Friday Open Thread [8.19.16]

Friday Open Thread [8.19.16]

7 Comments
The big news from last night is that, in a few brief sentences, Trump, reading from pre-written text, expressed “regret” for some of his campaign rhetoric. He did not specific which rhetoric he was referring to. Was it the time he attacked a grieving mother, or prisoners of war, or veterans, or Muslims, or women, or Latinos, or African Americans? He was not specific, and he was not sincere. To prove that, he followed the regret line up with this: “sometimes I can be too honest. Hillary Clinton is the exact opposite, she never tells the truth.” (Also, that the media has been taking “words of mine out of context.”) Fuck Donald Trump and his regret. But the media will lap it up. IT IS THE LONG AWAITED PIVOT!!!!

DL’s Endorsement for Insurance Commissioner

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I was just going to say that we endorsed Trinidad Navarro for Insurance Commissioner because he is not Karen Weldin Stewart, but fuck that. It is an election year, and the Insurance Commissioner isn’t some bullshit job like Lt. Governor. When Matt Denn was in the office between 2004 and 2008, he was squarely on the side of the insurance consumer, and he had a huge positive impact on Delaware’s small business by fixing how worker’s comp was calculated for companies that have great safety records. Conversely, Karen Weldin Stewart has been a shit show. Anyway, I knew that my usual lazy half-assery wasn’t going to cut it, so I took a hard look at Navarro and this is what I found out. Trinidad Navarro is exactly the kind of Democrat that this backward piss-poor excuse for a Democratic establishment needs. He annoyed the fuck out of John Daniello when he ran against a sheriff that had been in office since before Delaware’s motto was changed by then Governor Tom Carper to “The Usury State.” And here he is again, taking up a campaign against one of the so-called democrats that thinks that large multinational corporations are in need of a champion.
Hey, Daniello did something good!

Hey, Daniello did something good!

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While this blog has been at odds with the State Party Chairman, John Daniello, for much of our existence (i.e. since 2004 or so), we have to give credit where credit is due. So good on Chairman Daniello for sending the below letter to Donald Trump...er ah, I mean Charlie Copeland, the Chairman of the Delaware Republican Party. Come inside to read the letter.
DL’s Endorsement for Wilmington Mayor

DL’s Endorsement for Wilmington Mayor

70 Comments
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.
Thursday Open Thread [8.18.16]

Thursday Open Thread [8.18.16]

37 Comments
Remember Reagan Democrats? They were conservative working class whites who abandoned the Democratic Party for Reagan. We may be now witnessing the creation of Hillary Republicans, in that we are seeing college educated moderate whites who for some reason have long identified as Republicans now abandoning the GOP for Hillary. Nancy LeTourneau:
First of all, Donald Trump’s presidential nomination didn’t simply spring up out of whole cloth. As I pointed out yesterday, it has it’s roots in the Republican’s Southern Strategy, combined with their recent use of racism and nativism to stir up their efforts to de-legitimize the presidency of Barack Obama. The Republican embrace of post-policy paved the way for the candidacy of Donald Trump. Will they continue that strategy after he loses? That remains to be seen. But they’ve stirred up his supporters – who aren’t likely to go away once this election is over. In other words, the great Republican divide will still be with us after November. How that will affect the party affiliation of white college-educated voters is something to keep an eye on.

The State Financial Reports reveal the state of the race

20 Comments
The 30 day primary financial reporting deadline for state candidates facing a primary election just passed. You can view the reports here by entering the last name of the candidate in the highlighted "committee name" field. The reporting period is not quarterly like it is in federal races. Instead it is from the beginning of the year until August 14. Some observations: Who was loaned Lacey Lafferty over $86,546? And what in God's name has she spent it on? I sense perhaps another Christine O'Donnell situation here. Money is certainly not everything. Races, especially local races, can be won on the ground. State-wide races, a little less so. This fundraising tells me that the LG race is a two woman race between the Republican McGuiness and State Senator Bethany Hall Long, with Ciro Poppitti coming in third, Eaby and Fuller tying for fourth, and Sherry Dorsey Walker coming in last. Kathy McGuiness' list of financial supporters reads like Charlie Copeland's Rolodex. ABC, the anti-union Right to Work Association of Builders and Contractors, donated $1,200.00. Seriously, Pete Schwartzkopf needs to be run out of town on the rails for foisting this Utahn Republican on us.

Bottom Line: Putin’s man in Kiev was running Trump’s campaign

3 Comments
Putin > Yanukovych > Manafort > Trump These are pretty clear cut relationships. Now Manafort has been demoted just ahead of two news items which reveal how deeply Manafort was/is involved with promoting Russian interests in Kiev and DC. The first story deals with $2.2 million secretly routed to DC based lobbying firms in clear violation of federal law. The second deals with Manafort's work to sabotaged US interests in Ukraine which has landed Manafort on a list of war criminals who are now wanted in the Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion and seizure of the Crimea.

We are endorsing this year

95 Comments
There are a number of contested primaries this year, and we will be offering our opinion on a number of those races. The first endorsement will be coming shortly. We will be endorsing in the following races: U.S. Representative Insurance Commissioner New Castle County Executive Wilmington Mayor We may also weigh in on some State Senator and State Representative races. But there is one race where we have no consensus and even no idea who we all will vote for: the Lt. Governor race. This year's race among six candidates has convinced me that the gubernatorial candidate should chose his Lt. Governor running mate and they should run as a ticket. I want to see legislation dealing with that, and with filling a Lt. Governor vacancy, on the first day of the session. So on the Lt. Governor race only (because you all will have ample time and space to argue over the other races soon, trust me), who are you supporting and why?
Odds and Ends

Odds and Ends

If, for reasons passing all possible understanding, you are not registered to vote, and/or if you are not registered as a Democrat and you want to vote in the Democratic Party primary on September 13, then your deadline to do so is this Saturday, August 20. There is simply no excuse. You can do it online here.. Also, the Sussex County Democratic Jamboree will be taking place after the primary this year, on September 18, and it will serve as a good unity function.
Wednesday Open Thread [8.17.16]

Wednesday Open Thread [8.17.16]

Trump has shaken up his campaign for a third time. There has been talk that Trump is basically the comments sections of Breitbart and INFOWARS if it took human form. Well, now Trump has hired Breitbart.
Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon will “temporarily step down from his role with Breitbart News” to join the team as the campaign CEO, while Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway will be promoted to campaign manager. [...] While Paul Manafort will stay on as campaign chairman and chief strategist, two Trump advisers who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity said that his internal role would be diminished as the Republican nominee tries to retake the reigns of his campaign. The aides told the Post that Trump has felt “controlled” and “boxed in” by staffers urging him to tone down his rhetoric and pivot towards a general election audience. As a seasoned campaign operative, Manafort played a key role in trying to turn Trump’s understaffed, shoestring operation into a more traditional national presidential campaign. But the notoriously blustery real estate mogul has shrugged off these efforts, continuing to get in trouble for off-the-cuff comments like his claim that “Second Amendment people” could keep Hillary Clinton from appointing liberal Supreme Court justices. As his poll numbers in national surveys and battleground states have fallen, Trump has expressed a wish to return to the kind of combative campaign that fueled his success in the Republican primary.
So.... wait a minute. This staff shakeup is not an effort to run a more disciplined presidential on message campaign It is an effort to get more undisciplined and more uncontrolled. Ok then.