Wednesday Open Thread [4.6.16]

Wednesday Open Thread [4.6.16]

43 Comments
Bernie won Wisconsin last night as expected, but by not as healthy margin as he needs. Don't get me wrong, a 56-43 result, and thus a 13 point win is great, and it keeps him going. But in terms of making up delegate ground, it doesn't move the needle that much. As you can see in the chart inside, he wins 45 delegates to Clinton's 36, a net gain of 9 delegates. Clinton now leads Sanders 1280 to 1025, a difference of 255 still. If Bernie had won 70-30 say, he would have won 57 delegates to Clinton's 24, a net gain of 25 delegates. And now the roads gets tougher for Bernie. New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island. To put himself on target of winning the nomination, Bernie must sweep all of these states by the 70-30 margin I talked about.

The NYT accepts reality – Bernie is for real, Clinton is on the wrong side of history

61 Comments
It may well be weeks or months before the corporate media and the high Dems around here accept reality, but cracks are beginning to show through, and "delegate math" incantations grow increasingly hollow.
Senator Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, his sixth straight victory in the Democratic nominating contest and the latest in a string of setbacks for Mrs. Clinton as she seeks to put an end to a prolonged race against an unexpectedly deft and well-funded competitor.
I'm not a zealous anti-Clinton person, but it is getting increasingly difficult for her supporters to deny that she had had her hand on all of the shady shit that has made life increasingly miserable for the American working class. Iraq War - She voted for it. Free trade that shifts American manufacturing to Mexico and beyond - Bill Clinton's signature accomplishment. Deregulation of the financial Industry - She was (is?) all for it.
...the (Wisconsin) loss underscores her problems connecting with young and white working-class voters who have gravitated to Mr. Sanders’s economic message — a message he will now take to economically depressed parts of New York State ahead of the April 19 primary there.
I initially said that it seems like she is running for President in 1988 somewhat flippantly, but I'm more and more convinced that I tripped over the truth. Unless Clinton gets a handle on the issues that are important to people today, I don't see her being the nominee.
April School District Happenings: New Castle County Edition

April School District Happenings: New Castle County Edition

4 Comments
The oft unnoticed school board elections are happening in every New Castle County school district May 10th. In only one of the districts is an actual contest taking place. 5 of the 7 seats up for election across the county have candidates running unopposed, which too often is the case in BOE elections. As anticipated, Brandywine School District will be returning to the public sometime in May seeking approval for capital and operating referenda. Last evening their Board voted to go back out; this time there will be no turf involved.
Tuesday Open Thread [4.5.16]

Tuesday Open Thread [4.5.16]

8 Comments
With less than 9 months to go in President Obama's second term, Nobel laureate/NYT columnist Paul Krugman takes a look at his presidency and offers a well-documented set of conclusions about the Administration's accomplishments regarding the economy, financial reform and health care that will set Republican teeth to grinding, especialy Krugman's summation that: "All in all, it's quite a record. Assuming Democrats hold the presidency, Mr. Obama will emerge as a hugely consequential president -- more than Reagan."
Tales of Corruption from Tom Gordon’s NCC — Coverups, Double Dealing and GA Senators

Tales of Corruption from Tom Gordon’s NCC — Coverups, Double Dealing and GA Senators

65 Comments
First, go look at WDEL's story on this. The story as currently released alleges that an employee of the county (and husband of Bethany Hall-Long) took confidential records of low-income housing residents in order to run his own personal phone bank for his wife.
A confidential source implicated Hall-Long's husband, Dana Long, in allegedly using his position as a Section 8 housing property inspector--a contract position within New Castle County government--to lobby for his wife's state Senate re-election bid. A confidential source told WDEL that Long took the county's protected contact list of low-income housing residents and cold-called them--on his own time--urging residents in his district to vote for his wife when she faced Republican John Marino in her 2014 re-election bid.
Outing People Is NOT Okay

Outing People Is NOT Okay

41 Comments
Kevin Ohlandt, of Exceptional Delaware, has crossed a line. He has outed an anonymous commenter - and one that doesn't post on his blog. Publius posts on Kilroy's. I disagree with Publius almost 100% of the time. His comments read like a high school burn book, but that is no excuse for what Kevin has done. There might not be many rules in blogging, but this one is carved in stone. I hesitate to link to the post because giving this sort of behavior more hits is wrong.  I have emailed Kevin asking him to pull the post. I'll update with his decision.
Baumbach Endorses Townsend

Baumbach Endorses Townsend

Fellow Newark State Representative and fellow progressive Paul Baumbach has announced his endorsement of State Senator Bryan Townsend this morning. Rep. Baumbach:
"I am very pleased to endorse the candidacy of State Senator Bryan Townsend, for the office of US Representative. I have known Bryan since 2012, when we both successfully ran for seats in the Delaware state legislature. I have served with Senator Townsend on education task forces, have worked closely with him on multiple legislative initiatives, and have partnered with him on many constituent matters. I have seen him meeting his constituents on their doorsteps, and inspiring the many campaign volunteers who work with him. I have always found Senator Townsend to be caring, smart, principled, and hard-working. Recognizing that he is constantly learning, he graduated from the CSG Toll Fellow Program in 2013, a program from which I graduated last year. He has been a terrific State Senator, and I believe that he will be a wonderful US Representative. It is for these reasons that I am happy to officially endorse Bryan’s candidacy."
DL GOP Fantasy Pool Update – Cruzin’

DL GOP Fantasy Pool Update – Cruzin’

It's all over... IT'S ALL OVER!!! Do you believe in miracles?!?!? Ted "The Lunatic Cringe" Cruz (tm) has outplayed, outwitted and outlasted all the other candidates (who were drafted in this fantasy pool). Marco Rubio dropped on March 16th, but I couldn't bring myself to sweep the floor one last time, turn off all the neon, and shut the old game down. I wanted to live in the craziness for a few more days.... *sigh* And also, as the days wore on, the math started to get a little wonky. The table below probably could not withstand heavy accounting scrutiny, but what is lacks in scientific accuracy, it makes up for in heart. And isn't that really the most import thing? Heart ...and the fact I won my own contest. Those are the two most important things. So under the rules of this contest, I owe everyone reading this sentence a beer.* And I look forward to raising that glass with you sometime, as the gentle Christina River flows on into tomorrow.