Archive for May, 2016
Delaware Political Weekly: May 13-19, 2016
We have a Democratic Primary in the 9th RD.
OK, kids, some of you (well, LG) will remember that this was the district that Rebecca Walker vacated after the filing deadline in 2014, meaning that the voters didn’t get to pick the D nominee. R Kevin Hensley defeated D appointee and Walker choice Jason Hortiz, a former R candidate for Clerk of the Peace, 3290-2950 in the 2014 General Election. You may also remember that, back in 2010, Walker, who had lost to Dick Cathcart back in 2008, told the RD committee that she wasn’t running. Into the breach stepped one Richard Griffiths, who was endorsed by the committee. Then Cathcart ‘retired’, after his dirty dealings at Del-State were revealed, and Walker jumped back in. She defeated Griffiths handily in the primary, 970-258, and edged out John Marino in the general, 5583-5301. Then, of course, she got a job where she can help the police cover up evidence that police might, just might, have been engaged in wrongdoing. (Have I mentioned lately just how corrupt and incestuous the politicians in this state are? Oh, and did I mention that her husband is an ex-cop?)
But, I digress. Richard Griffiths has filed to run in the 9th, and he has a primary opponent, one Monique Johns. All I’ve got for Griffiths is his 2010 announcement notice. Johns appears to be, uh, the wife (‘First Lady’) to a Bible Fellowship pastor. I know that Liberal Geek was real high on Griffiths back in 2010, can you fill us in on what’s going on, Big Guy? Can a D knock off Hensley this year?
Friday Open Thread [5.20.16]
![Friday Open Thread [5.20.16]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Trump-240x180.jpg "Friday Open Thread [5.20.16]")
Matt Taibbi asks if this is the end for Republicans: “If this isn’t the end for the Republican Party, it’ll be a shame. They dominated American political life for 50 years and were never anything but monsters. They bred in their voters the incredible attitude that Republicans were the only people within our borders who raised children, loved their country, died in battle or paid taxes. They even sullied the word ‘American’ by insisting they were the only real ones. They preferred Lubbock to Paris, and their idea of an intellectual was Newt Gingrich. Their leaders, from Ralph Reed to Bill Frist to Tom DeLay to Rick Santorum to Romney and Ryan, were an interminable assembly line of shrieking, witch-hunting celibates, all with the same haircut – the kind of people who thought Iran-Contra was nothing, but would grind the affairs of state to a halt over a blow job or Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube.”
“A century ago, the small-town American was Gary Cooper: tough, silent, upright and confident. The modern Republican Party changed that person into a haranguing neurotic who couldn’t make it through a dinner without quizzing you about your politics. They destroyed the American character. No hell is hot enough for them. And when Trump came along, they rolled over like the weaklings they’ve always been, bowing more or less instantly to his parodic show of strength.”
Thursday Open Thread [5.19.16]
![Thursday Open Thread [5.19.16]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Gray.Open_.Thread-240x180.png "Thursday Open Thread [5.19.16]")
I encourage everyone, Berniacs and Clintonistas alike, to read this piece by The Slot titled “We called up Bernie fans Who Threatened Dem State Chair and Asked Them to Explain Themselves.” You all know me, know that I am fervently not a Bernie supporter, and you know that I have grown to despise some of the more vehement and younger Bernie supporter. And even I left reading that article feeling sympathy for them!!! Goddamnit. LOL.
The long and short of it is that the Bernie supporters who made death threats against various Democratic Party officials are just dumb, naive kids. This is their first election, and they feel like if Bernie doesn’t win it is the end of all things. I remember feeling that way once. They were frustrated and wanted to make a statement. They way they chose to make that statement was completely unacceptable, and some of them recognize that.
Is chaos in the Democratic Party the new normal? Maybe
I see valued commenters Dave falling into a kind of cognitive trap. He seems to think that that Nevada was all about people (Bernie and Hillary), and their supporters. It is nothing of the sort. Nevada is part of an ongoing push-back against the out and out bullshit that has dominated capitalism (and by extension our politics) for the last 30 or so years.
In part, I blame myself for Dave’s confusion. When I said unruly Democrats would come home when “Warren is announced as VP” I was using a sort of shorthand for the Clinton campaign recognizing that there is a cancer.
Consider your take on the economy like your take on climate change. The politics of climate change are binary. You believe is it real or you don’t. Similarly, you believe capitalism in trouble or you don’t. The question yet to be settled is – what side of the issue is the Democratic Party on? If the Clinton Campaign can somehow show that they understand that climate change (e.g. rigged economy) is real… I see all Democrats coming home. If the Clinton campaign, and the Democratic Party Apparatchiks, can’t get over that hill, I see chaos ahead.
Sanders Statement on Nevada
If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned. I am happy to say that has been the case at state conventions in Maine, Alaska, Colorado and Hawaii where good discussions were held and democratic decisions were reached. Unfortunately, that was not the case at the Nevada convention.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 18, 2016
I need our readers to enlighten me on two roll calls that took place yesterday: 1. HB 330 (Heffernan), which unanimously passed the House, was defeated in the Senate. 7 Y, 13 N, 1 NV. That’s rare, especially with both houses in control of the D’s. And this vote didn’t reflect a partisan split. Here’s […]
Wednesday Open Thread [5.18.16]
Last night Hillary Clinton won Kentucky by 1 point, splitting the delegates at 27 a piece in a state demographically favored for Sanders, and she did much better than expected in Oregon, losing to Sanders by only an 8 point margin, 54-46, when the Sanders campaign was expecting a 30-40 point victory more in line with their performance in the Washington state caucus. In Oregon, Sanders wins 28 delegates to Clinton’s 24, so he gains a net total of 4 on the night.
Clinton is now 92 delegates away from clinching the nomination. Given the upcoming slate of primaries and the expected performances by the candidates in them, Hillary will likely clinch the nomination the second polls close in New Jersey and she is declared the projected winner, before we even get to California.
She will score landslides in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and New Jersey. She will likely get 7 of the Virgin Island’s 12 delegates. She will likely get 40 of Puerto Rico’s 67 delegates (both results based on a conservative estimate of a Hillary 60-40 win in both). In New Jersey, early models of the vote show a landslide for Hillary.
New Jersey – We haven't seem demographics like this since Maryland. Blowout. Clinton 64% – Sanders 36%. pic.twitter.com/3Yrdsd8lHE
— Benchmark Politics (@benchmarkpol) May 18, 2016
Assuming a 64% win in NJ, Hillary will win 97 of the state’s 142 delegates. And that puts her over the top at 8 pm on June 7. Hillary should plan on declaring victory that night. Concerns for the feelings of Sanders supporters, and for Sanders himself, after the unpleasantness of the last few days and Sander’s tantrum last night, are over. Sanders alone is responsible for lying to his supporters by suggesting that the primary has been stolen. Sanders alone is responsible for lying to his supporters by suggesting that he can win the nomination. Sanders alone is responsible for talking his supporters down from the violence and outright terroristic and misogynist behavior they have engaged in over the last few days. He will concede to Hillary without precondition or concession in mid June like Hillary did in 2008. And then we will talk about reforms to the primary process in 2020 and beyond, where we eliminate caucuses, closed primaries and super delegates. Then we will talk about the platform. But not before.
Brandywine School District Passes Referendum
Quick blurb because I’m still at Christina Board meeting, but Brandywine has passed their referenda by close to a four thousand vote margin!
9,612 FOR – 5,780 against.
Congratulations!
BSD also smashed Christina’s total turnout (13,395) by almost 2,000 votes: 15,392 total votes!
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