Primary Campaign Literature — Tell Us the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

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Everyday when I come home, I have a foyer full of campaign literature from candidates and most days I also have pieces that are left on the door. This season also seems to be the one where Delaware candidates really have embraced social media and some of them are doing really well there. All of you are seeing it all -- and plenty I don't-- so tell us what you think. Tell us about the good pieces, the bad pieces and the just plain ugly pieces. Feel free to include scans of what you are looking at.
Delaware United Rocks!

Delaware United Rocks!

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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.

It’s 14 Days Until the Primary — Can You Help Support Progressive Candidates in Delaware?

Long time readers of this blog know that I ask folks here pretty often what have they done to try to make progressive change. Lots of readers of this blog *are* committed to progressive change and have rolled up their sleeves for candidates and issues. If you are looking at the sprint towards this primary and are looking for a way to get involved in a cycle that has plenty of excellent progressive choices, here are some options for you:
‘Bulo To Appear On WHYY-TV

‘Bulo To Appear On WHYY-TV

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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

DL Endorsements for the General Assembly

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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

DL Endorsement for U. S. Congress

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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.
An Up Close Look At the City of Wilmington Okie Doke

An Up Close Look At the City of Wilmington Okie Doke

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Channel 28 on cable within Wilmington is a public access channel that is the locus of African American politics (and gossip) on Sundays. This is a segment from a recent Community Crossfire segment where Mayor Dennis Williams discusses the state of the city and the state of the Mayor's race with Sammy Congo, Sam Guy, and Pastor D. If you can spend the 30 minutes or so to take a look at this, you can see how Wilmington's African Amerian leadership speaks to its African American (mostly) audience. It's pretty disappointing all the way around, really. If you read this blog regularly, you know that one thing that I like pointing out is how Republicans are particularly good at getting their victim on as a way to bully people into their POV. Even though they aren't victims of anything, other than their own mismanagement or their own failure of messaging or leadership. You can see exactly the same thing here. Wilmington's "leadership" is being victimized by Purzycki (called out by name), or others running for Mayor who -- according to Williams -- he has helped and who are now somehow displaying serious disloyalty in now running against him. Pastor D calls out Kelley in a particularly despicable fashion -- denigrating his involvement and friendships with the families of crime victims, wondering why Kelley doesn't bring jobs to these communities. You are quite welcome to wonder which of these gentlemen have brought any serious jobs to their communities.
Political Primal Scream Therapy

Political Primal Scream Therapy

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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.
DL’s Endorsement for Wilmington Mayor

DL’s Endorsement for Wilmington Mayor

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In most Blue States, the usual source of Democratic progressive governing is from its major cities. The Editors of Delaware Liberal have often lamented the fact that Delaware’s biggest city has been lacking in a more progressive political vision at pretty much every level. There's one candidate in Wilmington's Mayoral race who is finally advocating a comprehensive progressive vision for governing Wilmington -- a vision that is inclusive of the entire city, that is committed to bringing city government practices into the 21st century and will start the work to tackle some of the social justice issues that damage and hold back some of our communities. Delaware Liberal is proud to endorse Eugene Young for Mayor of Wilmington.
Breaking: Delaware AG Matt Denn Will Not Appeal Death Penalty Ruling

Breaking: Delaware AG Matt Denn Will Not Appeal Death Penalty Ruling

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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.

I Get Email

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Specifically, email from a Delaware State Representative campaigning to an email list for his wife, running for Wilmington City Treasurer. This is supposed to be a Big No No, right? And I would expect that if he is emailing this Wilmington-based list, there are probably others he is emailing as well. As I understand it, public officials are not supposed to campaign or conduct campaigns via their state-provided emails. And yet, here we find Representative Charles Potter campaigning via his taxpayer-provided email for the election of his wife. Velda Potter was running for Wilmington City Treasurer and was fired from the Williams Administration for apparent misuse of city resources for her son's Foxtail concert. Certainly, there were no formal charges over this, but even Dennis Williams was embarrassed enough over it to let her go.

When You Are Running for Mayor for the City of Wilmington and Your Campaign HQ Isn’t In the City

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I imagine Dennis Williams' campaign manager could be a bit rusty as to where the City boundaries are since he, like many of the Mayor's top people, does not live in the City. Yes folks, the Mayor's campaign headquarters is located on the wrong side of the road. In the County, possibly escaping City Wage taxes? This is 311 E. Lea Blvd, across from the Goodwill facility. According to Parcel View, this building is in New Castle County, but not in Wilmington. It is in a strip mall that doesn't seem to have many occupants. Today there was one car in the parking lot, in front of the Campaign building.