The Political Event Calendar for the Week

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, we have State Representative John Kowalko announcing his reelection bid at the Newark Senior Center, 200 White Chapel Drive in Newark. It starts at 11 a.m. Later Wednesday night at 7 pm we have the monthly meeting of the Progressive Democrats for Delaware at the Delaware Democratic Party HQ’s, 19 E. Commons Blvd, in New Castle. Kathleen MacRae, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Delaware, will be speaking about efforts to repeal the death penalty in Delaware; and Erik Raser-Schramm, the director of the 2012 Coordinated Campaign, will speak on their efforts in the upcoming election. On Thursday, August 2 at Timothy's of Newark from 7 pm to 10 pm, there will be a fundraiser for Democrat Paul Baumbach for his race to succeed Terry Schooley in the 23rd RD. Here is a like to the Facebook site for the event.

Giant Killer?

Sam Waltz of the public relations firm Waltz & Associates starts off his fellation of Charles Lamont du Pont Copeland in the Delaware Today thusly:
When Republicans go to the polls in November and review the ballot, they won’t find the name of the man many GOP leaders figure to be their biggest giant-killer. Charlie Copeland, 49, is sitting this one out. Taking his time. Picking his spot. Taking care of business.
Pardon me a moment....

Romney campaign cussing over gaffe filled eurotrip

A Romney spokesperson cursed at the traveling press corps in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday when the press tried to ask questions of the presumptive Republican nominee, reports CNN.
Traveling press secretary Rick Gorka told reporters from the NYT and CNN to "shove it" and invited them to kiss his ass. Here’s part of the transcript, from CNN:
NYT: “Governor Romney do you feel that your gaffes have overshadowed your foreign trip?” CNN: “Governor Romney just a few questions sir, you haven’t taken but three questions on this trip from the press! Gorka: “Show some respect” NYT: “We haven’t had another chance to ask a question…” Gorka: “Kiss my ass. This is a Holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.”
I'm sure that this doesn't move any undecideds, but it does add to the picture of a Romney campaign spinning out of control.

Seriously WGMD?

Another story that I saw last week on WGOP that struck me as a little odd was this one. Hey "liberal" News Journal, if I, as a party activist and blogger, run against an entrenched incumbent upstate in 2014, will I get such meaningless yet glowing coverage as this:
State Senate Candidate Matt Opaliski is discarding candidate surveys and is declining endorsements and contributions from liberal groups. Opaliski on Tuesday was reviewing postal and electronic mail that is typically sent to campaigns during the election season by various organizations seeking to survey candidates on positions that usually favor these groups and, in most cases, hint at a potential endorsement. Opaliski tells WGMD that he threw two questionnaires in the garbage; one was from the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Delaware and another was from the Laborers’ District Council of Delaware. Opaliski says that since Planned Parenthood treats babies like trash, he decided he would treat their survey and any potential endorsement or campaign contribution from them like trash. Opaliski is running for the newly reapportioned 18th District Senate seat.
Hey all women and all workers, you got that? The message from Opaliski is: "YOU'RE TRASH." I highly doubt many aspects of this "story."

Sher Valenzuela’s Hypocrisy

I meant to get to this last week when I first saw it, but time gets away from us so easy. Anyway, Republican Propaganda Channel, otherwise known downstate as WGMD, tells us that presumptive GOP Lt. Governor nominee Sher Valenzuela wants starting and growing a business to be an easier endeavor.
So, she’s creating a business accelerator with the help of Delaware State University to help others travel through the minefield of government bureaucracy to help them find and use resources already available.
Anyone want to guess the hypocrisy part?

It’s Past Time For The DOE And Elected Officials To Speak Out On The Pencader Charter School Saga – And The Fate Of That School

I was planning on waiting until I had more concrete information on what is going on at Pencader Charter High School before writing a post, but information on the school's fate is slim on the ground.  So, forgive me.  This post will ask more questions than provide answers.  Basically, it's going to be a bit of a mess.  Try and bear with me.

Delaware Political Weekly: July 21-27, 2012

So, I'm at the Townsend house, waiting to head on out to campaign. I decide to spend some time perusing Tony DeLuca's 'puppy piece'. I come across this line listed under the 'Dedicated' subheading:
(Tony DeLuca...) "Supported SEED and Inspire scholarships for Delaware students".
That's what it said. On a 3" by 9" (or so) palm card, Senator Tony DeLuca claims this as one of his key accomplishments. I got to thinking, waitaminnit, wasn't he the guy who tried to KILL the Inspire Scholarship Program? My memory not being the best, I decided to climb into the Notsowayback Machine.

The Polling Report [7.30.12]

When you take a few days off the polls pile up. Here are all the state polls released over the last five days. You'll see movement to deeper shades of red in Missouri, and movement in the other direction to deeper shades of blue in Michigan and Ohio. But with all the polls we got below, not one state changed sides. The electoral vote margins are unchanged since our last polling report.