Sussex County Councilman VancePhillips has undergone surgery on his fractured spine, and has limited feeling and movement in his legs, according to a statement from Sussex County spokesman Chip Guy. He apparently shattered the T12 vertebra when he crashed his ultralite aircraft in Virginia. Phillips is in fair condition and is expected to remain in the hospital for at least another week. Further rehabilitation might be necessary, but can be performed closer to home.

Coulter on Cain: “That’s why our blacks are so much better than their blacks.” I forgot what a racist b*tch she is. Sorry, ladies of DL, but sometimes that word is appropriate.

Ryan Lizza calls Herman Cain the Fringe Frontrunner:

In previous elections, these fringe candidates have never come close to becoming serious contenders. They run to push the ideological debate further to the right or left and to make a name for themselves in the process. If they are lucky, they end up with some notoriety, a new national fundraising base, and perhaps a show on cable TV. These types of fringe candidates don’t truly prepare for the absurdities and difficulties of a Presidential campaign because in their heart of hearts they never believed they would make it very far.

The early primary and caucus dates seem to be set. Here are dates with my thoughts on who will win.

January 3: Iowa (Cain or anti-Romney candidate)
January 10: New Hampshire (Romney)
January 21: South Carolina (Cain or anti-Romney candidate)
January 31: Florida (Tossup)
February 4: Nevada (Romney)

Florida is key. Whomever wins Florida probably wins the nomination, especially if it is Romney, since Romney would then be bolstered by an expected win in Nevada, creating the sense of momentum going into Super Tuesday.

Next week and over the course of the next month, we are going to be highlighting each Representative District and Senate District, to find out about the new districts (since most if not all of the districts have undergone some changes, from minor to major), about which Representatives and Senators are calling it quits in 2012, which are safe, and which are in trouble. One of the reasons we are doing this is because of the seemingly inability of the Republican Party to act like a political party in the state of Delaware. With no candidates or even prospective candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, Insurance Commissioner and Senator, 2012 is looking disastrous for the state GOP and boring for the rest of us.

But let’s again take a look at the possibilities.

GOVERNOR–Jack Markell. Governor Markell will run for reelection.
Republican Opposition?
1. Former Speaker Terry Spence. He always thinks about running, and never does. Even Celia Cohen has gotten wise to that game.
2. Former Senator and failed 2008 Republican Lt. Gov. Nominee Charlie Copeland. He seems much happier as a blogger now. Plus, with some of the things he has said over there at Irrational Delusion, I doubt very much his campaign would be successful.
3. Failed 2010 Republican congressional candidate Michele Rollins. She forced her grandchildren onto food stamps. Yeah, not happening.

LT. GOVERNOR–Matt Denn.. Lt. Governor Denn will run for reelection.
Republican Opposition?
1. Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips. After his recent troubles, I doubt it.

U.S. SENATE–Tom Carper. Sen. Carper will run for reelection. Republican Opposition?
1. Kevin Wade. The News Journal doesn’t even consider him a candidate, even though he has announced, so why should we?
2. Glenn Urquhart. Yeah, go ahead and run. That will be fun.

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE–John Carney. Congressman Carney will run for reelection.
Republican Opposition?
1. New Castle County Council President Tom Kovach. He’s running, and he marks the first recruiting success the State GOP has had in many years. But will he suffer the same fate as Mike Castle?
2. Rose Izzo. She is running. The question as to whether she will be another Christine O’Donnell depends entirely on whether bigoted Sussex Republicans can get over the fact that she has a New York accent.

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER–Karen Weldin Stewart. Commissioner Stewart will run for reelection, but if she is smart, she will retire.
Democratic Primary Opposition?
1. Mitch Crane
2. Vincent White
Republican Opposition?
1. Jim Van Houten. Who?

Maybe Herman Cain will be the Republican nominee. The Quinnipiac poll finds Herman Cain still leading the Republican presidential field nationally with 30%, followed by Mitt Romney with 23%, Newt Gingrich with 10% and Rick Perry with 8%. No other candidate tops 7 percent. More importantly, Cain leads a head-to-head race with Romney among Republican voters, 47% to 39%, “coming close to the critical 50% mark, even though more Republicans think Romney has the knowledge and experience to be president.”

The same Quinnipiac poll finds President Obama’s job approval rating is split with 47% approving and 49% disapproving — a significant improvement from last month when he held a 41% to 55% approval.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 48% of Americans rate the Democratic Party favorably, while the Republican Party has just 40% viewing the party favorably. Independent voters are broadly critical of the two sides: 55% have unfavorable views of the Democrats and Republicans alike. 74% of independent voters favor the idea of an independent candidate for president, majorities of both Republicans (57%) and Democrats (53%) also back the concept, at least in principle.

All hail our new overlord, Michael Bloomberg, or Ralph Nader, or Ross Perot. I was inexplicably watching some old 1992 election night clips on Youtube last night. I had forgotten how “Texan” Ross sounded.

A new Suffolk University poll in Florida finds President Obama struggling in the low 40% range in head-to-head matchups with Mitt Romney and Herman Cain, he rockets to 50% when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is added to the Democratic ticket. Hmmmmmm….

The same poll has Mitt Romney just ahead of Herman Cain among Republican presidential primary voters, 25% to 24%, with Newt Gingrich at 11%, Rick Perry at 9%, and Ron Paul at 5%.

A Public Policy Polling survey done over the weekend found Herman Cain leading Newt Gingrich, 30% to 22%, with Mitt Romney at 19%, Rick Perry at 10% and all other candidates below 5% support. Romney in third? The begin of the Gingrich flavor of the month boomlet?

Here is the calendar of events for the rest of the this week and next. I would like to especially highlight tonight’s Progressive Democrats for Delaware’s meeting and this weekend’s commencement of Occupy Delaware. I have also highlighted Mitch Crane’s fundraiser, as I think it is important that we support him early and often. But it is also important for progressives to go to RD meetings. That is where you, as a Progressive, can be most effective in both shaping your state party and your state government.

Wednesday, November 2nd/b>

Progressive Democrats for Delaware, 7 p.m.
Delaware Democratic Party HQ
19 E Commons Blvd, 2nd Floor, New Castle, DE

The regular monthly meeting of PDD will be held November 2 at 7 p.m., at the Democratic Party headquarters in New Castle, located at 19 E. Commons Blvd. This month we will be discussing the most effective methods of both lobbying legislators and getting a message out to the media. We hope to have someone from the News Journal there, as well as John Flaherty of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, and perhaps others to speak on their experience and their thoughts on the most effective ways to lobby for our positions.

38th Representative District Committee Meeting, 7 p.m.
South Coastal Library
43 Kent Ave, Bethany Beach, DE

Thursday, November 3rd

Eastern Sussex Democratic Club Meeting, 7 p.m.
Bethany Blues
18385 Coastal Highway, Lewes, DE

Sussex County Executive Committee, 7:00 pm
Lighthouse Landing Restaurant
21553 Rudder Lane, Georgetown, DE

8th and 9th District Democratic Committee Meeting, 7:30 pm
Middletown Senior Center
300 South Scott Street, Middletown, DE

Saturday, November 5th

Commencement of Occupy Delaware at H. Fletcher Brown Park, 10 a.m.

Fundraiser for Mitch Crane, Candidate for Insurance Commissioner, 4:00 pm
Home of Larry Peterson
1 Rexburge Court, Newark, DE

Monday, November 7th
21st Representative District Committee Meeting, 7:00 pm
Forest Oak Elementary School
55 S Meadowood Dr, Newark

Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, 7:00 pm
Executive Banquet & Conference Center
205 Executive Drive, Newark, DE

Tuesday, November 8th

35th & 39th Get Together, 12:00 pm
Heritage Shores Restaurant
23 White Pellican Court, Bridgeville, DE

Wednesday, November 9th

7th Representative District Committee, 7:00 pm
Harry’s Savoy Grill
2020 Naamans Road, Wilmington, DE

14th Sen./28th Rep. District Democrat Club Meeting, 7:30 pm
Smyrna Ambulance 64 American Legion
111 East Glenwood Avenue , Smyrna, DE

Thursday, November 10th

Fundraiser for Helene Keeley, 5:00 pm
The Jackson Inn
101 N. Dupont Rd., Wilmington, DE

Fundraiser for Representative Rebecca Walker, 5:00 pm
Blackbird Community Center
Blackbird Forest Road, Townsend, DE

Fundraiser for 24th District State Representative Ed Osienski, 5:30 pm
Two Stones Pub
2 Chesmar Plaza, Newark

Friday, November 11th

15th RD/29th SD Committee Potluck Meatball Dinner Meeting, 6:30 pm
Jack McCutchan’s Home
903 Thomas Davis Drive, Clayton, DE