National

Today's poll asks DL readers so indicate (in general terms) why they plan on voting for the person they will be voting for in the Carney vs. Izzo vs. August showdown for Congress in three weeks. Normally I'd choose "I just automatically vote for the Democrat" but since Carney cannot lose this election, I'm going for Bernie August this time to try and cut Carney's margin of victory by one vote.

John Carney's greatest accomplishment in congress, the accomplishment that he puts on the top of the list of reasons why he should be re-elected is that he "sat down with Republicans." Yes. The very Republicans who continue to scheme to undermine the economic recovery to further their own narrow political aims. The Republicans who have never even pretended to reciprocate John Carney's ardor for compromise and bipartisanship. John Carney just thinks they simply need to be "sat down" with. It is absolutely ludicrous that he is claiming "sitting down with Republicans" as a great accomplishment, but there you have it. So every Democrat has a choice in this election - reward that kind of obstinate ignorance with a meek party line vote, or vote in a way that affirms your Democratic values by saying "yes" to Bernie August.

In spite of how brazenly Republicans have decided to undermine the economy for their own narrow political ends, and in spite of the fact that even the so-called "moderate" Republican friends of John Carney never break with their leadership and reciprocate his affections - John Carney can't shut up about how great it is to "work with" Republicans" and he even considers "sitting down with Republicans" his greatest accomplishment in congress. With "accomplishments" like that, who needs failures? The upshot is that Carney has not given Democrats any reasons to vote for him. That is why I'm voting for the Green Party candidate Bernie August. I may even give money to the guy. But make no mistake - I am a Democrat. I want Democrats to win elections because at the Party's core, we are is still the party of the American working man. Also, when Democrats lose elections, that means Republicans win. And yet, in this case there is no downside to voting for the Green Party candidate. Rose Izzo cannot win. John Carney cannot lose. The only question is the margin of victory. If Carney wins by one fewer vote this election, that's fine with me. If two years from now he wins by 10 fewer...great. If, in some great and glorious future, Democratic voters eventually decide that their votes needs to be EARNED then eventually, John Carney will get the picture.

Facing off against nitwits who have been abandoned by their own party's leadership, Carney or Coons could have passed on sending out campaign mailers this season, but they sent them so I'm here to grade them. The bottom line: Great job Coons. Carney, what the fuck are you running for? What office and why? I thought I knew prior to reading this piece of shit, but now I'm not sure. First Coons - his piece is strong. On one side he is talking to hard hat wearing blue collar types which fits in with his laudable campaign theme of "Bringing manufacturing jobs back to Delaware." In a stacked headline about the picture Coons provides the voters with basic facts: "Working hard for Delaware" is above "Democrat Chris Coons US Senator for Delaware." Seeing the word "Democrat" gives me hope that Coons is aware of the fact that Republicans ARE the root problem in DC. That feeling is validated when I turn the piece over and read... "Chris is standing up to the Tea Party Republicans to put Delaware families first." I mean holy shit...right? What's up with Carney? Well his mailing is as slutty a mish-mash of mincing qualifications as Coons' is direct and honorable.

Care about Wilmington schools and are on Twitter? This is the hashtag to help take back the conversation and talk about your ideas for making Wilmington schools actually work for city kids. Here's the current Twitter feed. Started by Mike Matthews:

Paul Krugman pens a defense of the President against his critics, and also lists his accomplishments. It is a lengthy piece, and you should read the whole thing, but here are some excerpts:

Obama faces trash talk left, right and center – literally – and doesn't deserve it. Despite bitter opposition, despite having come close to self-inflicted disaster, Obama has emerged as one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history. His health reform is imperfect but still a huge step forward – and it's working better than anyone expected. Financial reform fell far short of what should have happened, but it's much more effective than you'd think. Economic management has been half-crippled by Republican obstruction, but has nonetheless been much better than in other advanced countries. And environmental policy is starting to look like it could be a major legacy. [...] [T]here’s a theme running through each of the areas of domestic policy I’ve covered. In each case, Obama delivered less than his supporters wanted, less than the country arguably deserved, but more than his current detractors acknowledge. The extent of his partial success ranges from the pretty good to the not-so-bad to the ugly. … Am I damning with faint praise? Not at all. This is what a successful presidency looks like. No president gets to do everything his supporters expected him to. FDR left behind a reformed nation, but one in which the wealthy retained a lot of power and privilege. On the other side, for all his anti-government rhetoric, Reagan left the core institutions of the New Deal and the Great Society in place. I don’t care about the fact that Obama hasn’t lived up to the golden dreams of 2008, and I care even less about his approval rating. I do care that he has, when all is said and done, achieved a lot. That is, as Joe Biden didn’t quite say, a big deal.

Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), or rather, his staff, prepared a tweet that was supposed to both briefly describe in bullet point form the GOP Jobs Plan (because after being in power for four years in the House, NOW is as good a time as any to get started on that) and then link for a more detailed description, presumably. Now, you might think that Twitter, what with the 140 character limitation, might be the wrong place to even briefly describe a Five Point Congressional Jobs Plan. But not the GOP! Their entire economic theory does boil down to four words: Cut Taxes, End Regulations. Still, this was embarrassing. It seems the Speaker and/or his underpaid intern didn't complete their homework before sending this out: Or maybe it is a rare moment of honesty from the highest ranking Republican in the land: The GOP has no jobs plan.