Who is Delaware’s Most Mediocre Democrat?
We know the good ones. We know the bad ones (The Dems that have sold their souls and votes for a few measly bucks, or for a spot a little closer to power [Coons, Longhurst, Poore, Pete, KMcG etc]). But there is a whole layer of Democratic elected officials that don’t get much mention because they do just enough to stay off the radar.
I know. That is “bad” from an objective perspective. I mean, they’ve been elected to get shit done for ordinary Delawareans not just mark time and collect a pension. But that style of failure isn’t aggressively bad like the terrible office-holding shitheads like Chris Coons. And while a few of these Dems were dis-invited by voters to continue using up Leg Hall oxygen in the last round of Democratic Party primaries, many continue to hide in plain sight.
My list of the top mediocre starts with the overly ambitious Bethany Hall Long. What does she stand for? That’s easy, she truly believes in the next rung of the ladder. I’d also put the terminally-uninterested John Carney on the “bad through sheer mediocrity” list. Who are your top picks?
Any of the “Democrats” on Kent Levy Court.
Lumpy Carson. It’s not HIS fault that Trooper Pete recognized Carson’s mediocrity and malleability, and handed him the chairmanship of the Joint Finance Committee.
Ol’ Lump’s not venal or conniving, just mediocre.
I’m adding Lisa Blunt Rochester to the list. Has anyone ever built such inevitable momentum toward a lifetime sinecure in the US Senate on such a thin resume of accomplishments?
Her entire resume is listed in her middle name
Spiros Mantazvinos, terminally unresponsive. Worse than Delcollo in some regards,who at least made appearances at community events
You’re from Claymont, right? How would you know?
Formerly from Claymont. It’s in my being like the dust from Phoenix steel
Yet you ‘knew’ enough to diss Larry Lambert’s prospects of being a good Rep. You couldn’t have been more wrong there. He’s incredible.
I’m not following- can you link me to where I made a statement to that effect?
It’s possible it’s not you. Check out the comment thread in the following:
https://delawareliberal.net/2020/09/11/el-somnambulo-predicts-em-all-for-you-the-toughies/
The person who spouted the idiocy was someone w/the monicker ‘claymonstertoo’. I had never HEARD of Claymonster before, so I figured you were that person.
BTW, speaking of spouting idiocy, please read what a couple of posters’ fave candidate for Congress had to say about that race.
He even played the ‘Trust me, I’m a progressive’ card. Lambert was THE progressive candidate in that race–wasn’t even close.
El Som
I stand by my assessment of Ray Seigfried as one of the most honest, compassionate, effective and thoughtful lawmakers that I’ve had the privilege to serve with, and let me reiterate. “I have worked closely with him on many issues and I am impressed with his knowledge and compassion for Delaware working families and the needs of the most vulnerable Delawareans. I HAVE NO REASON TO DISPARAGE HIS OPPONENT (Larry Lambert) but if any of you reading this trust my judgement, honesty and credentials as a progressive than I assure you that Ray Seigfried is a true progressive and will further the progressive agenda in Delaware”.
Larry Lambert has proven to be a legislator of the highest caliber, as a progressive and a leader and I am proud to have him as a friend and colleague. There is no way to read my previous remarks and presume or imply that I held Rep. Lambert as flawed in any way. Perhaps you should self-examine your own need to constantly diminish the performance/accomplishments (no matter how meager) of others and appreciate their dedication and willingness to serve the public’s best interests.
Rep. Kowalko
You left out this part:
“For what it’s worth I am 100% supporting Rep. Seigfried in his reelection bid.”
You placed your progressive bona fides on the line when you wrote this:
“…if any of you reading this trust my judgement, honesty and credentials as a progressive than I assure you that Ray Seigfried is a true progressive and will further the progressive agenda in Delaware”.
Anybody who, you know, LIVED here in this district knew that Lambert was the progressive in the race. Seigfried’s Delaware Way lamentation about losing to a progressive when he lost only reinforced it:
““They may have this ‘it’s my way or the highway’ attitude, and that’s not helpful,” said Rep. Raymond Seigfried, D-Brandywine Hundred, who lost his primary on Tuesday. “That will simply add to the chaos, similar to what we have in Washington. We don’t need that here. We really don’t.”
Hmmm, does Seigfried’s quote remind you of anyone you know, John? Hope he wasn’t throwing that person under the bus…
Oh yeah, that’s a different “small c” claymonster. I’ve got no skin in that district.
Then I owe you an apology. I apologize.
/seig fried/ (verb) to seigfried – replacing a good democratic politician with a progressive advocate even though the former is “just fine”
By all accounts Ray S is a decent dude. As a rep he wasn’t good enough. He took it pretty hard and struggled to cope. That’s too bad.
Usage example: We will be seigfrieding a lot of you mfs here over the next few cycles. (**cough** Deb Hefernan **cough**)
Heffernan is a perfect example of a mediocre Dem in dire need of seigfrieding. Here is what El Som said:
Agreed. Heffernan’s problem is voting for the same house leadership. If we are ever going to move the house to the left, we must have new house leadership and the only way we get new house leadership is to support legislators who have the courage to vote them out.
Deb has already attached herself to Sarah McBride and the paid leave bill (great issue), but it is a classic Seigfried. Textbook case.
Suburban petite bourgeois liberal mentality. Not good enough. You get a primary.
My new rep also is terrible. I made this abundantly clear. She’s mad about it.
Griffith a mediocre? Maybe making the list will have a salutary effect.
She’s bad. Heffernan is better than she is by a wide margin.
I just truly wonder who you will blame when your new Rep is a GOPer who doesn’t represent ANY of the values you care about, because you decided to make perfect the enemy of the good enough. While she might not represent every value you want her to, she is surely better than the alternative. former Rep. Ray S was very correct in his assessment of a certain wing being more or less “my way or the highway” who would rather eat their own out of principle, than be the big tent party we ought to be.
Far be it from me to speak in pejoratives, but you’re a fucking idiot. You, uh, DO realize, don’t you, that, with the 12th RD now picking up part of the city, there’s no way that district will flip.
There’s no way that Heffernan’s 6th District will flip if Becca Cotto defeats her.
What COULD happen, though, is that more progressive legislators getting elected from those two districts might end the police control over the D caucus. Or, would that be a bad thing in your blinkered vision?
I guess you truly are just that dense that you would miss the *entire* point of the comment. Replace that district with absolutely any distract and the point still stands. The continuation of eating our own just to get a candidate who isn’t particularly attractive to independents in later elections, will cost the party.
But I forgot that your word is the holy word of state politics… I’ll just wait to watch you eat crow down the road 🙂
What you and some of these go-along-to-get-along types are missing is that there is a large and growing consensus in the country and state to get very popular “liberal” policies enacted.
If Dems would rather be taken by the hand and led by corporatists and guardians of the status quo – that’s not what voters are looking for. Even on a state level, you are there to get shit done, and demonstrate some guts and a maybe a little leadership along the way.
Smiley emoji. The last refuge of someone with nothing worth saying.
You ARE aware aren’t you, that most independents are either stealth R’s or don’t bother to vote?
Failure to attract independents KILLED Larry Lambert, Eric Morrison, Madinah Wilson-Anton and Marie Pinkney in 2020.
Oh, wait. The districts where most of these so-called moderate D’s come from are overwhelmingly D. They’re not gonna flip.
BTW, eating crow is fine with me. As I’ve pointed out, I’m no Nostradamus. And I’m not right on everything, to put it mildly. But nothing annoys me on this blog more than someone who demonstrates an unwillingness to think. Or, perhaps in your case, an inability to think.
Cope
I live in the 7th RD. I love being represented by Larry Lambert!
That is all.
I love having Larry Lambert as my colleague and friend. We’re lucky to have him in Dover.
Representative John Kowalko
Well put.
I’ve never met either Seigfried or Lambert (or Kowalko, for that matter), even though I’ve lived in the “Fightin’ Seventh” RD since 1999.
I can’t see criticizing John — except in hindsight — for endorsing a reliably moderate colleague he already had a working relationship with over a challenger he may well have never met. And you certainly have to believe his delight in working with an even better colleague in Larry.
I can see Ray’s disappointment. He squeaked in with 29 percent via a five-way primary, but then tried to do everything right, voting as a reliable old-school liberal while being careful not to rock the boat. But the voters wanted more.
I hope he can see there’s no shame in being seigfrieded.
One of my favorite comments of the year so far.
So yeah. If you are a Dem but aren’t actually leading on Economic & Social Justice, Climate Action, Universal Health Care, Cop Problems/Anti-Racism… what the fuck do you think you are there for?
A new “training program” or tax credit isn’t cutting it.
And if your response is… “Some in my district aren’t there yet.” you are just telling on yourself.
Kids, wanna get yourself banned? Give yourself TWO aliases, each with some variation of ‘Liberal Wacko’, and voila–you’re in the ether.