Been watching the political attack ads, interrupted, albeit briefly, by the Olympics.
Can we simply recognize the fact that the Delaware Way denizens are just pushing their chips all in on Bethany Hall Long’s candidacy? They’ve become the Democratic equivalents of MAGAts in that they are now overlooking what is clearly criminal behavior in order to protect this rotting foundation that puts coin in their pockets. ‘Bookkeeping’ errors do not explain away campaign money flowing into Dana Long’s bank account (which is illegal) that cannot be accounted for. The sweetheart arrangement between BHL and the Elections Commissioner is sickening: “Do me a solid and bury that report, and I’ll make sure you keep your job once I’m elected.”
Which is why it’s time for Collin O’Mara to end his candidacy. I was as psyched as anybody when I heard his presentation at the WFP Endorsement event. I have no problem with WFP making this endorsement. It could have, and should have, been the kickoff to his campaigning in earnest for Governor. But two months went by and–nothing. I generally divide a campaign up into three segments–introduction of the candidate (name recognition)–followed by the persuade/compare & contrast portion–followed by GOTV. The O’Mara campaign failed to adequately introduce the candidate to the Democratic electorate. It’s now much too late. So, our choice is to support the death rattle of the Delaware Way or to vote for Matt Meyer. O’Mara can now only be a spoiler. I can’t think of a single person who would flip from O’Mara to BHL. Sometimes, we simply must accept the good in lieu of the perfect.
While I’m at it (yes, this has turned into a stream-of-consciousness Open Thread), I urge Delaware WFP to return their focus to the legislative races. We have a bunch of winnable races that can change the nature of the Delaware General Assembly, the House in particular, for at least the next decade. Please target your efforts there, not on what has become a quixotic and well nigh impossible quest for Governor.
The Democratic Party and the DSEA should withdraw their endorsements of BHL. They never should have doled out the endorsements in the first place, particularly in light of the almost year-long saga of BHL’s hinky finances. They both placed cynical bets that she would win and that they’d be in her good graces. Now? Not so much. So if they can’t do it because it’s the right thing to do, they should do it because they’re backing a broke-down nag who is one step away from the glue factory. Who is running a corrupt campaign.
Oh, you can help. Click here, and send a letter to your elected officials. I already have. They’ve already blown past their initial goal. You can help them reach their new goal (and beyond!).
This race has become a proxy on whether we will allow ethically-challenged insiders to continue to control the reins of power in Delaware. Seeing as how challenging this insiderism and the secrecy that’s key to its success has been my main theme as a blogger since, um, 2009 (yikes!), I’m excited that we finally have a chance to reject the Delaware Way at the ballot box. If you at least partially agree, now’s the time to step up!
What do you want to talk about?