_-240x180.png "Tuesday Open Thread [12.15.2015]")
The issue of Obama’s legacy will come into sharper focus in the months and years to come, but The Atlantic’s James Fallows noted over the weekend “three big things that have happened during his presidency that in all probability would not have happened without him”:
* The climate deal itself, as explained in a NYT piece just now, and in unbelievable contrast to the utter collapse of the Copenhagen negotiations early in Obama’s term;
* The rapprochement with Cuba, marking the beginning of the end of the single stupidest (but hardest to change) aberration in modern U.S. foreign policy; and
* The international agreement with Iran, which in the short term offers (as I have argued at length) the best prospects for keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and in the long run has the potential of beginning to end Iran’s destructive estrangement from the international order.
Hate Crimes Are Terrorism
It’s time to call “hate crimes” what they really are – Terrorism. There really is no difference. Here’s a list of reported incidents against Muslims and Mosques since the San Bernardino attack….
The Fourth Estate Creates the Fourth Reich
Given the reaction of some in the media, namely Ben Smith and Tom Brokaw, last week during the brewhaha that was the Republican presidential frontrunner calling for the banning of a religion and its adherents, it seems that it is finally starting to sink into some in the self-beloved media that, perhaps, just perhaps, Donald Trump was saying things that were really not so entertaining. That perhaps, just perhaps, caring solely about ratings was not the Fourth Estate’s job. As Matt Taibbi so wonderously phrases….
Essentially, TV news producers are wondering: “How do we keep getting the great ratings without helping elect the Fourth Reich?”
2016 Statewides–IC–KWS Gets her multiple challengers.
I see that Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart has successfully enticed more than one primary opponent to challenge her. You see, that is the key for her continued and unfortunate presence in office: you line up the support of the Gordon-Williams machine in New Castle County, and then you get more than one primary opponent to divide the anti-KWS vote. That is imperative because the anti-KWS vote is always the majority of the vote when there is a primary, as she has never received more than 42.5% of the vote in a contested primary.
Final Call for 2015 MVP Candidates!
The Annual MVP (Most Valuable to the Progressive Cause in Delaware) Awards will be announced next week. Most likely Tuesday, to be simultaneously released here at DL and live on the Al Mascitti Show.
I know it wasn’t the best year for progressives in Delaware, but many rose up to fight the good fight.
Nominate someone and cite what they did, and I will seriously consider them for the list. Many who previously received recognition were nominated by our readers. At least two winners came directly from our readers. The responses have been kinda slow this year, but you have until this Friday to post your candidates. C’mon folks, help me out here.
Monday Open Thread [12.14.2015]
![Monday Open Thread [12.14.2015]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.Gray_-240x180.png "Monday Open Thread [12.14.2015]")
“Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta handicapped the GOP race for 90 Democratic donors assembled at a private fundraising event… telling the crowd that he viewed Cruz as the likeliest nominee, followed by Trump, and then Marco Rubio,” Politico reports.
“Podesta’s remarks — which he made sure to say represent his own views, not an official campaign position — came after the real-estate magnate proposed a blanket ban on Muslims entering the United States, and Podesta suggested that the resulting surge of attention being paid to Trump didn’t change his belief that Cruz was the likeliest pick.”
Podesta must be reading Delaware Liberal, because we have been saying it for over a year.
He’s back
Contrary to Charlie Copeland’s inane praises of the entire GOP Presidential field (which, by the way Charlies, serves as an endorsement of racism and fascism on your part and on behalf of all Delaware Republicans), the GOP Field is so bad that former President George W. Bush is jumping back in….
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