1. Melanie George Smith To Retire. There is a reason why she announced her retirement when she did. By the end of this weekend, we will all know why. Suffice it to say that her career was the product of legislative insiderism of the worst order. There was never a clamoring for her candidacy within her district. In fact, there was never a district until the General Assembly back in 2002 crafted a (blatantly illegal) barbell-shaped district specifically for Melanie George at the behest of some of Delaware’s most gourmandesque movers and shakers. For those who may have forgotten, here is her original district:
https://electionsncc.delaware.gov/house/2002/hse05.pdf
In exchange for doing Lonnie (George) and Bob (Gilligan) and, of course, Del-Tech, a solid, the Rethugs were able to ship two D districts (one in Claymont, one in suburban Newark) downstate. Without so much as a bleat of protest from the House Democratic ‘leadership’.
No wonder the D’s were in the basement for so long.
Things are looking up, though. More on this throughout the weekend. I promise.
2. Mystery Candidate X. A word of warning to the secret-keepers. As you well know, I’m a fan of the ‘game of human chess’ known as pro rasslin’. So I know that when a ‘mystery opponent’ is announced, the promotion had better deliver. If the ‘mystery opponent’ turns out to be a ‘geek’ (wrestling parlance for a loser), the crowd swiftly turns against both the geek and the promotion. If Bill Dunn’s speculative candidate turns out to be correct, the crowd will erupt in ‘Holy Shit!’ chants, which is what you want. If not…well, let’s just say that the candidate had better not be of the Micheal Miller ilk. Carper is poised to be toppled. Don’t let us down.
3. Sean Matthews Gets An Opponent. A compelling personal story, if not a raison d’etre for running. Her name is Erin Wienner, and she seems to have taken a circuitous route to politics. In fact, the bio of her is pretty damned circuitous as well. Frankly, she looks like Judy Travis 2.0. And she’s clueless on the issues. She’s ‘passionate’ about ‘The Rising Taxes That Are Costing Us Jobs’. In other words, she’s an ill-informed idiot mouthing talking points. So, while she’s unlikely to win, she’s running against one of the best progressives in Delaware in Sean Matthews, 10th RD, Brandywine Hundred. Might not hurt to send a few dollars his way.
4. Rachel Blumenfeld Raises $21K. OK, while I’m not gonna get into dueling press releases as to who has raised the most money and who has the most cash on hand, this is an impressive start. However, I will restate my belief that this is one race where a primary only benefits the incumbent. In this case the odious Deborah Hudson. I got no dawg in this hunt, but there had better only be one dawg or the fox wins again. District still has an R plurality. A divided D party has no chance here.
5. Dennis E. Williams Brings Teh Funny. You know, if Williams hadn’t already run for every office under the sun and hadn’t already lost the preponderance of those races, he might be considered a credible candidate for State Auditor. Faced with a choice of either him or Park City Cathy, I still might vote for him as I’m not voting for her under any circumstances. However, really Dennis, really?:
Representative Williams has been urged by Democratic Party Committee members, current and former elected officials, and voters throughout the state to bring his experience and qualifications to the position of State Auditor.
Dennis, in rasslin’ parlance, this makes you a ‘geek’.
6. Filing Floodgates Open. Filing this week: Bobbie Cummings (D), 2nd Senatorial District; Charles Potter (D), 1st RD; Krista Griffith (D), RD 12 (this is Deborah Hudson’s district where both Griffith and Blumenfeld are running in a D primary).
7. Speaking Of Bringing Teh Funny…: Charles Potter is the gift that keeps on giving. Check out his slideshow here. In fact, the entire site is a testament to do-nothingism.
8. Stay Tuned This Weekend. There will be at least two announcements worth following this weekend. Oh, and another one early next week. I’ll update as they take place.
That’s it for this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?