Tuesday Open Thread [6.28.2016]

Tuesday Open Thread [6.28.2016]

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Ryan Cooper highlights Hillary Clinton’s “secret weapon”:
[W]e shouldn't forget the final and most powerful advantage Clinton will have: President Obama. No sitting president in modern times has ever campaigned at full strength for his party's nominee. George W. Bush was persona non grata on the campaign trail by 2008. Bill Clinton was seen as damaged goods by Al Gore in 2000, who distanced himself from the Clinton name (despite the 42nd president's tremendous popularity at the time). Ronald Reagan was already elderly in 1988 and did not have a great relationship with George H.W. Bush. LBJ quit politics altogether in 1968. Eisenhower did campaign a bit for Nixon, but he was also old by 1960, and avoided much of the campaign. President Obama, by contrast, is still quite young (indeed, he is 14 years younger than Clinton herself), and by all accounts is eager to help Clinton, who represents the best chance of preserving his legacy. Any lingering sense that a soon-to-be former president should refrain from campaigning to preserve the dignity of the office is utterly dead. And as he finishes his presidency, Obama is more popular today than he has been since the bin Laden raid — part of an upward trend that shows no sign of slowing.
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 28, 2016.

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 28, 2016.

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Final three days for this General Assembly. Here’s what HAS to happen: Pass Budget Bill, Pass Bond Bill, Pass Grant-In-Aid Bill. (Actually, they don’t have to pass a grant-in-aid bill, but who wants to tell the local volunteer fire companies and senior centers that they didn’t pass the bill?) The budget is a done deal. The bill has been introduced and has been laid on the table, aka DeLuca’d, in the Senate. It can be lifted any time via a motion. I expect the bill to reach the Governor’s desk before Thursday. The final DEFAC numbers are causing some issues with the Bond and Grant-In-Aid bills, but nothing that some kick-the-can-down-the-road fiscal legerdemain can’t solve. Before we examine today’s agendas, let’s look at a last-minute bill that made me go ‘Hmmm’.

DL community steps up to help Don Peterson challenge Schwartzkopf in the 14th

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The DL community contributed $534.12 to help Don Peterson take on the execrable Pete Schwartzkopf. $534.12 might not seem like a huge haul, but Don Peterson is treading a long and difficult path in taking on an incumbent who also happens to be the Speaker, so it is important to take a long view of projects like this. Since I've been paying attention to Delaware politics, I don't think I've ever seen an incumbent beaten on the first attempt. It seems to always take an election for a challenger to get his campaign footing. It is my hope that this support and future support from the DL community, small though it may be, helps Don Peterson fix his vision on the horizon and settle on the long term goal of beating Pete Schwartzkopf if not this primary, then next. If not that primary, then the next.