GOP takes first mover advantage: Picks Marino for Upcoming Special

Marino's 49% against BHL probably overstates his strength a bit because a few of those percentage points can be attributed to the late breaking sign theft scandal. Still, someone running a follow-up race is typically tougher to beat than a pure newbie. Dems will probably field Earl Jaques, who is a workaday retail pol who knows to spend shoe leather.

The December 12, 2016 Thread

The Economist: “These latest revelations have probably not changed any minds at all. Republicans [and certain leftists] who hate Mrs Clinton are still delighted that she was defeated. Democrats who loathe and fear Mr Trump have one more reason to dislike him. Outside Washington, red-blooded Americans who mostly rather dislike President Vladimir Putin, according to polls, seem to be shrugging off the latest allegations: President-elect Trump was loudly cheered by spectators when he turned up in Baltimore on December 10th to watch the Army-Navy football game, an annual pageant of patriotism.” “And that is what is, or should be, so unsettling. Russian interference in elections across the Western world is like a nasty virus, attacking the body politic. Normally, America is protected by powerful, bipartisan immune responses against such a menace. It also boasts some of the world’s most sophisticated intelligence and cyber-defenses, and when spooks tell the Republicans and Democrats who lead Congress and sit on the House and Senate intelligence committees of hostile acts by a foreign power, love of country generates a unified response. That immune response is not kicking in this time.” “This squabble does matter. When the next president of America takes his oath of office in January, officers of Russian intelligence can savour a historic win. And that astonishing, appalling fact has divided, not united, the two parties that run the world’s great democracy. That should be enough to unsettle anyone.”
The December 11, 2016 Thread

The December 11, 2016 Thread

On Friday night, bombshell news reports noted that the CIA had assessed Russia intervened in the US election to help Trump win; that during the campaign senior congressional Republicans, including Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, had resisted a private White House request to be part of a bipartisan effort to call out Russian hacking of Democratic and political targets; and that Moscow had penetrated the computer system of the Republican National Committee but had not publicly disseminated any of the stolen material. Aaron Blake: “The report highlights and exacerbates the increasingly fraught situation in which congressional Republicans find themselves with regard to Russia and Trump. By acknowledging and digging into the increasing evidence that Russia helped — or at least attempted to help — tip the scales in Trump’s favor, they risk raising questions about whether Trump would have won without Russian intervention.”
The December 10, 2016 Thread

The December 10, 2016 Thread

Joan Walsh at The Nation says Democrats should fight all of Donald Trump’s nominees:
[S]o far, presented with these political gifts, Democrats have been fairly silent. They’ve pledged to fight Sessions, and they should, but no one else has come in for much attack, although today Senator Ed Markey said he would oppose Pruitt’s nomination to head the EPA, and Schumer had some tough words for Pudzer as labor secretary. That’s good news, but it’s not enough. On one level, I understand the need for Democrats to “pick their battles.” They may be more likely to win GOP support to actually block a nominee or two by being selective. But no one has yet marshaled an argument to Trump voters that they’ve been hoodwinked: that the outsider candidate has picked a cabinet of insiders, who make an utter mockery of his promises to look out for the “forgotten man.” Democrats should be making the case, as Ben Adler argues in The Guardian, that Trump is “a self-dealing political profiteer and a tool of the business and political elite.” Jeff Hauser of the Revolving Door Project has suggested that Democrats refuse to consider any appointments until Trump discloses and then divests himself of his global and largely secret financial empire—especially since we can’t trust Trump’s picks to monitor his self-dealing.
Congratulations to Ms McBride, Order of the First State Recipient

Congratulations to Ms McBride, Order of the First State Recipient

This is a “credit where credit is due” two for the price of one. McBride has clearly been instrumental in making the lives of Delaware’s LGBTQ community better, and Markell, for all of his retrograde trickle down economics, has been pretty good on LGBTQ issues. McBride, who was the first openly transgender speaker at a major party’s national convention, also serves on the board of Equality Delaware. She played a pivotal role in the passage of Delaware’s 2013 Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act, which provided basic legal protections to transgender people in employment, housing, public accommodations, and insurance. “Generations of Delawareans will have better lives thanks to the work and courage of Sarah McBride,” said Gov. Markell. “On their behalf, I’m incredibly grateful.”

LBR names top staff picks

Lisa Blunt Rochester announced the appointment of Minh Ta as her Chief of Staff and Sylvia Banks, a former DuPont executive as State Director. Ta has served in senior roles…

Maybe this is why progressive will never take over the party…?

I can't bear the idea of going to something like this:

Please join the New Castle County Democratic Committee

with special guest

Governor-Elect John Carney

as we honor

Senator Patricia Blevins and Senator Karen Peterson

for a Holiday Brunch Reception

Sunday, December 18, 2016

11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Local 74 Executive Banquet & Conference Center

205 Executive Dr, Newark, DE 19702

$100 per person

$50 for committee members

Cash Bar

Please make checks payable to "New Castle County Democratic

Committee"

RSVP (302) 328-9036 or email at renee@deldems.org

Contributions are not tax-deductible for state or federal income tax purposes.

Congressman John Carney is appearing at this event only as a guest speaker. Congressman Carney is not asking for funds or donations.

Paid for by the Delaware Democratic Party, P.O. Box 2065, Wilmington, DE 19899 Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.