Townsend’s reply to John Daniello – “Why don’t you go f#ck yourself” (paraphrase) & and who else got one?
Bryan Townsend, and presumably other Democratic candidates in primary battles like Pete Schwartzkopf, got letters asking them to bow out of their respective races. While I hope Sneaky Pete takes John Daniello up on this idiotic bullshit and lets Don Peterson win by default, I think Townsend has a pretty good response.
Bryan Townsend
Page Liked · 46 mins ·Voters should decide elections, and candidates and parties should respect voters.
I disagree with the letter sent by the Delaware Democratic Party to primary candidates across a number of races, urging us to reconsider our campaigns based on the idea that a primary process might hurt our eventual nominees.
In a state where Democrats enjoy a strong registration advantage, primary elections are critical. In fact, if it weren’t for grassroots primary elections I would not have been elected a State Senator in 2012. I believe that primary campaigns in which candidates respect voters and each other and focus on ideas can serve to strengthen our party’s eventual nominee and our democracy.
My campaign team and I have broad support, from several longtime Democratic groups and many new, energized advocates for progress. We are running a grassroots campaign and we are leading on the issues that matter most to Delawareans: growing the middle class, making public education more teacher- and student-focused, forging a colorblind criminal justice system, and passing common-sense gun safety legislation. Later today I’ll be out knocking on doors, talking to voters who care first and foremost about making progress in these areas. Onward.
Townsend is right, of course. But what I’d like to know is, who else got the “please drop” letters? Who, by process of elimination is John Daniello’s anointed favorite? Did BHL get one? Ciro? Did Pete (in loco parentis) get Park City’s?
“You need to be certain that your political ambitions are worth it.”
I presume Sen. Townsend is already certain of his ambitions’ worth. Which is why he decided to run for the seat in the first place. Maybe that’s crazy talk.
Also, that’s some condescending garbage right there from Johnny.
I know, right? The poor Democratic voters are such nit wits and losers, they’ll be plumb tuckered out from all these primaries.
Wonder if he sent this to the mayoral candidates? They need this message
That is actually true. The number of candidates is opening up the window for Williams to sneak back in with less than a majority.
Hey DL, just so you know I got one!
Daniello has a long memory. He’s still smarting from the Dems’ 1970 primary, when he beat Sam Shipley by 1,352 votes to win the nomination for the state’s sole seat in the House. To this day, he believes the primary divided the party and cost him a chance to beat young Pete du Pont, then running for his second term in Congress.
1970…? Now that the Democratic Primary IS the election (or should be) in most cases, I think we can dispense with the 50 year old thinking.
If we are going to send letters out, can we please send one to Karen Weldin Stewart to go away for the sake of the party?
46 years (I was born in 1970, so let’s not prematurely age me…) 🙂
“Democratic Primary?!? Didn’t we do that back in April?” — just about every Democratic voter in Delaware
Outside of the City of Wilmington, the turnout on Sept. 13th is going to be abysmally low. The party won’t tear itself apart because the rank & file will barely notice it.
The world passed John Daniello by about 20 years ago….what a complete embarrassment. The Dem party could actually use a primary for one race, Governor. No one should just walk right into that office.
Good for Townsend!!! he has my vote!
Good point. One guy is getting the cake walk to end all cake walks, and Daniello thinks all incumbents should get that treatment.
Matt Meyer got one too, suggesting he drip out against Gordon. Silly me thinking primaries should matter.
The system is rigged
Yes, Revolution and Trump are right. The system is rigged!
If you think this is just Daniello, I believe there is MUCH more going on here. A lot more. Delaware politics just got REALLY interesting!
https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/delaware-senator-bryan-townsend-gets-drop-out-of-race-letter-from-his-own-party/
I don’t know. It reads like a form letter by an out of touch old guy. Sometimes the easiest answer is the best answer.
And sometimes it isn’t Jason. If I’m wrong, I’ll own up to it. But I have a very strong feeling this means someone else is about to enter the race…
From what I’m hearing, every candidate who has filed to run in the Sept. 13th primary election – including incumbents – received this ridiculously offensive letter.
I HAVE to think everybody got it. Maybe he would’ve been better off just sending it to the mayoral candidates and the Lt. Gov. candidates. That’s where vanity candidacies abound.
Except…who am I or Daniello to determine who are the vanity candidates?
Sending one to Townsend (and presumably to Rochester and Barney) is an unforced political error, however. Too bad that Carney doesn’t have a primary opponent. I’ll betcha that HE wouldn’t have been sent that letter.
I am sure the incumbents know it’s a wink wink nod nod.
Or is this Jack’s next logical step?
https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/will-jack-markell-run-for-congress/
I have to think that Jack believes that Hillary Clinton will come a’callin’ to ‘The Education Governor’. He’ll do to the country what he did to Delaware.
Doesn’t Bryon Short still have a primary? Do we think he received this letter? If he did, wow….This would be comical if it wasn’t so offensive.
He has a pretty competitive primary against former State Rep Dave Brady. Since the 2012 redistricting, the 7th RD has a lot more of Claymont, which is the area that Brady represented, and none of the Brandywine Hundred area north of Foulk Road, where Short would figure to do well against Brady.
Plus, even the primary opponents who dropped out are less than thrilled at the way Short ‘big-timed’ them. Think about making a good faith decision to run after they were told by the incumbent that he would not be running for reelection only to be told some six months later, “Never mind, my congressional campaign cratered and now I’m jumping back in front of the line.”
Not saying that he’s gonna lose, he’s probably the favorite, but he COULD lose.
I’m hearing that everyone got that letter. Also, if Markell was running for Congress, John Daniello and the DelDems would be the last group to make a path for him. Never been much love there.
I’m not ruling out Markell throwing his hat in the ring. We will know in six days, so this will be a short-term guessing game. This is Delaware. I can’t speak for Daniello’s motivations for writing that letter. But you never know who is whispering what in someone’s ear in this state. Politics is 3/4 game and 1/4 money.
Markell is not going to sit and be a member of the House minority. Plus he has no accomplishments to even run on..
Daniello, ugh. He’s a dinosaur.
No room for vanity campaigns? What is John Carney running on other that vanity?
Heard from an excellent source that DelDems is spinning this up as much ado about nothing. The explanation from them is that every election season, there is a handful of candidates who wait until after the drop out deadline to actually drop out and ask for a refund of their filing fees. I am told that the intention of this letter was to reach out to all candidates to remind them that there is a drop out date and that after that date you cannot get a refund of our filing fees.
Except this letter says no such thing. If that was the intention, they could certainly could have communicated that better.
“He cited Rep. Bryon Short’s (D-Brandywine Hundred) decision to pull out of the U.S. House race as “a shining example of the type of objective thinking that this primary needs more of.”
Short now faces a primary challenge for his state representative seat and was sent one of these form letters.”
The more the Better. Let the People decide. Letters like this are not democracia, they aré control. I understand His intentons but, “not gonna doit”
Why isn’t Mitch Crane the Chairman at this point? What is Daniello, 90 years old? He is at least 85.
Sean Barney’s response is almost better than an f-u:
“Despite a looming financial crunch on the Social Security program, Delaware Congressional candidate Sean Barney on Wednesday said lawmakers should increase the benefits that flow to retirees. Barney, a Democrat, wants to raise taxes on the rich and corporations to pay for the expansion…
Barney said lawmakers should do something unprecedented and fund the program directly through regular corporate and income tax money, in addition to expanding its dedicated source of payroll taxes to incomes over $118,500.”
OK Mr. Barney, you’ve got my attention.
While the letter sucks, it’s a bit funny to me in a different way. Clearly DelDems want some out, this way they get to tell each of them: get out…and leave it to each to divine it’s them they are talking about.
I am more interested in the tone of the responses than their face.
A reminder to registered candidates of the drop-out deadline is a good idea. Why did they make the letter so unclear? I thought the party had communication specialists working for them.
Matt Meyer’s response to the letter he received:
Yesterday I received a letter from the Democratic Party, signed by the state chairman. The letter suggests that we would all benefit, as county residents, if our next Democratic nominee for County Executive — and our likely next County Executive — were selected by the party bosses rather than elected by each of us, the Democratic party voters.
I strongly disagree.
This is the same old underhanded dealing that has benefited the few wealthy well connected insiders at the expense of the rest of us who deserve better.
https://www.facebook.com/Meyer4NCC/photos/a.559084167586681.1073741828.545313338963764/595575640604200/?type=3&theater
Kevin, I think you need to lay off the conspiracy juice. Jack is not running for Congress and noone had anything to do with Bryon’s decision to drop out other than Bryon.
And you know this definitely how? I never said it was a sure thing. It’s called an educated guess, or, a hypothesis.
‘Educated’ guess. What is educated about this guess?
I particularly enjoy him thinking it’s a “hypothesis.”
Kevin, do yourself a favor and familiarize yourself with philosopher Bertrand Russell’s teapot problem. Nothing you’ve ever written can be described as educated anything.
Research. Knowing Jack’s history, when he acts, doesn’t act, etc. If I asked you on January 1st, 2008, who the next Governor of Delaware would have been, would you have answered Jack Markell? Probably not. Picture yourself as Jack Markell. You are considered to be a very popular state Governor for eight years. You’ve used education as your platform the whole time. You want to be the Secretary of Education for the country. The only way you can do that is by supporting Hillary. Here comes Donald Trump, with all his rhetoric and crazy talk, and all of a sudden the guy is thrust into the national spotlight as the GOP frontrunner. A moment of doubt exists. What are your options? With your connections, you know you can get a job at any education think tank in the country. They would be thrilled to have you. But is that really what you want? Thanks to Nextel, you aren’t worried about money. Will that advance your political career? Where do you go after Governor? To D.C. But if Hillary doesn’t win, what can you do? What position puts you in D.C. even if it is something you really don’t want to do but have to do for political survival? Or perhaps Hillary doesn’t even want you as the next Secretary of Education. To stay in the political game, you have to take this step. Calls are made, it is very quiet. Somehow, Short has to drop out. It happens. A few months later, letters go out to all the Democrat primary candidates asking them to reevaluate their respective runs for office. Aside from the party Chair, John Daniello, the only one who publicly agrees with these letters is Pete Schwartzkopf. Someone who has been instrumental in furthering Jack’s wishes in the General Assembly. The letter even cites Bryon Short’s decision to drop out of the Congressional race. It doesn’t mention others who dropped out, just Short. Daniello may be old, but he knows this is going to tick off a lot of people. That was the intent. Meanwhile, Jack goes on a signing spree of legislation. If he runs, he has to file by July 12th. That means any legislation he signs after could have a conflict of interest, or at least give the appearance of such. If you were Jack Markell, and you had a doubt Clinton could win this, and you are banking on that, what would you do?
Like I said, this is a hypothesis. I didn’t say it is fact. I’m questioning it, which you do all the time.
And Dorian Gray, please go fuck yourself. I’m very familiar with the teapot question and every single blogger does it. Are they always right? No. Are they always wrong? No.
Whoa… that’s quite a “hypothesis”, Kevin. I’m not seeing it. Are you saying that Markell would run for this seat because he’s worried Trump will win? That’s his motivation? Sorry, I’m not seeing that happen. Secretary of Education and Congress person aren’t interchangeable positions. They are very different jobs.
I’m well aware they aren’t interchangeable Pandora. But if you want to stay in politics at a high level, what is your safest bet? I’m not saying it is the most logical bet, but the safest…
I’m not sure the lone Rep from Delaware is exactly ‘high level’. Markell has made quite a home for himself in the executive. Jumping ship to the legislative where he’d have less power to jack stuff up *heh* on his own doesn’t seem logical.
Hey Kevin. Fuck you, you smiley, jarheaded looking cunt. You’re the fucking moron who doesn’t know the meaning of the word hypothesis.
You propose a fucking stupid and unfalsifiable idea and pretend it makes sense. And you think the onus to disprove it is on somebody else. You’re a fucking weak-minded piece of shit. Every single blogger does what? Make dumb assertions and then write long paragraphs of nonsense? Yeah I suppose they do.
You’re only here because nobody reads your stupid shit anywhere else. You embarrass yourself and your family.
I’m out…
“Jumping ship to the legislative where he’d have less power to jack stuff up *heh* on his own doesn’t seem logical.”
It worked for Mike Castle, and nobody saw that coming either. I don’t think that is Markell’s game, but it has precedent and is not implausible.
“You’re only here because nobody reads your stupid shit anywhere else. ”
I read it. Kevin is the only source I know for liveblogging and analysis from Legislative Hall and committee meetings. You can take his analysis for what it’s worth, same as any other blogger.
People who have been Governors and US Senators, don’t typically run for the US House. Mike Castle is an exception. While thats a sexy job for a State Senator or a LG who lost his race for Governor, running for House would be going backwards for a former 2 term Governor. People like Jack don’t go backwards. You’d have a better argument if you said that he was waiting to take Carper’s seat in 2018.
“Hey Kevin. Fuck you, you smiley, jarheaded looking cunt. You’re the fucking moron who doesn’t know the meaning of the word hypothesis.”
Wow! That made me laugh and it was directed at me. I needed that this morning as three cups of coffee weren’t enough to wake me up!
Sure I do Dorian. It means “educated guess”. It is a theory. That has to be tested and then proven. It doesn’t mean it is always right nor do I presume that all should believe it. I’m terribly sorry my physical appearance doesn’t fit your tastes Dorian. And I’m really sorry nobody reads my own blog and I have to come over here to get attention. Please forgive me Dorian. Your opinion means soooo much to me! God forbid someone comments on another blog when they write their own! Thanks for showing me the error of my ways so I can make the necessary corrections to my life, not only for the sake of myself, but also my family. I have seen the light Dorian! Bless you!
I recall that Daniello had his leadership role challenged many years ago when it was already evident that he was ethically challenged to say the least. I also remember some DL writers supporting his continued reign. Smart thing to do, of course, if you want establishment approval. How do you feel now about your hero?
I remember that Dana – As I recall, his challenger had made false claims about his support. Ultimately, the challenger bowed out on the day of the convention so no one got to vote on his candidacy anyway.
Honestly, you can’t replace something with nothing. The other thread has some inspired choices, but we would need one of them to have an interest in the job.