Daily Archives: February 1, 2012

Delaware Tidbits

Downstate, in the race to replace Sussex County GOP Chairman Glen Urquhart, whose resignation becomes official on February 13, Executive Committee Members Jerry Wood and Michael Triglia have sent letters of their intent to run for the chairmanship. Thoughts, downstaters? Which one is more insane?

Wilmington City Council President Norman D. Griffiths announced today he will not seek reelection, thus ending his 20 years on the council.

Congressman John Carney has introduced the “Drug Shortage Prevention Act,” which obviously seeks to prevent shortages of prescription drugs.

During a press conference Tuesday at Christiana Care’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center in Wilmington, Carney said that since 2005, the number of drug shortages in the United States has quadrupled and cancer patients have been disproportionately impacted by the troubling trend. Carney pointed out that in 2005, there were 61 different drug shortages; in 2010, that number was 178 and in 2011, there were more than 230 different drug shortages.

Dover Mayor Carleton Carey will be unopposed for reelection this year, because no one filed to run against him in the April 7th elecction.

Last week, the Delaware House voted 37-3 to allow farmers to kill deer on their properties with hand guns rather than shotguns. The bill moves to the Senate. I didn’t realize that this was a problem needing action, and who knew Delaware farmers did not like shotguns.

Delaware’s Controller General Russ Larson is retiring. He has served in that position sine 1996.

Polling Goodness

I usually include this in the Open Thread, but I ran out of time. Yes, the Open Thread has to be posted by 12 or else I get electric shocks every five seconds.

Obama leads Romney by a pretty substantial margin in Ohio, 49% to 42%, according to a new Public Policy Poll out today. What is most impressive about this poll is not Obama’s lead, but it is the fact that only 28% of Ohioans have a favorable opinion of Mitt Romney, and 56% have a negative, unfavorable opinion of him. That is unelectable. Those are toxic numbers. Or at least, when Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich had those numbers, we called them toxic.

Nationally, PPP says that Obama defeats Romney 46 to 42, and Obama defeats Gingrich 49 to 40. Shockingly, Rasmussen gives Obama a bigger lead: Obama wins 47-42 over Romney, and 50-37 over Gingrich.

In the Republican Primary:

NATIONAL (Gallup Tracking): Gingrich 28, Romney 27, Santorum 17, Paul 13
MISSOURI CAUCUS (PPP): Gingrich 30, Santorum 28, Romney 24, Paul 11
MISSOURI PRIMARY (PPP): Santorum 45, Romney 34, Paul 13
OHIO (PPP): Gingrich 26, Romney 25, Santorum 22, Paul 11

I said earlier that the upcoming primaries look like Romney territory to me. Well, Missouri sure doesn’t look like Romney territory, and Ohio, which is on Super Tuesday on March 5, looks competitive.

Wednesday Open Thread [2.1.12]

What’s Next?

Saturday, February 4–Nevada caucuses, and the Maine caucuses begin and last until February 11.
Tuesday, February 7–Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado
Tuesday, February 28–Arizona
Wednesday, February 29–Michigan

It looks like all Romney territory to me. So Romney won convincingly last night, but did the Republican Party fare as well?

With 94% of the vote counted in Florida, there have been roughly 1,583,000 votes cast. In the 2008 Republican primary in Florida, roughly 1,950,000 votes were cast. There’s probably about 100,000 votes left to count tonight, but we can already see that despite a growing population, approximately 300,000 fewer Republicans voted tonight than four years ago.

So Republicans are so fired up to beat Obama, that they are not showing up to vote? If there is an enthusiasm gap, it favors the Democrats over the Republicans now.

In Oregon last night, Suzanne Bonamici (D) retained a House seat for the Democrats in the Oregon 1st. She won by 15 points over Rob Cornilles (R).

Progressive Democrats Annual Meeting tonight.

Just a quick reminder about the Annual Meeting coming up tonight at 7 pm at the Delaware Democratic Party Headquarters, 19 E. Commons Blvd in New Castle County. The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for you, as a progressive, to get involved or get reinvolved in Delaware politics. Today’s meeting’s purpose is to shape the PDD organization as it prepares for the election year ahead. You can get involved in interviewing and endorsing candidates for office.

Tonight, members in good standing of the PDD will be voting on policy resolutions and the leadership of the PDD for the coming year. If you want to be a part of this voting process, all you have to do is be a registered Democrat and pay the annual dues of $25.00. If you are not a registered Democrat, and don’t or can’t pay any money tonight, you can still come and propose resolutions and nominate people for leadership.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Pulls Funding From Planned Parenthood

Via Washington Post:

The Associated Press reports that Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, will cut off its funding to Planned Parenthood affiliates, where the foundation has traditionally paid for preventive screening services.

And here I thought they cared about breast cancer.  I thought they cared about breast cancer screenings, early detection, and saving lives.  Looks like I was wrong, since it seems that the Susan G. Komen Foundation has decided that breast cancer is political.  Guess helping poor women with breast cancer detection is one of those entitlements that must be stopped.

And this is political.

Kalli Joe Gray of Daily Kos asks:  “And the fact that Karen Handel, the foundation’s senior vice president of public policy, is “staunchly and unequivocally pro-life” is just a coincidence, right?”

I have given money to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure in the past, but I won’t be doing it again.  And breast cancer is deeply personal to me.  My best friend died of breast cancer on February 20, 2011.  It is cause near and dear to my heart.  As a young woman, before I had a job that offered health insurance, Planned Parenthood was my primary care physician.  And the Republican tactic of making Planned Parenthood synonymous with abortion is just another one of their lies.

So what can we do?  Mistermix at Balloon Juice offers advice:

That said, I’m confident that Komen’s funding will be replaced, and also that Komen will be a pale pink shadow of its former self unless it reverses this stupid decision and fires the people responsible. Check out list after list after list of Komen’s corporate sponsors. Do you think New Balance, Ford and Georgia-Pacific signed on for a public fight over Planned Parenthood? When Yoplait put a pink lid on its yogurt, did they do it to make it easier to boycott their products? Because that’s what’s going to happen. Unlike most boycotts, it’s easy to figure out which products you shouldn’t buy: anything that displays a pink ribbon with the Komen name.

As of today I will not buy any products sporting the pink ribbon with the Komen name.  And I always bought those products – even though my family didn’t like Yoplait.  In addition to stopping my financial contributions I will no longer participate in any Komen sponsored events.  No more entrance fees for breast cancer walks or 5ks.  No more purchasing items from their, or any other, stall at these events – and I spent a lot, because it was supposedly a “good” cause.  But I guess Komen no longer believes in breast health for women who can only afford Planned Parenthood.

And from now on I will be donating my money to the Breast Health Emergency Fund.  Please donate today.

(Link to Planned Parenthood’s response.)