This Drew Volturo election wrap up story yesterday’s DSN gets to the heart of why it sucks that Karen Hartley Nagle ran such a shitty, lackluster, no account campaign.
Shell-shocked Del. Republicans have two years to rebuild
Two years ago, Republicans mourned their Election Day defeats and then-party chair Terry Strine pledged that the GOP must re-evaluate itself.
But Tuesday night was déjà vu all over again, perhaps even worse. Republicans lost four of five statewide races — by a range of 16.5 to 35.5 percentage points — lost three seats in the Senate and most significantly, lost their grip on the last bastion of GOP control in state government, the House of Representatives.
Even one of the party’s rising stars, Sen. Charles L. Copeland, who has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate, lost his race for lieutenant governor by 22.6 points.
It was a stunning across-the-board defeat that left the GOP with only 22 of 71 statewide or legislative elected offices. “I think the writing has been on the wall for some time,” retired University of Delaware political science professor Dr. James R. Soles said Wednesday.“Party leadership in Delaware the last six to eight years has not done the Republican Party any favors. They are more conservative than Delaware Republicans are as a whole … Delaware Republicans are usually moderate.”
An example of that moderation is Rep. Michael N. Castle, R-Del., one of the few bright spots for the Republican Party Tuesday night. Despite the Democratic wave that ousted seven incumbent Republican state House members, Rep. Castle handily won a record ninth term by 23.1 percentage points. He often is regarded as one of the more moderate members of Congress.
Notice anyhting?
By running so badly KHN just confirmed the myth that Castle is a moderate. She has made it all the more difficult for some decent candiate to take him out next time.
Luckly, the silver lining for Demcorats is that the GOP is stuck with that POS Castle. He is clearly in charge of this recent debacle and is looking forward to future debacles (for the GOP).
During the GOP’s results-watching party Tuesday night, Rep. Castle said he believes that the people of the country and the state embrace the beliefs of moderate Republicanism and that Republicans need to be the loyal opposition until leading again.
“We need to seek out strong candidates and encourage them to run,” Rep. Castle said. “And we need a close look at our policies.” He suggested that the results of his race showed that moderate Republicanism is popular in the state despite the outcomes of many of the other races.
State GOP chairman Thomas Ross said the Republican Party encountered a “perfect storm for Democrats,” with President-elect Barack Obama energizing minority and young voters, Vice President- elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. firing up Delawareans and voters generally frustrated with a deeply unpopular Bush administration.
Despite the defeats, Mr. Ross said the party….
Let’s start now – who should run against Castle?
My picks:
John Carney
Beau Biden
Matt Denn
Chris Coons
Are there other rising stars in the Democratic party?
We won’t have to. He will be retiring or running for election to the Senate.
DD is right. I should just let it go. Castle is out one way or another.
I guess it just pissses me off that Castlke will never pay for his work with Bush to fuck country.
Unless Castle fails to square his accounts with God, Justice simply will not be done in this case.
This is me letting it go…
poof.
Is poof like you walking away from blogging?
Hey…since you mentioned Volturo, is anything from DE State News linkable? I went through Google and it appears you have to subscribe to get online access.
No. You have to type eveything in, or have someone with an OCR scanner.
Poof
I’m walking away from my 6 years of impotent Mike Castle hating.
Smitty-I’m betting “poof”, will soon be a typo for “spoof”…
No, it’s supposed to be goof.
That’s the troof.
You wanna hear somthing funny?
He often is regarded as one of the more moderate members of Congress.
The “often” in that sentence is my going away present. After six years I nudged the DSN to add the word “often” to that sentence that six years ago would have read, “He is regarded as one of the more moderate members of Congress.
That “often” is my gold watch.
The “often” is why we needed a much better candidate this cycle — this is the year that so-called moderation could have been quite credibly critiqued, but needed someone who would tirelessly make the case AND who would have the resources to get that case heard. It’s quite the missed opportunity.
uh,…..Carper’s campaigning with Castle should have told you all something.
“Chris Coons”
What would he run on? I raised your taxes ad infinitum? Coons would get crushed at a margin similar to KHN’s. Yet I bet Conns will be the nominee because the party leaders want him.
“Coons would get crushed at a margin similar to KHN’s.”
Wanna bet?
Carney for Senate (he’s earned it), Beau for congress (leverage the Biden name to capture the seat)
X,
You make a good point that I had not considered. There is a Dem traffic jam that beating Castle would help clear up a bit.
However, I just don’t see the DE Dem pharisese allowing Castle to be challenged.
Mainstream dems don’t like KHN period. Coons would have an uphill battle due to little name recognition in the other two counties….
Mainstream dems don’t like KHN period.
I think that was demonstrated by the results. You could add mainstream voters as well for that matter.
agreed!
KHN underperformed the other Democratic candidates by a significant margin.