I should have spent time in Frank Burns’ district. I’m pissed off at myself. I should have made time.
Word on the street is that Our PAL Val and her supporter Kim Williams will likely be the new Speaker and Majority Leader. Not thrilled that pro-gun Williams might be second-in-command, but she’s good on a lot of other issues. Name I’ve heard most often for Majority Whip is Melissa Minor-Brown. But who knows whether Stephanie Buccini Bolden will take umbrage at that. You know, because she has lots of seniority. Doing nothing.
Pete’s absolutely done as Speaker. Will he even bother to serve out his term?
Stell Parker Shelby is absolutely the out-of-the-Blue surprise of the night. Will she be a force in holding police more accountable, or will she follow the lead of Franklin Cooke? I ask because the Kop Kabal forces are close to being decimated. Smyk’s gone. Ennis is gone. Larry Mitchell is gone. Pete’s a back-bencher. The key is whether the new Speaker provides a more democratic framework for bills to be considered and released from committee rather than stacking committees to bury progressive legislation. To me, that should be the deal that progressives demand in exchange for support. I also think the Business Lapdog Committee should be abolished. It was the ‘brainchild’ of Bryon Short, who now sits proudly on the NCC Chamber Board of Directors. It has become a repository for corporate special interest legislation and a graveyard for progressive initiatives.
But the biggest rumor and, when you think about it there is lots of logic to it, is that LBR might run for Governor. For all her wishy-washy bipartisanship, she’d be a huge upgrade over Carney. Why? Because she wouldn’t impede progressive legislation like Carney has. She expended a lot of political capital, including shoe leather, on behalf of Democrats this cycle. Including progressive Democrats. It’s the kind of thing one does when they’re running for Governor. The idea of being Delaware’s first Black governor has to appeal to her. If she’s not willing to challenge RoboCarper because,as Tom says, she was ‘one of my children’, then, I say go for it. She appeals to me more than either BHL or Matt Meyer, and would likely clear the field.
Oh, and then we’d have a wide-open race for Congress. Sarah McBride, are you paying attention? Why, of course you are. My (admittedly truncated) checkbook is at the ready.