Tom Carper – Primary voters are coming for your sorry ass

Filed in National by on June 27, 2018

Your record is terrible on all the items Democratic voters care about:

Congratulations Alexandria & Viva the People’s Democratic Party revolution!

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Jason330 is a deep cover double agent working for the GOP. Don't tell anybody.

Comments (107)

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  1. RE Vanella says:

    Wait, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? That’s her name? I thought Our Revolution and DSA were white bros? I extremely confused…

    Left is best and Carper’s next.

    (By the way, if you’ve followed this, local activists went up to Queens and the Bronx yesterday with Kerri Harris to work the GOTV push. This was part of Justice Democrats solidarity.)

  2. Alby says:

    Yeah, that’s nice, but it does nothing for her in Delaware. Good intentions don’t win elections.

  3. RE Vanella says:

    When the posse comes down here this summer won’t that be great.

    It builds relationships to help fight everywhere. You know this.

  4. Alby says:

    No, I don’t know that. I do know that her name recognition is close to zilch. I see nothing to make me think Carper is in trouble.

    She needs to make some kind of splash in Delaware, and soon.

    If the posse fits the demographics of that district, they won’t help her any in Delaware. Delaware Democrats are white and mostly Irish. Door-knocking Hispanics will scare them right into Carper’s arms.

  5. RE Vanella says:

    A 28 year old woman from the Bronx with a hyphenated Spanish name who worked as a bartender last year got herself endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America and just unseated the 4th ranking rep in the House. It helps everyone.

    I know you guys think you know for a fact what works in Delaware. You know all the players and when Ruth Minner took her morning shit.

    Those days are over.

    I appreciate cynicism as much as the next grump. But this is very important.

  6. RE Vanella says:

    Literally no one in NYC knew AOC three months ago.

  7. RE Vanella says:

    Nope, you don’t get it. There a lot of working class people and minorities who don’t vote but will when they have a real option. You’re living in the past.

    You think your perspective is a fact. It isn’t.

  8. RE Vanella says:

    It’s funny. We have these elections and crazy “unpredictable” stuff happens, Trump wins, Socialists win, etc., etc., and geezers still think everything is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago. Like politics is frozen in 1998.

  9. puck says:

    More and better Democrats. The blue wave may be bluer than we think.

  10. RE Vanella says:

    That’s the spirit.

  11. Alby says:

    Almost exactly the same number of people voted for Trump as voted for Romney. So where’s the big surprise? It was in Democrats who didn’t show up to vote.

    The young woman in New York is Hispanic in a largely Hispanic district, which is demographically much different that it was 20 years ago when the incumbent first won. Harris does not have that going for her here.

    The New York race was a House race, its electorate packed into a relatively small, defined area. Harris is in a statewide race, in a state with stable demographics — a high black population but not high rates of black voters, with many of the men disenfranchised anyway.

    Look around you, Rob. Delaware’s politics ARE frozen in 1998.

    Enthusiasm doesn’t win. Planning does. And Job 1 is, was and always will be getting one’s name recognized. That. Has. Not. Happened. Period.

  12. Albert Jackson says:

    I agree with Alby. That big talk is worth duddly squat. I want Carper taken down but this candidate is not visible on anything or anywhere. I had an aide of her’s call me and we couldn’t get together because she was in DC. I never reached out since. As I remain disappointed and on the senate sidelines but still hopeful.

    Sad sack

  13. RE Vanella says:

    There is a plan in place. I do understand where you guys are coming from. It’s happening.

    If you want different you do it differently. And, as you know I’m not just talking. I’m doing.

    Without enthusiasm this goes no where. It needs to peak on or around August 15th. As people get off their holidays and prepare for school to reopen.

    It’s 27 June.

  14. I think that the kind of campaign that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ran could work against Carper. High energy, strong contrasting with the incumbent, high visibility.

    But that’s not the type of campaign that Kerri Harris has run. I support her, but Al’s right. If she doesn’t make something happen soon, it’s hard to see her winning. It wouldn’t hurt if she went after his voting record. Hard. I mean, it really sucks. It’s up to her campaign to challenge him on it. We’ve done it. Over and over. But we’re not the candidate.

  15. RE Vanella says:

    Albert – Send your details to the tip line and one of these guys will pass it on to me. I’ll hook you up.

  16. RE Vanella says:

    How visible was AOC 3 months ago?

    The viral video that really made her name recognition was released May 30.

  17. RE Vanella says:

    I hate to tell you guys this, but you’re idea of what must happen right now is incorrect.

    The very good news is your appetite is raging for it and you want more now.

  18. jason330 says:

    Some things are impossible until the moment they happen. (See: Trump, President) Lucky for us we have people like Ocasio-Cortez and Harris willing to undertake the impossible on behalf of the people.

  19. Alby says:

    “Without enthusiasm this goes no where.”

    Without publicity, where does the enthusiasm come from?

    “It needs to peak on or around August 15th. As people get off their holidays and prepare for school to reopen. It’s 27 June.”

    From July 1 to August 24, nobody in Delaware pays any attention to politics because they’re at the beach. Seriously. So good luck with that. Maybe you’re right, but maybe I am. When you’ve been around the block as many times as I have, you believe it when you see it. I hope I’m wrong, and sometimes I am, but not usually.

    “How visible was AOC 3 months ago?”

    AOC lives in a majority-minority district. I’ve never been there, but I’m willing to bet that most of her voters don’t get their news from mainstream media, making a social-media campaign more viable. That’s not the case in Delaware.

    People are hungry to move on from Carper, but at this point not enough of them even know he has a challenger. The only way that could help is by fostering complacency in the 52% of voters who still approve of him.

  20. RE Vanella says:

    Working class and poor people don’t do a lot of beach holidays. Also, campaigns can go to the beach. Just because the Bethany Beach set hasn’t paid attention in the past is not the thing that concerns me most.

    Again, I complete understand what you’re arguing. I know your intention is just to make the fight as hard and effective as possible. I get it.

    I mentioned about week ago that all this talk about what “works” (or what “worked”) is probably not that helpful.

    We’re just going to keep scraping every day.

  21. Trueblue says:

    One of the largest voting demographic that has swung elections recently is women of color. Kerri will also excite new and disenfranchised voters. Relying on the way it has always been is what has kept us where we are. Change is coming.

  22. truth80 says:

    Delaware isn’t the Bronx. Carper wins with 70%

  23. jason330 says:

    If I was a betting man I’d take that action all day.

  24. “Kerri will also excite new and disenfranchised voters.”

    All for it. But so far, she reminds me of no one so much as Ruth Ann Minner when she first ran for Governor. A compelling personal narrative, seeming empathy (with Kerri, it’s real; turns out that Ruth Ann’s was phony), and a low-key style.

    Minner almost lost despite having all the advantages. If she wasn’t a woman, she would have lost.

    I have yet to see anything to suggest that the kind of energy that galvanized Ocasio-Cortez to victory is present in Kerri. In other words, something to ‘excite new and disenfranchised voters’. I keep waiting for it.

  25. Alby says:

    @trueblue: If you’re counting on women of color to win you the race, you’ve already lost. There simply aren’t enough of them to tilt the scales, especially in a midterm, when there are no city elections to draw those voters to the polls.

    That said, anti-Carper sentiment alone will get Harris 30%, so that 70% prediction strikes me as overly confident. And overly confident incumbents are the ones who lose.

  26. jason330 says:

    Harris is along shot to be sure. But even a 25% chance means that she’d win 25 times if the race was run 100 times.

    There are threads that can wind together into a rope. Carper’s over confidence, his age (see your recent post)… I also like the fact that there are some key Dem primaries that may tend to help each other on election day.

  27. Alby says:

    It’s not hopeless. It’s just that whatever she’s doing isn’t making any impression on my life, and I’m not the only old geezer who’s not on social media who will vote in the primary.

    There are a lot of factors that make this an uphill fight. Her gender helps, but the fact that it’s a non-mayoral year hurts.

    The reason I want a bigger splash is that Carper has to stumble to lose support, and the chances of him stumbling are better if she forces him to run hard.

  28. RE Vanella says:

    Yeah Delaware’s more like Queens.

    Have you seen the guy who repped the district for 20 years?

    This talk about demographics is hilarious. Old Irish white guy is entrenched establishment. Talk he’d be the next speaker. Then a 28 year old Latina socialist beats him and people say, well, it was the Bronx.

    This makes no sense. If the demos were so much not in Crowley’s favour how was he elected 14 times? Come on.

  29. Alby says:

    Yeah, I’ve seen him. Have you seen the district’s current demographics? Almost 50% Hispanic, 18% white.

    He was elected about as many times as Bobby Marshall has been in a majority-black district. Machine politics is how.

    Crowley also made a classy concession and endorsement of AOC. I hope Marshall will do the same for Tizzy Lockman.

  30. RE Vanella says:

    “Ma tu padre, pensa antico.”

    Virgil Sollozzo, The Godfather

  31. RE Vanella says:

    Your all over the shop. It was demographics. It was the political machine. It was name recognition.

    She was what people wanted now.

    Additionally, how many more years do you think you can say that the people not on social media mean anything. That cohort is shrinking by the day.

    Like Jason said, no one believes it till it happens. Then it happens and still nobody believes it.

  32. Alby says:

    And you saw how The Turk ended up. Bad example, because Vito was right.

    As for Sterling Brown, who wrote,

    “anybody who claims that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won because of “demographics” is a fucking racist piece of shit and will be thrown in the gulag”

    I say, good luck with that shit, sporto. If the new age is going to be marked by the “liberal” ignorance people like this display every day, you eventually will drive every white person in America to the GOP, me included. Only an idiot goes tribal when he lacks the numbers to win.

    If I’m going to be thrown in the gulag for stating the obvious, fuck your movement.

  33. Alby says:

    Demographics finally beat the machine when the white numbers got low enough. What part of this don’t you understand, grasshopper? Do you think your wishes for the future have changed the present?

    “how many more years do you think you can say that the people not on social media mean anything. That cohort is shrinking by the day.”

    I don’t know, but we’re talking about two and half months from now, not some entirely-wired future.

  34. RE Vanella says:

    The tweet link was just a joke (by me at least).

    But the fact remains, the number of retirees in Hockessin without a social media presence are not the voting block they used to be.

  35. Alby says:

    @REV: This is essentially the same shit I got from the Hillaryites — voting for her isn’t enough if I express doubts about the candidate.

    Fuck that shit, buddy, no matter who’s espousing it.

  36. Alby says:

    “the number of retirees in Hockessin without a social media presence are not the voting block they used to be.”

    I know about 20 people in Hockessin. I’m talking about old people throughout the only-recently-turned-Democratic northern tier. Old people die every day, but they are not yet an insignificant voting block. Check the record — they vote in great numbers.

    “the tweet was just a joke”

    My response was to Sterling Brown. That’s the kind of talk that scares the shit out of the people you have to placate. I know damn right well that come the revolution, I’m just white.

    The biggest stumbling block to socialism in this country is the belief that socialists are power-hungry totalitarians in disguise. Every Sterling Brown out there reinforces that stereotype and makes your job harder.

  37. RE Vanella says:

    Wow, 20 people…

    I’ve said multiple times I understand your critiques.

  38. truth80 says:

    he won 14 times because he never had a primary challenger since 2004 and that one was underfunded. He also won because Joe Crowley has an extremely liberal voting record. He was a very effective congressman too. So congrats NY 14th you had guy who could bring a ton of money back home to a 28 year old trying to blow it all up. Let me know how it all works out. Yes he was a white guy but wasn’t her hero Bernie a white guy. So much hate for white guys these days in the party its odd. Sean Lynn by the way………white guy, just saying

  39. RE Vanella says:

    And making a blanket statement like a majority white state won’t vote for a black woman is kinda racist. Or I guess it’s more accurate to say it points out how terrible racism is.

  40. RE Vanella says:

    Looks like the Overton Window has shifted and nobody told our anonymous friend here.

  41. RE Vanella says:

    I’m aware Sean Lynn is white. I’m white. So what? John Kowalko is white. My brothers are white. Clouds are white. Who cares?

  42. Alby says:

    Truth80 reinforces my point. People are tribal, whether we like it or not.

    @T80: “Bringing a ton of money back home” is only relevant to the relatively few people, mostly connected to the Congressman, who would benefit thereby. (And please don’t talk about job creation; that’s Republican bullshit). It does nothing for people in the other 434 districts. You might not have noticed, but fund-raising for congressional seats has gone national, and Crowley is exactly the kind of machine hack, like Brady in Philadelphia, whose time is gone.

    Pork is no longer the favorite dish on Democrats’ menu.

  43. Alby says:

    @REV: I never made that blanket statement. Race is a factor, not an unscalable obstacle but an obstacle nonetheless.

    There’s no way to measure it, but if I’m a relatively low-information voter (fewer of those in primaries, but still) I’ll vote by tribe. We have seen this time after time in Delaware, where manifestly unqualified women like the Karens (Weldin Stewart and Hartley-Nagle) win primaries against multiple male candidates. Heck, we’re seeing it all over the country with women triumphing in the majority of Democratic primaries.

    My plea is mainly one to widen whatever Harris is doing to include legacy media, which a lot of voters still rely upon. Which was why I was so glad to see the big-splash story on Davies the other day.

  44. RE Vanella says:

    Agree. Hooking up a few titans of industry back home isn’t the winning play it once was. Know why? Because regular people still suffer. They never see anything of it and they’re increasingly hip to that game.

    And when a courageous person knocks on their door and says there’s an alternative that’s really something. They’re all interested. Women, men, black, brown, white, asexual, the retired, etc…

  45. Alby says:

    “I’m aware Sean Lynn is white.”

    I think he was trying to point out that Lynn is one of only a handful of actual liberals in the General Assembly, so he shouldn’t be tossed aside. Pure projection on T80’s part. It’s an example of the simian instinct I’m talking about. It’s hard-wired into us. Ignore it at your peril.

  46. RE Vanella says:

    2 last things.

    Voting “by tribe” is racist. I agree it happens, especially in the scenario you describe. But it’s still racist.

    I wish legacy media were more interested in the campaigns. They aren’t. They just give people bullshit interviews with Coons like the one WDEL did that Jason excerpted yesterday.

    The only reason the Davies story splashed is because it’s another “scandal”.

  47. truth80 says:

    Vanella what on earth are you saying? Lisa Blunt Rochester is our Congresswomen, Delaware wouldn’t vote for a black candidate? What?? You were the one to inject race saying she was a Latina and 50 percent of the district was Latina. Part of her campaign was “a white guy” shouldn’t represent the district anymore because of that. I don’t get it, I don’t do that identity politics crap. I was pointing out all the white liberal men, shall we go after them all because we feel women and people of color are underrepresented. Apparently some think so. That’s crazy.

  48. Alby says:

    “And when a courageous person knocks on their door and says there’s an alternative that’s really something. They’re all interested. Women, men, black, brown, white, asexual, the retired, etc…”

    This I do not doubt in the least. A door-knocking campaign is tough on a statewide scale, but in theory it can work. My early take still stands: Find 40,000 people who agree with you, make sure they get to the polls and you will win. Very hard but not impossible.

  49. RE Vanella says:

    Lynn was Kerri first endorsement. Who’s tossing him aside?

    Kerri’s campaign has lead organizers on staff in all three counties. Up and running as of last weekend I believe.

  50. truth80 says:

    By her own notion I guess Delaware’s Congressman should be White since 70 percent of Delaware is white? Its a terrible statement by her.

  51. Alby says:

    @T80:

    “You [REV] were the one to inject race saying she was a Latina and 50 percent of the district was Latina.”

    No he wasn’t, I was. People are tribal whether you like it or not.

    “I guess Delaware’s Congressman should be White since 70 percent of Delaware is white?”

    She was backed by a white political machine.

    Your inability to understand what I’m saying is on your end, not mine. I’m being as clear as possible: Given two candidates whose positions are the same, people will more often than not vote for the person who most resembles them. Note that I said, “When their positions are equal.”

    What part don’t you understand?

  52. RE Vanella says:

    I think truth80 is very sleepy. Seems confused.

    And, yeah, since the B in LBR stands for Blunt it wasn’t the insurgency you’d think it’d be, no.

  53. Alby says:

    “Voting by tribe is racist. I agree it happens, especially in the scenario you describe. But it’s still racist.”

    Sure, I guess. Tribalism and antagonism are deeply, deeply ingrained. Chimps do it, a lot. Tribes don’t have to be split along racial lines, but this is the USA, where racial tribalism predates the founding of the Republic.

    In a world where civil discourse is scorned, you will get more tribalism, not less.

  54. truth80 says:

    Was she really? Townend and Barney weren’t exactly floating out there with no political support.

    But you are right she was part of the machine in many ways holding a patronage job.

    Totally get people are tribal and think the Crowley loss had a lot to do with that (only 18 percent of the district was white) and he decided like Hillary he didn’t need to campaign hard………mistake.

  55. Alby says:

    “since the B in LBR stands for Blunt it wasn’t the insurgency you’d think it’d be, no.”

    For most people, appearances are good enough. A major bank once hired Velda Jones-Potter.

    And look how many white people thought electing Obama would dispel racism.

    You’re spot on about the Blunt. The old man was an empty suit, and she just announced her re-election candidacy by video.

  56. Alby says:

    @T80: My bad. You’re right, the other two had supporters, but the tribalism here works a different way: One woman vs. two men, all pretty equally unknown, the woman wins. Also, she’s a black candidate vs. two whites in a city-election year, giving her the city-vote advantage.

    People hate it when I do this, but when you’re looking at down-ballot elections you might be surprised how often it holds true.

  57. Alby says:

    @REV: In one sense you’re right about my time being over — I rely on demographics, while soon the entire political world will be using psychographics, as Cambridge Analytica did for Trump. Demographic data is public; psychographic data is private, and outsiders like me will have a harder time slicing the electorate as accurately as the candidates with access to that data.

  58. truth80 says:

    @alby. Agreed completely, if one of those 2 dropped out their combined vote total would of made one of them the winner. A lot of old school white democrats still down in Kent and Sussex in a state primary. Look at where the votes for each came from.

  59. Alby says:

    @T80: Bingo. Carper has always targeted the downstate VFW voters. Barney tried to do the same. We’re not liberal, but we’re not so conservative that military service is an automatic boost to one’s candidacy. In most races, membership in the volunteer fire service is more important.

  60. truth80 says:

    Sean Barney is pretty liberal. He may of overplayed his veteran card, a bit, I disagree I think it does help, but I think it let it overshadow some other progressive issues. Plus down in Sussex, Kent and parts of SNCC, military service still plays very well with Dems.

  61. Alby says:

    “down in Sussex, Kent and parts of SNCC, military service still plays very well with Dems.”

    Precisely the places where the Dems are DINOs and in the minority.

    “Sean Barney is pretty liberal.”

    He didn’t exactly run as one in the treasurer’s race, where his lack of preparation and adherence to the machine line made him look like an establishment stooge. And he never distinguished himself in the congressional race.

  62. truth80 says:

    DINO down at the beach or Socialist Democrat in Trolley Square, as long as you are registered Democrat you both get one vote.

  63. Alby says:

    @REV: That map doesn’t show me the same thing it apparently does whomever posted it. I don’t have the tools to download it for a closer look, but I see plenty of overlap between Hispanic areas are AOC votes.

    In every mayoral election in Wilmington, a city with a slight black majority but basically a 50-50 electorate, black candidates get about 5,000 votes and white candidates get about 5,000 votes. It’s not because every single black votes for the black and every white votes for the white. Lots of people vote for more substantive reasons. But the results make leave no interpretation but that the crossover voters are about equal on each side. It they weren’t, the results would differ more over the years. They don’t.

    A demographic analysis considers the voters in the aggregate, not individually. To get back to AOC, if the district is 50% Hispanic and she got 57% of the vote, she got more white votes than Crowley did minority ones.

    Not sure how valid the overlay maps are anyway. Just saw downthread that the demographic data is census data, not election data. So some whites in the district probably are Republicans who didn’t vote at all.

  64. Alby says:

    “DINO down at the beach or Socialist Democrat in Trolley Square, as long as you are registered Democrat you both get one vote.”

    Which is why in Delaware DINOs are a bigger obstacle to good government than Republicans are.

  65. SussexWatcher says:

    I’m done with Kerri. I’ll vote for her if she’s on the ballot, but she’s run a shitty campaign that has been more focused on getting national press and niche podcast interviews and going to events in DC and NYC than doing the actual work needed to win here in Delaware. The people in charge of her campaign may have done a great job nearly winning in Wilmington last time, but they seem hopelessly out of their depth on a statewide race.

    As of Friday, according to the fundraising pitch I got, she had raised $6,000 in June. That’s $272 a day, which puts her just barely able to afford the filing fee by July 10. I really question if that’s even going to happen. We could end up with a nothingburger here. And if she does scrape up enough, then the campaign is broke again for two months leading into Election Day.

    But I love REV’s optimism. Organizers in all three counties – great! Are they working on this full-time? Do they have any resources? Do they have local connections who are turning people out to hear her speak under the radar? What are they doing?

    I really hope I’m wrong, and would love for someone to prove me so.

  66. truth80 says:

    Which is why in Delaware DINOs are a bigger obstacle to good government than Republicans are.

    I have lived a few other places besides Delaware where Democrats do not control as much as Delaware Dems do. I feel part of that success is the coalition of moderate and liberal democrats. Crash and burn that and you get a Republican Senate and maybe even Governor Simpler shortly. The DINO’s wont seem so bad after that.

    Ya’all are spoiled. And Castle wasn’t a real Republican so don’t bring that up.

  67. truth80 says:

    @sussexwatch right on. The campaign has been non existent in most of the state. No money. No paid staff. No real canvassing effort for a statewide campaign.

    Next week is July, sorry its not happening. Terrible run campaign. Sorry but the truth hurts.

  68. Alby says:

    “I feel part of that success is the coalition of moderate and liberal democrats.”

    No, it’s because Delaware government is run by the lobbyists for the big banks, the corporate law community and the Chamber of Commerce, along with the state police and the good-old-boy network of state employees. That will be the case no matter which party nominally runs things, and that will be the case until New Castle County’s population no longer outnumbers the other two combined.

    “Castle wasn’t a real Republican.”

    Based on what? He voted with Bush well over 90% of the time.

  69. mouse says:

    They called me and I have a message asking about volunteering for her campaign. Not sure what do here?

  70. RE Vanella says:

    Do you want to volunteer?

  71. RE Vanella says:

    Yes they are working full time. Seems to me to be a strategic decisions to peak in August.

    No one knew Ocasio-Cortez 3 months ago.

    I’m glad that you’re all onboard.

    I’m not optimistic, per se. I’m in the fight. And I’m not going to stop fighting because I question the tactics. Seems strange.

  72. RE Vanella says:

    Again, they have paid staff in all 3 counties.

    I get that they aren’t doing it the way you’re used to it being done.

    This is probably because no one has ever really challenged the Delaware Way corporate Dem machine.

  73. RE Vanella says:

    I do have to say I enjoy when some anonymous rando comes on here and calls it done on 27 June.

    Neat trick.

    Again, a lot if the critiques are fair and well taken. But it just looks funny. Anonymous person is very certain!

  74. nathan arizona says:

    Lee lost at Gettysburg because of bad tactics. In that case it was good that he did, of course. Questioning the tactics can be an important part of the fight. But it sounds like you might be doing that, at least a little.

  75. RE Vanella says:

    I didn’t say tactics weren’t important. I said it’s fucking weird that a person would say yeah I’m voting for X but I’m done with X because the campaign isn’t doing Y and Z.

    Bizarre.

    The fact that of the half a dozen or so making this critique are anonymous is also very rich.

    Also, nobody ever has a very specific thing. I’s always

    -Her name isn’t “out there”
    -She doing podcasts and NYC/DC activism and not doing something else unnamed
    -She not using legacy media (who is?)
    -I’m not used to this in Delaware

    Not doing what you’d do isn’t running a bad campaign. This assumes you know what you’re doing and there’s no evidence of that, since the majority of you are anonymous.

  76. SussexWatcher says:

    REV, there are proven ways to run an insurgent or outsider campaign. Kerri’s brain trust isn’t doing any of them. The fundraising issue is a real problem. These are legit concerns, and your assholey defensiveness isn’t doing the campaign any good.

  77. Tom Carper must, MUST say it right now: He will do everything in his power to prevent Trump from successfully putting another justice onto the Supreme Court. He historically enabled Roberts and Alito to ascend to the Court by refusing to filibuster their nominations.

    And Kerri Harris must, MUST come right out today and oppose any fast-tracking of such a nominee. I don’t do Twitter. Has she done that yet?

  78. SussexWatcher says:

    I see on Facebook that Kerri is in D.C. today at a rally.

    There are 12 days left before the filing deadline. She’s been out of state working on other causes and for other campaigns for two days this week at a time when raising money for her own campaign and making sure she can be on the ballot should be the top priority.

    I really want to see Carper get his ass handed to him, but it’s hard to do that when the candidate has given up even pretending to take this seriously.

  79. RE Vanella says:

    Raising money probably isn’t her top priority. I’m glad about that. If you want a politician like that there are numerous to chose from. Most really.

    I guess we disagree about what her priorities should be. That’s fine.

    I know you’re very concerned about the filing. I’m not.

    I know you and El Som are OGs are “know” how “it” works. That’s fine. I’m unconvinced that that is indeed how it works. Moreover I don’t support candidate based on a comparison of their campaign tactics and what I think their tactics should be.

    I understand your critique. I know where it comes from and I’m unconvinced by it.

  80. RE Vanella says:

    And, with all due respect, it’s very difficult to take you seriously when you’re just an anonymous commenter. I really do mean that sincerely. I’m not taking trying to take the piss out of you at all.

    I’m to take this as critique/advice from someone who really knows what they’re talking about but I have no idea who you are. I find that very strange.

  81. SussexWatcher says:

    REV, is she going to have enough money to get on the ballot? That is a question you keep dodging. That is the fundamental question before we even talk about a thing else. No money, no ballot, no campaign. From all accounts, she is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

    If she wants my support and that of others who **want to help**, then she has to prove that she knows what the hell she’s doing. So far, she’s shown me that she wants to support causes more than she wants to lead people. That’s fine – there is a role for people with that desire and those skills – but that’s not what she signed up for when she stood in front of that room full of people and declared she was running.

    If blowing off her state’s voters is not her decision but her team’s, then Drew and the rest of the campaign are a bunch of brain-dead fuckleheads who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a polling place. This is seeming more and more like amateur hour.

    You seem real hung up on this anonymous thing. Sorry that it bothers you. I would point out that you’re the one constantly responding, so there must be some validity to the points people are making regardless of who they are.

  82. Gobias says:

    Hey SussexWatcher! Kerri had a semi-closed, virtual fundraiser the other night with a supportive and progressive online community that was put together with about thirty minutes notice. U.S. Citizens from around the world (yes, literally), donated about $2.2k in *three* hours because they were passionate about Kerri’s platform, and were motivated by the Ocasio win.

    Of course the Kerri campaign needs money, but all campaigns do. The best way to solve that is donate (even if you have done so already, do it again!) or volunteer!

    Kerri is a born leader who has motivated people to volunteer, donate, and generally support from coast to coast. She doesn’t just belong in the U.S. Senate. This nation needs her. We have a very special opportunity on our hands this September. Delaware can be a beacon of progressive values to the rest of the nation. With just 26,000 votes, we can make that happen. Let’s do it, DE! Let’s change the conversation, and drown out our dumb fuck president’s tweets!

    Best wishes!

  83. RE Vanella says:

    The anonymous thing doesn’t bother and I’m not hung up on it really. I just think it’s very rich that people come on here and list everything they know, for a fact, because they worked in Dover, or lived here 5O years, yet these wise lessons are anonymous.

    You don’t see the irony it that? I do.

  84. Gobias says:

    They are enlightening us with decades of pre-Escalator thinking, which is fine! I appreciate the dialogue regardless.

  85. RE Vanella says:

    You seem hung up on tracking every nickel. So when you’re anonymous I don’t feel especially compelled to explain myself.

    But since Gobias hopped in I’ll elaborate.

    I’m having a private fundraiser too! This weekend. Just very close friends. None have ever considered or dreamed they do anything in politics. Never cared.

    8 people. I’ve collected $1,500 so far.

    So yeah I’ve skirted your question. Not because I’m concerned. Because I don’t feel the need to prove to an anonymous internet commenter what the fuck in up to.

    With all due respect…

  86. RE Vanella says:

    I still demand to know from these OG insiders gurus when, exactly, each morning Ruth Ann Minner took a dump.

    I’d bet El Som knows but won’t tell.

  87. RE Vanella says:

    Ganja makes my comments 45% better.

  88. jason330 says:

    Nothing ever happens. Everybody sucks. The good thing will miss us. On and on. Predicting the downside is the easy thing to do if you follow politics. Because we are all victims of confirmation bias, everything seems to be shit and seems like it is always going to be shit.

    Lazy thinking.

  89. mouse says:

    I do, really don’t like our corporate dems

  90. mouse says:

    So the cop legislator shot down the right to possess a naturally occurring plant. I hate these assholes

  91. Dana says:

    Alby wrote:

    If the new age is going to be marked by the “liberal” ignorance people like this display every day, you eventually will drive every white person in America to the GOP, me included. Only an idiot goes tribal when he lacks the numbers to win.

    Might as well say that has already happened! In the presidential campaign Donald Trump lost the popular vote, but he still won 57% of the votes of white Americans. While Mr Trump rather famously won 52% of the votes of white women, thanks to the presence of other candidates, Mrs Clinton won the votes of only 43% of white women.

    This is the natural result of the left’s identity politics. Every time y’all pick another ‘victim group’ to support, you create the equal and opposite reaction in a much larger group. When you say that we need to do special things to help black Americans, there are going to be a significant number of white Americans who are going to see this as acting against them. When you say that we must do such and such to help homosexuals, there are going to be a significant number of heterosexuals who are going to say, wait a second, what are you doing to us?

    The left appear to believe that they can appeal to a discrete minority group, and somehow the majority won’t see this as an attack on their interests. Perhaps this is how you think it should be, but the evidence is that it hasn’t shaken out that way.

  92. RE Vanella says:

    Every time you try to identify and help the oppressed the oppressor gets even more fascist! They can’t have those people helped!

    So really it’s our own fault. Trippy.

  93. RE Vanella says:

    Joking aside, Dana, you are not paying attention.

    What did I write on another thread a few hours back with regards to our friends in Smyrna?

    You’re a big “quote comment” guy. So quote this.

    Good schools for every kid.
    Single payer universal healthcare
    Security in housing and retirement
    No additional tax unless you make like half a million plus
    Possible job guarantee
    Focus on sustainable environmental policies

    Which discreet group or narrow interest does this platform appeal to exactly?

    This idea that “the left” is obsessed with marginal issues for discreet groups is a tired old trope and a lie, bud. We all know it. It’s really just an excuse for racism, so I suggest you reevaluate.

  94. Alby says:

    @Dana: What you’re talking about has been the case for generations:

    “The majority of whites have voted Republican in every election over the past 50 years…The national exit polls have broken out their survey results by racial group since 1976, and since that year, the Republican nominee for president has received, on average, 54.8 percent of the white vote, while the Democratic nominee has garnered an average of 40.6 percent.”

    https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2016/02/05/130647/what-about-white-voters/

  95. Alby says:

    “This idea that “the left” is obsessed with marginal issues for discreet groups is a tired old trope and a lie.”

    It’s a lie reinforced every time someone says the word “intersectionality.”

  96. Alby says:

    The problem with dicing the electorate by oppressed minority group is that it falsely assumes that being black, queer, etc. automatically inclines one towards liberal politics.

    Mitch Crane is gay, and he’s a DINO. Lots more gays are in the Log Cabin (aka GOP) Republicans. Lots of rich blacks are conservative; I guess being being rich trumps being black. Roseanne Barr is a feminist icon. And so on.

    One party stands for equality for oppressed groups and the other doesn’t. That’s where discussion of it should begin and end because, frankly, no matter how much white cisgendered liberals support these groups, they’re not going to drop their own fights to take up theirs. Why should I? They haven’t dropped theirs to pick up mine.

  97. RE Vanella says:

    Have you ever heard me use it? Frankly I doubt any of us have without irony.

    That’s Blue Delaware business.

  98. Alby says:

    Yes, it is. But DL folks use it freely, and those are the people who are chosen to represent the left to those in the RWNJ bubble.

  99. Mitch Crane says:

    “Mitch Crane is gay”???? OMG, please don’t tell my husband

  100. RE Vanella says:

    Salacious stuff… 🙂

  101. puck says:

    I like your list of issues REV but you know with the Supreme Court nomination, Democrats are going into midterms with their hair on fire about Roe, travel bans, and bathroom bills. Right where Republicans want us.

  102. RE Vanella says:

    Do you blame them? It’s fascist shit.

    This thing about playing into their hands is kinda bullshit. Like if I’m no civil a fascist become more entreched in fascism.

    Are this point we fight everywhere and grind whatever remains of this into the fucking dirt.

    But politically it’s $15 minimum wage, radical criminal justice reform, and all the things I listed.

  103. Liz Allen says:

    Sorry, I am either getting clearer in my thinking, or I am in a freeze zone. All I know is, this ole lady is more terrified than at any point in my life. My country is going to hell, we can’t believe either of the major parties, supposedly representing us. Screw that. Neither really give a damn about we the people. We pay their friggin salaries, we can take one out and put another in, however, they are so arrogant, so sure of their power, they believe they can say, screw you, I don’t need you vote. Where are the real leaders who do give a damn, they are candidates! So, its time to truly check out the candidates and vote for them. Like the young woman in New York, her message won her the primary. Her constituents believe she will work for their agenda, not the corporate agenda both parties are ensnarled, trapped in, for the money and their personal power. Fact: they don’t have the power, we do, lets use it.

  104. Liz Allen says:

    It’s well known the Log Cabins are republican.I could give a damn what Mitch’s personal choices are, but I do give a damn as to why the Log Cabins are still republican. Really, do they believe the GOP Trump cult support them. The cult want nothing more than to rescind marriage equality, womens rights and all other progressive issues people fought for, for decades.

    We are living int 1930’s and I can only see Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren changing it. Bernie is our FDR in 2020.

  105. Liz Allen says:

    “Bingo. Carper has always targeted the downstate VFW voters’, not only VFW, but, the unions always back him. He will appear at the Retired Autoworkers meeting with union leaders. Same with AFSCME…et all. Thats how he wins, coupled with bankers, insurance etc corporations who support him. Maybe, Kerry can raise more money in NY or DC. If she is on the ballot, then lets support her. Lets get rid of one of the blind Chamber mice.