El Somnambulo's Latest Posts
2012 MVP Award Nominations Are Now Open!
Who will make the 4th Annual MVP (Most Valuable to the Progressive Cause) Awards List?
We’re open for any and all of your suggestions. Here are the criteria:
1. This list is Delaware-specific. Those who most helped the progressive cause in Delaware this year.
2. Nominees need not be progressives to qualify. Both Christine O’Donnell and Tony DeLuca previously made the list. I’m thinking that John Sigler is a shoo-in this year…
3. Nominees do not have to come solely from the political arena. In fact, I would love to recognize those who are doing great work away from the headlines.
4. Nominees will only be considered in the form of on-line responses to this thread. Those submitting nominations must have some supporting statement on behalf of the candidacy.
Deadline for nominations is Sunday, December 9.
In Praise of Tom McGonigle
I see that Tom McGonigle, Gov. Jack Markell’s Chief of Staff, is stepping down from public service to return to private practice.
Just for the record, Tom McGonigle is one of the finest public servants I’ve ever come across. A real straight-shooter, skilled at bringing people together, smart (but never in that ‘let me show you how smart I am’ way), very serious, and compassionate. And, did I mention self-effacing? Be honest, how many of you even knew that he was Jack’s chief-of-staff?
‘Bulo On Al’s Show Today!
Tuesday, 10 am to 12 noon. WDEL 1150-Newsradio.
We’ll talk the statewide and national elections, what might happen in Dover, and perhaps the unholy marriage between Papa John’s and Christine O’Donnell.
So, How’d I Do?
So that there be no revisionist history on my part, here were my predictions.
Overall record: 37-3.
Come inside for what I got wrong and what I got right.
When You’ve Lost Rowdy Roddy Piper…
you’ve lost the rasslin’ universe. Especially all the Little Hulksters who said their prayers and took their ‘vitamins’. I’m a proud subscriber to Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly. Make of that what you will, armchair psychoanalysts.
Which is where I got this tidbit:
Roddy Piper was not happy about hearing about what Linda McMahon spent: “Can spend 90 million on losing elections but won’t give the people that earned that money for them medical or retirement help of any kind.” (You see, one way that Vince and Linda ‘built this’ was to designate their superstars as ‘independent contractors’, not employees. Hence, no pensions or health insurance. Oh, and WWE owns the monickers for the characters, so the wrestlers get screwed out of royalty money as well.)
The election was not even as close as it appeared last night. As of a few hours ago, Chris Murphy was ahead 55% to 43% or more than any of the polls indicated. A key difference according to analysts in Connecticut is that women voters did not trust her. Male voters were split on whether she was intentionally misleading people in advertising, while women voters overwhelmingly believed that to be the case. So, her own ads helped do her in.
Some Idle Thoughts on the National Election
1. Barack Hussein Obama, the ‘Community Organizer’.
Remember the ridicule from the Rethugs on this meme? Like he was some two-bit operator pocketing suspect government contracts? Well, Obama effectively organized by far the best grassroots organization ever, and he and his political team have effectively trained hundreds of brilliant community organizers who will be running insurgent campaigns for the foreseeable future. And doing great work outside of the field of politics. BTW, many of these brilliant and idealistic organizers will also populate ballots themselves for the next twenty years or so. Guess what? He is a great community organizer, only the community is the entire country. Or, at least, every tiny community in every swing battleground state in the country.
El Somnambulo Predicts ‘Em All For You
My Delaware predictions, with pithy comments:
President of the United States: Obama/Biden again win Delaware handily. Down-ballot races could well be impacted by (lack of) R enthusiasm, especially upstate.
United States Senate: Tom Carper, Delaware’s senior DLC cheerleader and in effect the Father of Delaware DLC politics, wins easily. Only an egomaniacal madman like Alex Pires could almost turn Carper into a sympathetic figure. There was a viable insurgency campaign to be run against Carper, but Pires chose not to run it.
Continue inside for more…
‘Bulo To Predict ‘Em All For You…
…Wednesday morning at 10 am:
Radio: The Al Mascitti Show-WDEL 1150 AM on your radio dial
Media: Right Here At Delaware Liberal
So, if you think you’ve got any late-breaking Delaware upset specials, now’s the time to persuade me…the piece is completed, but I can always edit it.
Delaware Political Weekly: October 20-26, 2012
We get stuff forwarded to us all the time. From campaigns, from sources, from ’sources’, and from the parties. I call it ‘working the refs’. Part of the game, nothing wrong with it. Even if/when you don’t believe what you’re being fed, the information/propaganda is still worthwhile, b/c it at least gives you an understanding of which races the parties are prioritizing. There can now be no doubt that both the D’s and R’s are intently focusing on the 29th Rep. District, a Clayton/Dover district in Kent County. Incumbent Lincoln Willis is widely viewed in Republican circles as one of the (very few) rising stars in the Party. Were he to win this year, I would not be at all surprised to see him elected to a leadership position within the House Republican Caucus. Challenger Trey Paradee is, at worst, a live underdog in this race. You will recall that he almost defeated incumbent Pam Thornburg four years ago, the district has been redrawn in a manner that would appear to favor Paradee, and Paradee is a great campaigner. The Democratic Party has been touting this race, and the R’s have circled the wagons around Willis. When I featured my “Most Intriguing Races of 2012″, I wrote that this race was ‘under the radar’. It is under the radar no more.
BREAKING: Paul Clark Gone in Less Than 3 Weeks
This was news to me. Apparently it was a surprise to Paul Clark as well. He just found out. But here’s the applicable section from the Delaware Code (Title 9, § 1114):
§ 1114. Vacancy in office.
Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of County Executive by reason of death, resignation, removal from office or other cause, the President of the County Council shall serve as County Executive until the latter office is filled as a result of an election. If a vacancy in the office of County Executive occurs more than 30 days prior to the date of a primary election in which county officers are nominated, the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the term in the next succeeding general election and the County Executive elected in this manner shall take office on the first Tuesday following such election. If a vacancy in the office of County Executive occurs less than 30 days prior to the date of a primary election in which county officers are nominated, the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the term by the President of the County Council. If the President of the County Council becomes County Executive, the President’s office as an elected official of the county governing body shall become vacant.
Guess we’d better keep a close eye on Clark to make sure that his limited window runs out with a minimum of chicanery.
Lest There Be Any Doubt…
I am not going back to Dover or anywhere else to work for the General Assembly or, for that matter, state government.
In the past day, we at DL have had to moderate allegations from one poster that I’ve cut some sort of secret deal with candidates for me to get a job back in Dover. Not because of the allegations, which are false, but b/c this serial outer once again outs where I work.
This person is not affiliated with the Cloutier campaign, the moribund DeLuca campaign, or any other campaign. He simply blames me, along with numerous other people in my community, for his own situation. Which is not true, but that’s neither here nor there. He’s done this many times before, and he’s been moderated for it.
My statement should be obvious to anyone who has read my work for the last four years or so. I’ve held nothing back as far as my opinions regarding what I believe is good and bad in state government. I am neither delusional enough to believe that what I’ve written would be forgiven/forgotten, nor masochistic enough to want to work in that environment.
“Who Am I?”
I oppose civil unions, both generally and specifically (SB 30).”
“I support the strengthening and maintaining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and not redefining or adding to man/woman marriage.”
“I oppose adding ‘gender identity or gender expression’ to the protected classes in Delaware’s anti-discrimination laws for housing, employment, and public accomodation.”
“I support prohibiting coverage for abortion in the state insurance exchanges mandated by the new federal health care law.”
“I oppose using tax payer money to fund Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortion services.”
“I support a policy that ensures parental guardian notification prior to the introduction or instructional use of classroom curriculum or materials, whether brought or introduced by school educators, administrators, and officials, or by guests invited at their request, which involve human sexual education, human sexuality issues, sexual acts, family planning, profanity, drugs or alcohol.”
“Last, but not least, I support a Delaware Marriage Protection Amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman in the state constitution.”
“Now, there will be some among the pro-gay and pro-abortion crowd who will claim that I support them and do not support these Christian common sense principles. Some may even say that I’ve told them that I support them. I am here to set the straight by proving, once and for all, what I stand for.”
“When the good folks at the Delaware Family Planning Council and Delaware Strong Families sent out their questionnaire for the 2012 elections, many legislators refused to respond. But I didn’t hesitate. I believe in strong families, and I am proud to make my beliefs public.”
“I note that some of you out there are skeptical that these are my real positions on these issues. While I believe that I’ve earned your trust over the past years, I will spell it out for you non-believers. Directly from the questionnaire (it’s a PDF file, so feel free to tagg along):
Delaware Political Weekly: Oct. 13-19, 2012
The political world in western Sussex returns to normal. While there will likely be some confusion on the R side, Eric Bodenweiser’s full withdrawal from the 19th Senate District race virtually guarantees that Brian Pettyjohn will keep this crimson red senate seat in the R column come November. Bodenweiser’s name will not appear on the ballot. While voters indeed will have to write in Pettyjohn’s name, the DOE will make it as easy as possible for people to do so, and I don’t think it will be close. Don’t blame Jane Hovington. She stepped up and took one for the team, whatever that team might be in western Sussex. Which begs this thought: You’ve got a moribund Democratic Party in western Sussex. You’ve got a growing Latino and minority population base that has next to no voice in the official party structure there. A party structure that is almost gone. I see a great opportunity to build a new and more inclusive Democratic Party in western Sussex. With grassroots leadership from these growing populations. It’s not as if there’s gonna be a revival of the good ol’ boys Democrats there. There’s a political vacuum. Fill it, amigos.
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