Delaware
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show, Thurs., May 10, 2012
The Sheriff of Nuttingham and His Posse Comatosis could be nearing the end of their lawless reign. HB 325(Schwartzkopf), which would make clear that would-be Wyatt Earps can’t mete out their own brand of frontier justice in the untamed badlands of Sussex County, cleared the House Administration Committee, and is on today’s House agenda. It will pass overwhelmingly. The only question is whether any of the bill’s original downstate House R sponsors will vote for the bill they had previously sponsored. My prediction? Most of them won’t, and will go Not Voting, the ultimate cojone-less copout.
10May2012 | El Somnambulo | 23 comments | Continued
Mitch Crane kicks off his Campaign today in Dover
It starts at 12:30 over at the Old State House on the Green in Dover. Mitch will be joined by a number of legislators who already support his candidacy to unseat the incompetent advocate for the insurance industry, Karen Weldin Stewart. Indeed, I am told that a few legislators plan to announce their support today at the kickoff.
10May2012 | Delaware Dem | 69 comments | Continued
School Board Elections… A Postmortem
I’m tempted to copy and paste my previous post My Thoughts On Tomorrow’s School Board Election because I think I actually nailed it. Here are several points from that post that I believe explain what happened.
I’m not sure what to say about the candidates running for school board since they’ve become an afterthought in this [...]
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show, Weds., May 9, 2012
With great fanfare (a press release within minutes), the House of Representatives passed a ‘campaign reform’ package yesterday. The key bill is HB 300(Gilligan), which seeks to undo some of the incalculable damage of the Citizens United decision. The Roves and Koch Brothers (and Rodel) will still be able to dump huge sums of money if they’d like, but HB 300 would require more transparency about who is behind those anonymous ads. Which is why not a single Rethuglican voted for it. Bill passed on a strict 24-13 party line vote. Not surprising since, without a bottomless pit of anonymous right-wing dollars, the Rethugs are not competitive any more, not with their loco right-wing teabaggers driving the lopsided bus (subtle Steinbeck reference), and they know it.
9May2012 | El Somnambulo | 21 comments | Continued
UPDATED: School Board Election Results – Voices 4 Delaware Loses
Shirley Sutton Saffer wins in Christina and Kenny Rivera wins in Red Clay.
8May2012 | pandora | 20 comments | Continued
An Equal Opportunity Push Poll in the NCCo Executive Race
I just got push polled by an outfit that I think was called Voter Research. The call came from a Newark, DE number (302-894-7627) that, of course, is “not a working number” according to the automated message you get when you call it back. The poll starts off asking if you are planning to vote in the primary on September 11, 2012. You have to press 1 for yes or 2 for no. I pressed one. The poll then asked if I was planning to vote for 1) Tom Gordon, 2) Paul Clark or 3) Undecided.
8May2012 | Delaware Dem | 18 comments | Continued
“The Real Me” by Tim McBride
If you are poltically involved in Delaware, then you have probably met or at least seen Tim McBride at some point. He was very active as a member of the Jack Pack in 2008, which was what young supporters of then State Treasurer Jack Markell were called during his primary campaign against then Lt. Governor John Carney. Tim actually introduced Jack Markell after his primary win over Carney. Last week, he completed his term as President of the Student Government at American University, and in so doing made the following announcement on his Facebook page and in an Op-Ed to the student newspaper. He has asked us to republish it here on Delaware Liberal.
8May2012 | Delaware Dem | 34 comments | Continued
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show, Tues., May 8, 2012
Legislators expressed shock, shock, at how bad things are over at DELDOT. Might I point out to them that, until now, there have been two types of DELDOT secretaries dating all the way back to the creation of the Department? You’ve got your wheeler-dealers like Kermit Justice and Nathan Hayward, and you’ve got your Ann Canbys, who tried to reform the culture, but realized that the long-time powers within the Department could simply wait you out. Legislators have known just how slick many of the inside DELDOT players have been since the beginning, but it was to their advantage to play ball with them b/c favorable attention from DELDOT was Incumbency Protection of the highest order. Their potholes were filled, their sidewalks got done, their streets got paved…all before Election Day. They had no skin in the game to reform the system b/c they were often the beneficiaries. Dropped right into the middle of this culture is Shailen Bhatt, who Governor Markell appointed to lead the Department out of the Dark Ages. Bhatt is doing just that, as is chronicled in this ‘password-protected’ News-Journal story.
8May2012 | El Somnambulo | 8 comments | Continued
School Board Election Today – VOTE
Here’s my assignment for you… Call a friend or neighbor and get them to vote today. You can find my thoughts/posts on the School Board elections here, here, here and here. For information on who can vote and where to vote click here. I still haven’t figured out exactly why School Board elections have become such a hot ticket item – I just know that this year they are. Our votes will matter. No excuses. Go Vote!
8May2012 | pandora | 14 comments | Continued
Tuesday Polling Report [5.8.12]
Today is primary day in Indiana, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Senator Lugar of Indiana will most likely be forcibly retired by his own Christine O’Donnell. Democrats in Wisconsin will decide who will face the anti-worker Governor Scott Walker. Onto the polls…..
8May2012 | Delaware Dem | 9 comments | Continued
The Failure of Delaware Charter Schools
Paul Baumbach, president of Progressive Democrats of Delaware and blogger, has an op-ed in The News Journal the other day which looked at the failing grades our Delaware charter schools have been receiving.
8May2012 | nemski | 18 comments | Continued
Question of the Day
Why is The News Journal lazy? Specifically, why when there is a state story that may be considered a scandal do they always turn to Greg Lavelle for a quote? Is Charlie Copeland that busy that they can’t alternate weeks?
8May2012 | nemski | 5 comments | Continued
My Thoughts On Tomorrow’s School Board Elections
I’m not sure what to say about the candidates running for school board since they’ve become an afterthought in this election. The main player in this election is Voices 4 Delaware. Not because of the money, but because of the tone and their failure to understand school board elections. They have cast themselves as Citizens [...]
7May2012 | pandora | 26 comments | Continued
Wilmington Police Lied About Cell Phone Tracking
The Wilmington Police try to get their stories straight on whether they track cell phone data without a warrant. Lies ensue.
7May2012 | nemski | 8 comments | Continued
Delaware Blogosphere: School Board Edition
If you haven’t been reading Kilroy, Transparent Christina, Delaware Libertarian, Does Experience Count, and The Mind of Mr. Matthews allow me to link to some of their posts so you can get up to speed.
6May2012 | pandora | 12 comments | Continued
Pastor D Disqualified From Mayor’s Race
Reporting by the NJ this afternoon — the NCCo Department of Elections has made its ruling that Pastor D is not a qualified candidate for Mayor of Wilmington.
4May2012 | cassandra_m | 45 comments | Continued
Showdown at the Leg Hall Corral
I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. Figuratively speaking, mind you.
4May2012 | MJ | 16 comments | Continued
Breaking: Victory for Occupy Delaware
They have a trial scheduled for August, according to the NJ. Since the city has said they won’t remove them without a court order, it looks like they can stay in Spencer Plaza til then.
4May2012 | cassandra_m | 2 comments | Continued
Brian Selander Watches Battlestar Galactica
“I’m not sure the governor gives a frack about his comments,” Brian Selander, spokesman for Markell, said Thursday. “Pennsylvania’s chief environmental officer spewing noxious rhetoric into Delaware does little to inspire confidence that his office has the inclination or competence to ensure this drilling is done in a manner that protects Delaware’s water resources.”
4May2012 | Delaware Dem | 5 comments | ContinuedFOLLOW DL
