El Somnambulo's Latest Posts
Every Single State Legislative Race*
The asterisk means that I’m only looking at races with one D and one R on the ballot. Per usual, the real story is the paucity of those races. It’s even more pathetic than usual this year. Of the 11 Senate seats up this year, 5 are uncontested. It’s worse in the House. Of the 41 seats, 23 candidates are running unopposed. Well more than half. Just. Awful.
R. I. P. Stanley ‘Buckwheat Zydeco’ Dural
One of America’s greatest musical ambassadors has died. Stanley Dural, who helped propel zydeco into the public consciousness, has passed at the age of 68. He once told me that his goal was to pass this great Creole music (do not call it ‘Cajun’) down from generation to generation. And, with his family-friendly shows, he, along with his band known collectively as Buckwheat Zydeco, accomplished just that.
What Are You Seeing/Hearing This Election Day?
I’ll start. Was putting up a Townsend sign at my polling place and saw that Karen Hartley-Nagle had signs reading ‘This sign replaces one stolen sign’. Professionally-made signs, too. She’s running on allegedly stolen signs. Over 200, she says. We know of one. It’s a setup, but a cynically effective one, IMHO.
The Delaware Voters’ Guide
From the News-Journal: http://data.delawareonline.com/webapps/Voters_Guide/ A couple of things I found interesting. Contrast Don Peterson’s responses with the non-responses of Pete Schwartzkopf. Arrogance personified. While Carney’s responses weren’t too bad on some issues, his citing of the ‘bipartisan’ report on economic reform is disingenuous. He knows damn well that what that means is that D’s are […]
Cassandra & El Somnambulo Predict ‘Em (Almost) All For You
Our Prediction Percentage could well be down from recent years, especially with close races at the top of the ballot. Cassandra has written the City of Wilmington predictions, El Somnambulo the rest. Clip & save (or destroy, if we hit the electoral iceberg)…. Come inside!
Delaware United Rocks!
Remember how the supporters of Howard Dean applied their grassroots skills to great effect after Dean’s candidacy faded? In Delaware, many of these supporters became part of the Delaware grassroots and remain progressive stalwarts to this day.
Bernie Sanders supporters have taken the same approach in Delaware, and are working very hard on at least three campaigns near and dear to Delaware Liberal: Bryan Townsend for Congress, Eugene Young for Mayor, and Matt Meyer for NCC Executive.
Those supporters have joined together to create Delaware United, and they are awesome! Here’s how they describe themselves:
We are a proactive group of Delaware voters from various backgrounds, all united to change the course of Delaware local politics.
They’re also real cool. They’re hard-working volunteers, but they’re also lots of fun. Reminds me of what I love the most about grassroots politics.
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: August, 2016
Frank Ocean’s adventurous ‘NIKEs’ would have appeared here, but…Apple Music. ‘Nuff said. You say you like the Beach Boys? Here’s some great non-Beach Boys Beach Boys: Love this lounge lizard persona: Let’s go out the way we came–an end of summer elegy by the Next Best Thing to the Beach Boys–and we don’t even have […]
‘Bulo To Appear On WHYY-TV
Yes, I’m trying a new medium. Or, to be accurate, they’re trying me. I sure know how to secure non-monetized gigs. Even went out and bought two shirts and two ties and, for the first time ever, had my shirts TAILORED. In order, of course, to highlight my 42-inch biceps. Sorry, ladies, I’m taken.
We taped a segment on the Lieutenant Governor’s race. About seven minutes long, although who knows how much usable tape they’ll be able to salvage. It will first appear this Friday at 5:30 p.m. on WHYY TV, and will then also be shown over the weekend. In addition, you will be able to find it at whyy.org. once it airs. And who knows, maybe we’ll even post it here.
Gotta say it was a fun segment. They took away my cheat sheet so I had to do it all from memory, but I generally survived and actually enjoyed it. Even threw in a few laugh lines. They can take me off the radio, but they can’t take the radio out of me.
BTW, no makeup. You can’t improve on perfection.
DL Endorsements for the General Assembly
We have a few primaries in races for the General Assembly that we, as liberals and progressives, would like to weigh in on. We have an open seat in the 9th Senatorial District, a challenger to Speaker Schwartzkopf in the 14th Representative District, and a rematch between current Representative Sean Matthews and former Representative Dennis Williams in the 10th Representative District.
DL Endorsement for U. S. Congress
Progressives have been waiting forever to have one of their own represent Delaware in Congress. The last time a liberal voice represented Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives was in 1966, when then-Representative Harris McDowell (the state senator’s dad) lost to Bill Roth. For the first time in 50 years, we now have the chance to elect a proven progressive and exceedingly effective legislator to Congress. A person with both intellect and heart. That person is Bryan Townsend.
Political Primal Scream Therapy
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. While we may not have a Christine O’Donnell in 2016, I can’t recall a year when there have been so many Stoopid Candidate Tricks. Or at least the kind of stories that make me want to scream. Two such stories surfaced this morning in the News-Journal. Scream along with me.
First, we have another example of Mayor Dennis Williams’ solid personnel judgment. Second, we have a DUI in Sussex politics again.
Breaking: Delaware AG Matt Denn Will Not Appeal Death Penalty Ruling
Just got this press release from the AG’s office:
Attorney General Will Not Appeal To U.S. Supreme Court On Death PenaltyDelaware DOJ Will Argue State Court Decision Is Not Retroactive
After carefully reviewing the Delaware Supreme Court’s opinion regarding the constitutionality of Delaware’s current death penalty statute, the Attorney General has decided not to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court. He has concluded that even if the United States Supreme Court reversed the opinion on Federal Constitutional grounds, that the Delaware Supreme Court would ultimately invalidate Delaware’s current death penalty statute based on the Constitution of the State of Delaware. The Delaware Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that the Delaware Constitution provides rights to a jury trial that are independent of and in some instances more expansive than those provided by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Litigating and appealing these issues – a process that would likely take years before issues of both federal and state constitutional law were resolved — would likely not only bring about the same result, but would also deny the families of victims sentencing finality.
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