So, we’re facing a Special Election for State Senate. The candidates, D Stephanie Hansen and R John Marino, have been chosen by their respective parties. The election has been necessitated due to incumbent Bethany Hall Long’s winning of the Lieutenant Governor spot. She takes office later in January. The date for the Special Election has not been set, and it’s not clear whether outgoing Gov. Markell or incoming Gov. Carney will set the date.
Barring an unexpected flip, the winner of this seat will determine which Party controls the Senate. The Republicans are motivated as they can end umpteen years of Democratic control of the State Senate. They will have no problem motivating their voters.
The Democrats? If you are a Democratic voter and aren’t necessarily plugged into the party structure, what will impel you to come out to vote? I know that some of the usual suspects on the blog are minimizing this concern, I think it’s real and I think it’s a major problem for the special. Why should D’s come out to support the D candidate other than out of some sense of duty?
Unless…now hang with me for a minute. I think we can most all agree that the succession of D governors from Carper to Minner to Markell and now to Carney have been more closely aligned with the State Chamber of Commerce than with the traditional Democratic rank-and-file. Minner might have been a bit of an exception, but she decided to sell out and turned her second term into an Insider’s Paradise.
What if John Carney, who has already coopted the Chamber, if not vise versa, comes in and says, “We have done so much for business, it is past time that we do something for those who go to work everyday and struggle to raise their families. I call for a meaningful minimum wage increase, one that also incorporates a cost-of-living increase annually. I will not rest until this bill is on my desk.”
He can then plant himself in the 10th SD, along with all the D surrogates and warn against how the R’s controlling the Senate chamber kills any chance that Delawareans have to experience an increase in their paltry, and it is paltry, minimum wage. In other words, stand up and fight for something that pretty much any self-respecting D can relate to.
Make the Special Election about something that D’s really care about. Make the Special a referendum on Democratic values, in this case, a decent wage, all the while highlighting why D’s stand with the people and the R’s stand with the moneyed elites.
It’s not that big a stretch. By doing this, John Carney jump-starts his term, achieves a meaningful victory right off the bat, reinvigorates a Democratic Party struggling with post-election depression, and helps win a Special Election that will keep the Senate in Democratic control. Oh, and thereby collects a bleepload of political capital. It’s simple.
All we need is for a Democratic governor to act like a Democrat. Otherwise, explain to me again what will motivate D’s to come out to vote. If a Democratic governor intends to pursue the Chamber’s agenda, it doesn’t really matter WHO controls the Senate. But if D’s are going to reconnect to the rank-and-file, Gov. Carney can make it happen solely by governing like a D from jump street.