Letter to Editor--Wind Power is Here--06/26/2008

I sent this several Delaware papers this afternoon.

Job Well Done

Deep thanks are due to all of the private individuals who worked so hard to convince Delaware’s legislature to support a wind farm off Delaware’s coast. This was a major victory for ordinary citizens, and shows what people can do when we have the will and tenacity to stand up and fight for what we believe in.

We finally brought reluctant state legislators to the table to craft a solution. While many people who came late to the game may try to take credit, the real credit is due to the people who applied the pressure on our legislators early and often. I am grateful for public officials such as Jack Markell who supported the wind farm proposal very early, and who, at some risk, lent the prestige of their offices to the fight. I was especially moved by Jack’s January 3rd call for the legislature to get the process back on course.

A great leader is one who begins by looking in his heart for what is right, and disregarding the potential political fallout. In his early and steady action to bring offshore wind power to Delaware, Jack Markell has shown me that he is a great leader, and the best candidate for Delaware’s next governor.

Letter to Editor--Spineless Senate--06/17/2008

GET A BACKBONE, ALREADY

What do you get when you give eleven state senators backbones? No one yet knows.

House Concurrent Resolution 38 would finally bring wind power to Delaware, ending the stall tactic that Senators DeLuca and McDowell imposed in December. HCR38 status--stuck in committee for two months.

House Bill 71 would empower our judges to properly sentence drug offenders, and ease our appalling prison situation. HB71--stuck in committee for two months.

Senate Bill 4 would bring real open government to Dover. HB4--stuck in committee for five months.

Senate Bill 141 makes it illegal to discriminate against people due to sexual orientation. Even with ten senators sponsoring it, SB141 has been stuck in committee for over a year.

Black holes are not only found in space-—they are alive and well in Dover.

By keeping these bills in committee, the committee members prevent their fellow senators from having a say on the issue. That is incredibly spineless.

Each bill has eight to ten senators sponsoring it. If each sponsoring senator, along with one to three additional senators, signs the petition, the bill can be brought up for a vote on the senate floor. Unfortunately, this requires eleven state senators to use their backbone at the same time--an event never witnessed in Dover.

If you feel that your senator has a backbone, ask them to petition HCR38, HB71, SB4, and SB141 onto the senate floor. Prove me wrong.

June 16, 2008 Electoral-Vote graphic

Progressive Update--05/29/2008

Nomination Math—www.realclearpolitics.com has a good summary of the race for delegates. Obama is about 47 from victory, and it appears that he will cross the line on Tuesday with the Montana and South Dakota primaries, the last two—finally! I expect Hillary to bow out next week, perhaps on Monday, after the winning Puerto Rico primary.

These three primaries pale in importance to Saturday’s meeting of the DNC’s rules committee, which will decide on ‘what to do with Florida and Michigan’. This is Hillary’s hail mary prayer, one which will not be answered. Most expect the delegates to be split 50/50 between Obama/Clinton, or given half a vote each with a net gain to Hillary of about 20—in either case, this doesn’t change the fact that Obama will have the necessary majority of delegates by Wednesday morning.

While Hillary can stay in the race, and fight the Rules committee’s decision in Denver before the Credentials committee, this would be an all-or-nothing tactic—if she fights and loses (which is highly likely), she is toast in the party, and will have ended her career. At some point, there is a limit to her ego, and she has to care a smidgeon for the good of the party. It is the job of the 200 undeclared superdelegates to swing to Obama after he gets the majority of delegates to convince Clinton that her battle is over, and it is time to begin acting like a loyal Democrat.

To find out how to help the Obama campaign, go to www.barackobama.com. You can go to Find Events, and enter your zip code to find area events. You can go to Volunteer to sign up and learn about how you can help. There is a ‘My.BarackObama.com community’ where you can link up with area Obama supporters.

It’s Our Year—www.electoral-vote.com is currently projecting that Democrats will pick up 5 US Senate seats (Alaska, Colorado, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Virginia) this fall, and there are five more that could swing our way (MN, MS, NC, OR, and TX, yes, Texas). The same site shows Obama (and Clinton) both winning enough electoral votes to beat McCain this fall. I take this with a grain of salt, as Obama will not be running against McCain, but rather Obama and his running mate will run against McCain and his running mate. Furthermore, the polls do not yet reflect the impact of Nader and, much more significantly, Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party’s nominee. Barr is a perfect compliment (in Republicans’ eyes) to McCain, a staunch conservative, and may well bleed a bunch of votes from McCain, just as Nader did to Gore in 2000.

State of the State—There are currently ten Delaware races with primaries—eight between Democrats and two with Republicans. On the Democratic side, there are three folks running for Mike Castle’s Congressional seat. For Governor, the Progressive Democrats of Delaware (PDD) and my 23^rd Representative District (RD) have endorsed Jack Markell, and I concur. For Lt. Governor, Ted Blunt has stepped aside, leaving Matt Denn no longer worrying about a primary. However, he is set to run against DuPont heir (well-financed) Charlie Copeland in November, a formidable challenge. There are three Dems running for Insurance Commissioner, Reed, Savage, and Weldin-Stewart. If Reed would return the campaign contributions from insurance company executives (and spouses), I would support him, however this looks unlikely. I’m waiting to learn more about them during the PDD endorsement process.

There are two Dem candidates for New Castle County Executive: Chris Coons and Tom Gordon. My RD and the New Castle County Executive Committee (NCCEC) has endorsed Coons, and I support this. In the 6^th Senate District (SD), there are two Dems running for incumbent Republican Liane Sorenson’s seat: Mike Terranova (retired police officer) and John Mackenzie (Christina School Board member). I hope to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of each at Monday’s 23^rd RD meeting, and during the PDD endorsement process. In the 12^th New Castle County Council district, I prefer Tom Scherer to incumbent William Bell. There are two Wilmington races with Democratic primaries, however I don’t know anything about the candidates.

At this time, the only contested non-primary race for the state legislature pits Democrat Bryon Short against James Bowers. Bryon won a special election in an upset a year ago to fill the spot vacated by Wayne Smith, the Republican who left the House to become a lobbyist the next day (typical career path for Republicans). This will be hotly contested.

Getting Involved in Delaware—Jack Markell’s campaign website is www.markell.org and includes events and volunteer opportunities. I hope to attend a Country Barbecue supporting Jack on July 19^th from 5-8pm in Townsend. The cost is $25 per person (kids eat free), and you should RSVP to kennedy@markell.org

By the way, last night the NCCEC endorsed John Carney’s bid for governor, not Jack Markell’s. This isn’t too surprising, as Carney has been Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s Lt. Governor for eight years, and is ‘the establishment candidate’, the candidate supported by the old Democratic Party movers and shakers. If you want more of that, then John Carney could be your candidate. I’m looking for a real change, in Dover in addition to in Washington DC, and this is why I support Jack Markell for governor.

Furthermore, keep an eye out for the ‘negative campaigning’ in this race. As a biased supporter of Jack Markell, I am starting to see some personal attacks by Carney, while Markell’s comments are most often focused on Minner/Carney policy shortcomings and related areas of disappointment.

Chris Coons’ site is www.chriscoons.com. I hope to attend a reception ($50 per person) on June 16^th from 6-8pm at Rebecca Young’s home. RSVP to Tara Quinn at 302-427-3690. There is also a beef-n-beer fundraiser ($40 per person) from 6-10pm at the Mill Creek Fire Hall on June 7^th, when he kicks off his campaign.

Matt Denn’s site is www.mattdenn.com. His kickoff is Saturday June 7^th, including an announcement at the New Castle Old Courthouse at 4pm. I haven’t heard about a fundraiser yet, but you can contribute on the website.

John Kowalko’s site is www.johnkowalko.com. While he doesn’t yet have a filed opponent, there is no question that Delmarva is trying hard to recruit someone. There is a fundraiser in Newark for the 25^th RD (where he serves) this Saturday from 7-9pm. I have tickets ($15 for one person, $25 for a couple)—let me know if you would like a ticket.

The Progressive Democrats of Delaware’s site is http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/. You can contribute online. There is a 4^th of July event planned. This group is instrumental in helping voters identify candidates who share our liberal views, helping us separate the wheat from the chaff, so we can be smarter with our political contributions of time and money. Please consider joining the PDDs!

Delaware Legislative Update—There are three pieces of legislation that I care a lot about, and all three are holed up in the Delaware state senate.

SB4—This bill will open up our legislature, which exempted itself decades ago from FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act. If you think that our state legislature should be open to the light of day, contact your senator and urge them to get Senate Bill 4, the FOIA Bill, onto the floor for a vote.

SB141—This bill would make it illegal to discrimate against someone based on their sexual orientation. Without this protection, people can be kicked out of their apartment, or fired, purely due to being (or appearing to be) a gay or lesbian. Delaware is one of the few Dark Ages states that does not currently make this illegal. Please contact your senator and ask them to work with Senator Sokola to get this bill onto the Senate floor for a vote of the full Senate.

HCR38—This is a House Concurrent Resolution to bring wind power (and jobs) to Delaware. Senator McDowell (embarrassingly a Democrat) has done everything in his power to prevent this from happening, despite the three state agencies agreeing that the Bluewater Wind contract meeting all requirements and being the best for the state. In times when fossil fuel prices are rising ten times the overall rate of inflation, you would think that everyone would be falling over themselves to get this going. Well McDowell has jammed the works for more than five months, despite overwhelming public support for this deal. Please ask your Senator to bring HCR38 onto the floor, and to vote to get Delaware moving on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels (and on the Delmarva Power monopoly).

Progressive Update--05/08/2008--Tick, Tock

Nomination Math—On Tuesday Barack Obama fully erased the impact of Clinton’s victory in PA. She won 12 more delegates than him in PA, and 4 more in Indiana, but he won 16 more in North Carolina, and so he has the same margin of 166 more pledged-delegates than Hillary as he had in mid-March, and there are less than four weeks left of primaries.

There are six primaries left—the three big ones (more than 50 delegates each) are Oregon, where Obama should have a big win, Puerto Rico where Hillary should have a big win, and Kentucky, where Hillary should have a modest win. Of the smaller three, the largest is West Virginia where Hillary is very strong, and Montana and South Dakota, where Obama should rock. Bottom line—the pledged delegate gap is unlikely to change by more than 8 by the time the last voter has been cast on June 3^rd—Barack Obama should end the primaries with 155 more pledged delegates than Hillary, or even more.

The ‘superdelegate’ math continues to work against Hillary. Months ago she had 100 more supers than Barack. Today that gap is down to 11, and that gap should completely close within a week, two at the most. After June 3^rd, the remaining uncommitted supers will jump onto the Obama wagon (reinforcing the voice of the states and voters), and the party can finally move to the business of kicking McCain’s rear. The strategy of pointing out how a McCain administration will be equivalent to a 3^rd term for W will likely have the most traction this fall. McCain has two impossible tasks. He feels the need to pander to the right wingers (the base) while also pitching that he is a maverick who bucks the base. The second impossible task is that he has to do this with no money (compared with the incredible grass-roots financial support that backs Barack Obama).

There are two important dates remaining in the nomination process. On May 31^st, the rules committee meets and discusses the fate of delegates from Michigan and Florida. The most likely outcome is the seating of 50% to 100% of the normal number of delegates, with a split between 60/40 (Hillary/Barack) and 50/50. This may slightly narrow, but has no chance to change, the outcome. The second date is the date that Hillary concedes. We don’t know the date, but my guess is June 2^nd, after a victory from Puerto Rico, but also 48 hours after the rules committee dashes her incredible dream of getting 100% of the Michigan delegates.

Hillary Clinton—Please remember that Hillary is a great Democrat, as are each of her supporters. We need Hillary, and each supporter to help our party take the White House, and gain as many seats in Congress as possible this fall. Please keep all of your statements positive—going negative only helps our foes, and could keep Hillary supporters home from the polls in November. Hillary and her supporters have waged an incredible campaign, and deserve our support on determining on their own when to call it quits. We each have our personal views, but we respect Hillary’s right to decide the timing for herself.

Helping Make it Happen—If you have some time on Saturday, you can help bring this to an end. One factor considered by superdelegates, including DE Democratic Party Chair John Daniello, is how each candidate can help their state’s candidates in November. Obama has the clear advantage in the western states, states that the old guard, including Hillary, have ceded to the Republicans, but progressives such as Howard Dean refuse to neglect. This is why Montana, Oregon, and South Dakota will go to Obama.

For several reasons, the Obama campaign is holding a National Voter Registration Project this Saturday, nationwide. If you can pitch in a few hours (generally 10am to 2pm), email Rob Carver at rcarver@pfracp.org TODAY. The New Castle County drive will have Rodney Square as its hub. Remember that our work this Saturday will help superdelegates better understand that Obama is the best candidate for President this fall, the one who can get the most voters out to help candidates ‘up and down the ballot’. Help Barack Obama get the nomination, volunteer on Saturday.

State Candidates—The Progressive Democrats of Delaware endorsed the candidacy of Jack Markell for DE Governor, Matt Denn for DE Lieutenant Governor. I sit on the endorsement committee and am proud of our process and these results. There are other important Democratic primary races, including for insurance commissioner, New Castle County executive, and US Representative.

There are also going to be several critical races in Delaware in November. I expect dynamic and well-financed Jack Markell to trounce whatever Republican wins their primary. However I worry about the race for Lieutenant Governor (in DE, it is possible to have one party win the race for governor and the other party to win the race for Lt. Gov. The Republicans have the incredibly-well-financed DuPont-heir Republican Charles Copeland running for Lt. Governor. This is going to be a very difficult to beat, and requires our strongest candidate, and for the entire party to stand behind the primary winner. I endorse Matt Denn, and will be giving time and money to his campaign to become DE’s next Lieutenant Governor.

I am also currently focused on the race for my State Senate district 6 (even split of registered Dems and Republicans) with Democrat Mike Terranova against Republican incumbent Liane Sorenson, Senate district 10 (many more registered Democrats) with Democrat Bethany Hall-Long and no Republican yet as Steve Amick is retiring, and Senate district 17 with Democrat Brian Bushweller and no Republican yet as arch-conservative John Still is retiring (YEAH!). In the state House, Democrat Rebecca Walker is running in the 9^th (many more Democrats) against incumbent Republican Richard Cathcart, Democrat Michael Barbieri is running against incumbent Republican Terry Spence in the 18^th (where there are loads more Democrats), and Democrat Earl Jacques is running incumbent Republican Vincent Lofink in the 27^th (where there are also loads more Democrats).

2008 promises to be an incredibly great year for Democrats, at both the national and state level. The Republicans are lacking for both money and candidates, but most notably, they are lacking for votes. In Delaware, we can select a liberal, visionary Governor and Lt. Governor, which will be a breath of fresh air compared with the past eight years. We can reshape our state Senate, replacing a conservative Senator Pro Tempore, desk drawer vetoes, and closed meetings, and we can also transform the state House, getting a Democratic majority so that we can get health care reform and other important legislation passed, bills that have been held hostage for years by the Republican majority.

After depressing results in 2000 and 2004, this is the year to step up, pitch in, be heard, identify your candidates, and help them win. Get fired up!

Progressive Update--04/23/2008--Pennsylvania Results

Nomination Math—With 99% of precincts reporting, Hillary took 54.7% of the vote to Barack’s 45.3%, a 9% margin. Despite the spin, it was not a double-digit victory. She captured 6 more PA delegates than Obama, cutting his total delegate advantage to 127. Hmmm, six more delegates won by Hillary than Barack in PA. All Hillary needs to close that delegate gap are similar victories in 21 more states like PA. Oh that’s right, there aren’t another 21 states like PA left. There are only 7 states left, none with as many as PA’s 187 delegates. Actually, only one has more than 100 delegates, North Carolina, where Obama is polling 15% ahead of Clinton. Yesterday’s minimal gain by Hillary will be lost by her in two weeks.

I would like to mention two websites that I regularly visit: www.electoral-vote.com is wonderful, and is updated daily. Real Clear Politics has many pages-- http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/democratic_delegate_count.html presents the current Democratic delegate race. Neither site appears to favor either Democratic candidate.

In PA Obama closed the gap with Clinton from 20% to 9%. He did this by outspending her, which he could do as he is supported by his much larger base of donors. He had to outspend her to close the gap, for she began with so much more name recognition, both due to her years as first lady, and for her time serving in the senate for neighboring state New York. Obama did exactly what he needed to do, close the gap, and keep the delegate loss to an insignificant level.

What are the superdelegates waiting for? The party needs to come together behind one candidate. The party decides its nominee by delegates, and Hillary Clinton can not close that gap. It is time for the superdelegates to confirm the primary results, the delegate math, and to pledge their votes to Barack Obama, so that we can get to the job of beating John McCain, and ending the eight year debacle of a Republican White House.

Dream Ticket?—A friend raised this issue with me this morning, of Hillary running as VP to Barack as President. I consider this much more of a nightmare ticket. For Hillary to be an asset on that ticket, she needs to stop, today, in her negative ads, and the negative words she and her surrogates aim at Obama (no problem directing them at McCain, of course). Without that drastic change, she is showing Obama and Democrats that she is putting herself above the party, and that is a trait that a VP can not have. Furthermore, she needs to really put a muzzle on Bill—perhaps she can get him to campaign for her in Guam.

And now the view of Villanova Political Science professor Matthew Kerbel on the PA primary:

Two word take: nothing changes. This is about what I expected (I predicted an 8 point win and the final numbers are going to put it close to 9). She will spin that the superdelegates are starting to wonder about Obama, and there is a serious doubt about his ability to win blue collar ethnics in the rust belt, but that's not a new concern. She will most likely net in the range of 8-15 delegates out of yesterday, which doesn't put her any closer to the nomination. And the clock is running out.

The main issue for Democratic superdelegates today, as it was before Pennsylvania, is to find a way to bring this to a close without alienating her constituencies by making it appear she is being forced out. The calendar has conspired against this happening, providing a yawning seven week gap with no contests sandwiched between a pair of states (Ohio and Pennsylvania) with strongly favorable Hillary demographics, giving no cover to those superdelegates who would like to unite behind Obama. Their next chance comes with North Carolina, which Obama is certain to win just as Pennsylvania was always going to be Hillary's to win.

This is and has long been a race between two different coalitions, where outcomes have been decided by who had the most voters in a given state, not by who could change the most minds. That's why it has been shaped more by the calendar than by momentum. Obama prevailed in that race by being better organized in caucus states and campaigning hard in small states that Hillary ignored. But he can't close it out against an equally strong coalition until the calendar lets him. That, too, was the case before Pennsylvania. So nothing has changed.

Paul S Baumbach

04/11/2008--Windmills and Windbags

Wind Power Tug of War—Two big events occurred this week. House Concurrent Resolution 38 passed the house (go to http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS144.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/30dcba0d779ffcee85257427007de016?OpenDocument to see how your Rep voted—Terry Schooley voted in favor of this important legislation that directs the Controller General to stop stone-walling the contract which was approved by all three state agencies that studied the bids and the contract.

With 25 Reps voting for it, and with six Senators co-sponsoring it, more than a majority of the General Assembly supports this, so why is the Controller General continuing to stall? Tom Noyes runs a great blog, with special attention to the wind power issue, at http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/

Delmarva’s marionette puppet Senator Harris McDowell’s sham hearings have, surprise, surprise, this week led to a report (seemingly penned by Delmarva) that argues for buying land-based wind power (without any price protection, and without bringing any jobs to Delaware). Anyone willing to bet that the report wasn’t written before the first sham hearing? House Bill 6 was passed two years ago to bring control to the price of power to Delaware. Bluewater Wind (BWW) won the bidding process fair and square, by meeting the requirements. Delmarva (and therefore McDowell) didn’t like the results, and so they are working hard to scuttle it. To bring jobs and clean off-shore wind power to Delaware, ask your state senator to vote in favor of HCR 38, recommending that the Controller General approve the BWW contract.

Discrimination Update—Senate Bill 141 (SB 141) would make it illegal to discriminate against someone in Delaware based on sexual orientation. Let’s join Maryland and New Jersey and 18 other states (and DC) and get this passed now. The bill is stalled in committee by Senators Still, Copeland, and Cook. Sponsoring senator David Sokola is passing a petition to bring the bill to the senate floor. Please contact your own senator and ask them to sign onto the petition for SB 141, to put an end to this discrimination in Delaware.

If you live in Senator McDowell’s district (Senate District 1 in north Wilmington), please give him a call at 302-744-4147 or 302-577-8744 and ask him to stand up against discrimination, and sign Senator Sokola’s petition. (You should probably not mention that I think that he is Delmarva’s lap dog.) THANKS!!!

Spaghetti Dinner/Auction Update—Tonight is the night. Bring family and friends to tonights spaghetti dinner and auction for the 23^rd RD Democratic committee, at the Newark UU church (www.uufn.org for directions). The cost is $10, and the dinner starts at 6pm. Chris Coons is a terrific auctioneer, and most Democratic candidates will be there. Will you?

State Democratic Party Convention Update—I was not selected to go to Denver as an Obama delegate. I posted some information on my blog about the state convention on Saturday April 5^th. The process is quite involved, and I did not go into all of it. I described it to some as sausage—the result is great but you don’t want to see what goes into it. The delegation selected to go to the national convention in Denver is wonderful, and will do a great job in representing the state. However, it was painful for many who really wanted to go and did not understand the Byzantine system, especially in selecting ‘add-on’ delegates. Also, state party chairman John Daniello’s behavior during the selection of delegation chair was atrocious.

Presidential Primary Update—There are only 11 more days until the primary in Pennsylvania, only two more weekends to volunteer to help your candidate get more votes. Each candidate has a good website, where you can find out how you can volunteer (and donate). I continue to really enjoy going to www.electoral-vote.com daily to get updates on election issues, including polls. It notes that Obama has 130 or more delegates more than Clinton, and this gap is insurmountable. There are some great tables of data at www.realclearpolitics.com , including the 2008 Democratic Popular Vote (with and without Florida, Michigan, and caucus states IA, NV, ME, and WA). I see zero chance of Clinton receiving more popular votes, states, or delegates than Obama. When can we move onto challenging John McCain?

I’m a financial planner, and a reporter asked me this week what I thought about the 3 candidates’ views on estate tax reform. John McCain wants there to be no estate taxes until a couple has $10 million, and then cut the tax rate from 45% to 15%. Both Hillary and Barack want to freeze the levels at $6 million per couple. McCain’s position is not too surprising, given that his wife is worth about $100 million. I simply don’t get how Republicans can continue to say, with a straight face, that they are fiscally responsible, and at the same time talk about drastically cutting tax revenues from families with more than $6 million. That kind of fiscal responsibility got us into the current financial mess. How can we cut taxes for zillionaires when we need money for schools, health care, and infrastructure? I just don’t get it! We need to get a Democrat into the White House in November!

Governor/Lieutenant Governor Race—I serve on the Progressive Democrats of Delaware’s (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/) endorsement committee. We examined the candidates for Delaware governor and lt. governor last month, and this month we endorsed Jack Markell for governor and Matt Denn for lt. governor. Please realize that the other two candidates (John Carney and Ted Blunt) are good people, and good candidates, however we felt that Jack and Matt are the best.

Good Government—We are asking the Newark City Council to join New Castle, Elsmere, Smyrna, Ocean View, Felton, Farmington, Lewes, Wyoming, and Odessa, and the League of Local Governments, to urge the General Assembly to pass Senate Bill 4, to remove the General Assembly’s exemption from abiding by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Likely this will come up at a council meeting in the next month. Let me know if you’d like to attend and support this resolution.

If you live in the city of Newark, please contact your councilperson (and the mayor) and express your support for this resolution. You can go to http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/index.asp?NID=475 to find your council person, click on their picture, and bring up a page with their email address. Be prepared for comments such as ‘city council likes to stay out of partisan issues’ (response—good government isn’t partisan, and this bill will help Newark better see how its interests are being handled in Dover—no more closed-door sessions), or ‘other folks are addressing this’ (response—shouldn’t Newark stand up and be counted along with the others who wish to improve our state government).

Paul's Path to Denver Ends--04/06/2008

Well, I gave it my best. I spent many, many hours in Dover today, at the state Democratic delegate convention, but was not selected to represent Barack Obama in Denver. I end this post with an article from the Wilmington News Journal on who was selected.

The good--some great delegates were selected to represent Obama, people who have worked a tremendous amount for the campaign. The Obama campaign is very pleased with the makeup of the state delegation, and this is terrific! It was good to see such a full set of great candidates. A big weakness of the Democratic Party these days is having too many good choices from which to choose!

The bad--I was amazed at the autocratic style of state party chair John Daniello. Late in the day he nominated himself to lead the delegation in Denver, from the podium, and then proceeded to run the meeting even though the order of business was his nomination. Daniello follows the style of Senate Pro Tempore Thurman Adams (who freely uses his desk drawer veto, and who obstructs the passage of Senate Bill 4, which would have the general assembly fall under FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act). Daniello appears to consider himself, also, above the rules--that the rules are made for others. Clearly we progressives have some work cut out for ourselves here in the First State, to make the Democratic Party, well, democratic.

On the topic of bad form, I didn't appreciate having to listen to well over an hour of state leaders speaking--Daniello, Minner, Carper, and Biden. There were some good messages, but not even close to worth taking up so much time of hundreds of Democratic activists. Biden admitted that even he found his own talk boring!

I'm very disappointed with not making it to Denver, but this will fade. What won't fade is my desire to help Barack Obama seal the nomination--he already leads in delegates, popular vote, and states, and there is no question, he will continue to lead in August. The next stage of the campaign is the Pennsylvania primary on April 22nd.

The article >>> DOVER -- Several hundred Democrats met at the Dover Sheraton today to sort out who will represent Delaware at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

It took almost a full day, but they got it done, electing 16 delegates from around the state, including nine pledged to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, six pledged to N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton and one unpledged delegate. They will join the state’s seven so-called “super delegates,” who have slots on the Delaware team by virtue of their elected office (governor, member of Congress, state party chairman).

Before getting down to business, delegates heard speeches from four of those super delegates -- Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and Tom Carper, and Democratic State Chairman John Daniello.

Then they elected the following delegates:

Kent County: Joe Dillon (Clinton), Elisa Vassas (Obama), Peter Couming, alternate (Obama)

New Castle County: Robin Whitaker (Obama), Bernard Pepukayi (Obama), Betsy Maron (Clinton), Ken Woods (Clinton), Saundra Ross Johnson, alternate (Obama)

Sussex County: Kay Ryan (Clinton), Tim Willard (Obama), Ardeth Savage, alternate (Clinton)
Wilmington: Stephanie Bolden (Obama), Darius Brown (Obama)

At-large: Dr. Spencer Epps (Obama), Samuel Lathem (Obama), Crystal Barnett (Clinton), Bill Skogen, alternate (Obama)

Pledged party leader and elected official delegates: Wilmington City Councilwoman Hanifa Shabazz (Obama), state Rep. Helene Keeley (Clinton)

Unpledged add-on: Rob Carver

Who is Paul Baumbach?

Blogger—I began sending emails out to people supporting John Kerry in 2004. Initially, these were focused on how people who help Kerry win in 2004. Even though Delaware was ‘a lock’ in 2004, I provided information on opportunities to help in battleground states, including ‘door-knocking’ in Pennsylvania, and writing to voters in Nevada. In early 2005, I began a blog, to include the periodic emails which I called Progressive Updates. I address national, regional, state, and local issues, all from a progressive/liberal perspective.

Democrat—I joined the 23^rd Representative District several years ago (2005?) and have been active on the committee. I have also been involved with the Progressive Democrats of Delaware, and currently serve on its Endorsement Committee, charged with identifying which Democratic candidates in Delaware pass an appropriate 'liberal litmus test'.

Campaigns—I worked for John Kowalko’s successful campaign against Republican incumbent Stephanie Ulbrich in 2006. For John, in addition to door-knocking, I worked on talking points, speech and forum presentation, and other strategy. I have served as the treasurer for two local campaigns. I also helped other candidates in 2006 in speech and forum presentation matters.

Barack Obama—In January I organized a fundraiser for Obama that raised $2,500. I also offered my business for evening phone-banking ahead of the Super Tuesday primary. I attended both the Michelle and Barack Obama speeches in Delaware (was Michelle incredible, or what?).

I have worked to be selected as a delegate to the national convention, where I plan to not only vote for Obama, but also to convince additional delegates (uncommitted, and Clinton-supporters) to vote for Obama. The country needs Barack Obama to be the nominee of the Democratic Party, and I wish to help make this happen in August in Denver.

Social Justice—I helped resurrect the Social Justice committee at my church (www.uufn.org ), which I have led for more than five years. We have a long list of accomplishments, of making the community a better world in the past several years, including:

• Candidate forums in 2004, 2006, and 2008
• Voter Registration Drive in 2004
• Lobbying for Anti-Discrimination Bills (currently SB 10 and SB 141)
• Code Purple Sanctuary—open our doors on cold winter nights for those without shelter
• Seminars—We held two wonderful lecture series, including one on Religions of Mankind by Professor Alan Fox
• Films—We have shown many great films with social justice angles, including An Inconvenient Truth.
• Service Trips—youth service trip to Central America and West Virginia, Katrina relief trips to the Gulf Coast
• Partnering with Community Groups—Newark Empowerment Center, Emmaus House, Hope Dining Room, Delaware Food Bank, Sierra Club

Professional—I am a fee-only investment advisor. In 1996 I founded Mallard Advisors (www.mallardadvisors.com), an independent financial planning firm, in Newark. We help individuals plan towards retirement, and in retirement.

Family—I have been married to Pam since 1985, and have lived in Newark since 1990 with our son who is now a college freshman.

Hobbies—When not working and politicking, I enjoy road bicycling, tennis, jogging/walking/hiking.

Wind Power--03/07/2008

Sent today to the Wilmington News Journal

Skipping Class

How well have our state legislators done in bringing dependably-priced energy to Delaware? They passed a bill two years ago to establish a process of requesting and approving bids, a process won by Bluewater Wind, and yet the contract is held up, on our legislators. Almost half of the state legislators have sponsored House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 38, which will end the delay.

One argument I hear is that the legislators who condone the delay is that they don’t know enough about the contract, since they did not attend the many public hearings in the past year and a half. This excuse doesn’t hold up. If your child misses a class, it is their responsibility to go back and get the notes—if not, they fail. The notes (minutes) from these public hearings are available, but the legislators who refuse to sponsor HCR 38 are too lazy to ‘do their make-up work’. What grade do they deserve?

Ask your representative and senator whether they support HCR 38. If not, ask them what they have done in the past two months to make up for their absences at last year’s contract hearings. If they have done nothing, in November give them a failing grade—they have earned it.

Not sent (too long for the News Journal)

This week brought the latest disgrace to this process, as Senate ‘leaders’ DeLuca and McDowell paid $35,000 of your money to bring a DC attorney as Grand Inquisitor of state employees from departments that ruled in favor of the Bluewater Wind contract, a contract that DeLuca and McDowell are fighting the public and their fellow legislators to kill. ‘Shoot the messenger’, anyone?

McDowell’s kangaroo court is a further waste of precious time and money, and the McCarthy-era grilling of our state employees is reprehensible, lobbyist-scripted politics at its very worst. This waste is largely the result of the 35 legislators’ failure to co-sponsor HCR 38 and demand the immediate end to the contract’s delay.

Progressive Update--03/06/2007

Good/Bad News—The Democratic nominee for Presidential candidate goes on. There are some benefits of this. Some Dems note that the race is news, and there is no such thing as bad media attention. Others note that the country has not decided which Democrat they want to run against McCain, and they need more time to hear more from each candidate.

The other camp sees disadvantages to the continued primary contest. Especially the Ohio contest showed significant negative campaigning, and while some consider this as beneficial to the ultimate candidate (it hardens them), most feel that it shows a bad side of the party. The longer that this goes on, the more analysis and attention will be paid to the ‘superdelegates’ and the issue of how to treat voters/delegates from Michigan and Florida. While drama (of a late August decision on the nominee) is exciting, it certainly seems to make it more difficult for the ultimate nominee to wage a two month campaign against McCain, who has four times as much time. Another issue is that a continued primary contest sucks dollars from Democratic donors, to fund Obama’s and Clinton’s primary campaigns, money that is far better spent against McCain.

The Michigan and Florida issue is tricky—if the national committee tells you that you need to wait until Super Tuesday or later, or else your delegates won’t count, why would you go ahead and hold it in January? Well Michigan and Florida did. Now what? I think that you can not count the delegates that were selected through breaking the rules, as it would reward the rule-breakers (rules which MI and FL agreed to over a year earlier), but MI and FL can hold a new primary/caucus. In a contorted manner, this will accomplish what each state initially wanted to achieve—having their primary matter (but by being late, not early). Regardless, a ‘do-over’ is more complicated than it first sounds …

www.electoral-vote.com notes “Lurking in the background are the delegations from Michigan and Florida, which will not be seated under party rules because they scheduled their votes before Feb. 5, in clear violation of party rules. The governor of Florida (and Vice Presidential hopeful) Charlie Crist, has said he would not be against having a new Florida primary. Of course when a Republican governor offers the Democrats a tasty treat, one should look at all the details to see exactly what he has in mind. Is he doing this to sow discord among the Democrats? Does he think Clinton would win it and be the weaker candidate? What's the catch? He wants the DNC to pay for it. It is estimated that a primary would cost $25 million. Thus what he is really proposing is draining $25 million from the DNC warchest and probably having the weaker general election candidate win it. Sounds like an excellent plan (if you are a Republican governor hoping to be tapped as Vice President). The Democrats could hold caucuses in Florida and Michigan instead of primaries. Caucuses are paid for by the parties but they are MUCH cheaper. The problem with caucuses is getting both Clinton and Obama to agree. Caucuses are sparsely attended and the candidate with the better organization usually wins them. Obama has won nearly all the caucuses so far, so Clinton would prefer primaries. Politics does not have a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get interface like modern word processing programs. You have to parse every sentence very carefully and know the context to see what they are up to.”

The super-delegate ‘issue’ is quite touchy—should they follow their heart, their state’s popular vote, their state’s pledge delegates, or what? I believe that they should, in the full light of day (as opposed to in a dark smoke-filled room in Denver) all shift to the campaign with the most delegates when the pledged delegate race is decided (now, after Pennsylvania, after Michigan/Florida—I don’t know when). This will accomplish the goal of ‘ending the madness’, helping the 2^nd place candidate see that the gig is up (as Huckabee finally did on Tuesday night), and permitting the whole Democratic party to get behind the clear, cleanly selected nominee.

US Congress—While the Democratic Presidential candidate race has been in the headlines, there has been a very good development in the Congressional races. The Congress has instituted a two-year limit on departing Congressmen, whereby they can’t lobby during their first two years out of Congress—unless they retire by this November. As a result, there is an exodus from the House and Senate, not surprisingly of Republicans. This opens the door wide to strong gains by Democrats in both the House and Senate this year, and that doesn’t even include the Republicans who are leaving due to scandals. January 2008 may not only bring a Democratic White House, it can also bring a far more Democratic Congress (perhaps even enough to break Republican filibusters). Five Republican Senators are retiring, and six incumbent Republican Senators are ‘vulnerable’, according to www.electoral-vote.com.

Letter to the Editor--02/19/2008--McDowell short on facts

Submitted to Wilmington News Journal, 2/19/2008 17:15

State Senator Harris McDowell wrote a Delaware Voice letter on the 19^th. In it he attempted to explain the reasons that his Senate committee has called for yet further hearings on the wind power contract, hearings that the News Journal staff has rightly identified as unnecessary foot-dragging. His letter contained significant mis-information.

He claims that the four state agencies were unable to agree to approve the contract in December. Actually, there were three state agencies, which all support the contract, and the Controller General, who answers to ‘the leadership’, including Senator McDowell himself. Why did these ‘leaders’ compel the Controller General to disagree with the experts, and stall this process?

McDowell claims surprise at objections to public hearings. What he fails to mention is that there have already been a number of public hearings and staff reports. He appears to feel that hearings that he failed to attend did not occur. I am disappointed that Senator McDowell would prefer to grandstand than to take the time to read the transcripts and reports.

McDowell also misleads when he discusses how much the wind power will cost. He mentions cost estimates two to ten times what the PSC analysis concludes (again, I certainly wish he would read their reports). He intentionally confuses the cost of wind power (which is known) with the difference in cost between wind and fossil fuel (which is unknown, due to the variable, and rising, cost of fossil fuel).

Bluewater’s wind power contract is like a fixed-rate mortgage, while natural gas is like an adjustable rate mortgage. Which mortgage is best depends on future interest rates (fossil fuel prices in this case), which can only be projected. This is why HB6 was written in the first place, to begin to insulate Delaware a bit from these rising fossil fuel costs.

I trust that Senator McDowell understands this—it is a shame that he prefers to confuse the issues rather than illuminate them.

Progressive Update--02/21/2008

It’s been a few weeks, so here we go.

Presidential Primaries—There is a debate tonight, and several primaries on March 4^th which could end or prolong this horse race.

I would like to apologize to readers who feel that I came on too strong, perhaps even implying that ‘no good progressive would support Hillary Clinton’. I did not mean to imply that. I only wanted to share I decided to strongly support Barack Obama, and to share some of the reasons, not to criticize those who prefer Hillary Clinton. In this email list/blog I will resume my fevered, unrestrained level of support when a clear party nominee is identified (although I likely would be understandably more restrained if the party nominee has the initials HRC).

I was selected as an Obama delegate by my representative district (RD) to go to the state-wide caucus in Dover on April 5^th. This was due in no small part to the help that several of my friends offered at the RD caucus (especially Joe, Julia, and Carol, but also others). The state caucus will determine who will serve as delegates at the national convention in Denver in late August. If you are, or know, a state-wide delegate from suburban New Castle County, who supports Barack Obama, I would really appreciate your support. If you would like to chat, send me a line. I currently put the odds of making it to Denver at 20:1, but they could improve with your help.

There are a few RDs (districts) that have not yet held their caucus, and which still have openings for people to participate. To see the schedule, go to http://www.deldems.org/ht/redisplay/1/printerfriendly/1. If your RD’s caucus has not yet met, and you’d like to know whether you can still participate, call DelDems HQ at 328-9036 (NC County) or 800-685-5544 (Kent & Sussex).

I use website http://www.electoral-vote.com/ to track the primaries. They are a bit liberal-leaning, but not enough to affect the value of their presentations. If you’d like to know recent polls from upcoming primary states, this site has them. The data on this site convinced me in late January that Obama would win many more Super Tuesday states than expected, and would clean up later this month, as he has repeatedly and reliably closed the gap with Clinton when given the chance to campaign in each state. I expect that the worst that Obama will do is to split 50/50 the March 4^th delegates, which will leave him 100 or so delegates ahead, but more likely, he will widen the gap (that was restrained, wasn’t it?)

Superdelegates—I expect that one way or the other, the race will be decided by the end of April (the PA primary is on 4/22). By that time I expect that one candidate or another will have an irreversible lead in normal delegates (and in the popular vote), at which point it appears that the ‘party leaders’ including Pelosi, Dean, and Gore, and perhaps Edwards, will 1) encourage the #2 candidate to gracefully withdraw, and 2) encourage the superdelegates to jump in force on the wagon to support ‘the people’s choice’. The last thing that they want is for there to be a back-door candidate, selected in a smoke-filled room in Denver. It will be time to focus on McCain rather than swiping at each other. Don’t you agree?

Wind Power—State Senator Harris McDowell has joined with Delmarva Power on a massive mis-information campaign. I have submitted a letter to the News Journal this week identifying several of McDowell’s distortions and lies; I am hopeful that it will be published shortly. For good information, go to http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/ where Tom Noyes collects some great information on the BlueWater Wind contract.

Governor—You likely know that I support Jack Markell for governor. You can find out more about his position on the issues at http://www.markell.org/issues.aspx

I was asked to let people know that John Carney, who is running against Jack Markell, will be at the VFW in Newark (behind City Hall on Elkton Road), on Thursday the 28^th at 6pm for a Q&A session. If you want to know more about John Carney’s positions, plan to attend. I believe that light refreshments will be served.

If you are not registered in Delaware as a Democrat, you will need to do so by March (I’ve heard both the 20^th and 30^th) in order to vote in the September primaries which will determine which Democrat is nominated to run for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Insurance Commissioner, and any other contested primary race position. You can register online by going to https://registertovote.elections.delaware.gov/VoterRegistration/TermsAgreement and follow the instructions.

City of Newark—There is a city council meeting this Monday at which the Newark Country Club project will be discussed. It sounds like we are stuck with what the developer is offering (unless we want another lawsuit against the city), which is disappointing, however we don’t have to take it quietly!

Ezra Temko is running for city council. Today’s Newark Post announced that he will have a competitor. To find out more about Ezra, go to his website at http://ezratemko.com/ He also has a letter to the editor in the same edition of the Post.

Sierra Club/UUFN—The Sierra Club has joined with the Social Justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark (UUFN) to show ‘the Dioxin movie’ on Wednesday the 27^th at 7pm at the UUFN (www.uufn.org for directions). DuPont executives may wish to skip this movie and discussion.

Paul S Baumbach

Send me an email if you would like to be removed from this email list.

You can find this and all past emails at my blog site: http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com

Obama Update--02/06/2008--Super Wednesday

Thanks are due to everyone who voted, and who helped get out the vote yesterday. Roughly twice as many people voted Democrat yesterday than Republican, not that it surprises anyone reading this.

I was following the recent poll numbers, at www.electoral-vote.com, and was very pleased that not only did Obama take the majority of states, but he also took five states where he had been polling in second place: Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota, Missouri, and (no surprise here) Delaware. Hillary did likely get some more delegates than Barack, however the gap is far smaller than it would have been if Super Tuesday was only 7 days earlier. The momentum is clearly with Obama. Why is this?

One reason that Obama’s chances of taking the nomination is that Super Tuesday worked against him, and from here on out, the odds are with him. Obama began the campaign an unknown, while Hillary was a household name. As anyone who has seen him can attest, Obama makes quite a positive impression when you see and hear him. A half-the-country Super Tuesday reduces his ability to get in front of as many voters as he’d like. From now on, he will be able to be seen and heard, and as we know in Delaware, that makes all the difference.

Remember rule number one for Obama—he can not win this alone—he needs each of us. Alone, he will lose, together, we will win.

If you are in a state that has had its primary, this does not mean that your job is over. I live one mile from the Maryland state line, and its primary is next week. Go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple and enter your zip code and how many miles you are willing to drive to help Obama win, and you will find volunteer opportunities and events where you can help Obama win the nomination.

Unlike the Republicans, with their undemocratic winner-take-all approach, no Democratic state primary has a winner-take-all approach to delegates. This means that even in states where Obama takes less than 50% of the vote, he still is earning precious delegates. Every state is worth fighting for.

Let’s make this dream happen.

Yes we can, yes we can.

Paul S Baumbach

Progressive Update--03/01/2007--Super Tuesday Eve

If you live in DE (or NJ, or NY, or …) VOTE TOMORROW (especially if you vote for Barack Obama)

I heard the following from my friend Matt Kerbel, political science professor from Villanova University (and commentator on a local Philadelphia TV channel)

Hi, Paul. I don't know how much time I'll have tomorrow, but i can share a few quick "pre-game" thoughts with you today. On the Democratic side, the momentum is clearly with Obama, as I'm sure you know. We see this in the way he has closed the gap in national polls (which are relevant for the first time as the campaign moves into wholesale mode) and in a number of specific states. We see it in the size and enthusiasm of the crowds he is gathering and in the key endorsements he's been getting. I don't see any evidence that the debate last week slowed this momentum, which has been building since his lopsided win in South Carolina.

Remember that the calendar tomorrow favors Hillary. Both her home states (Arkansas and New York) go to the polls, along with states in her home region (New Jersey and Connecticut). She has an institutional advantage in California. Her plan was always to finish things off on Super Tuesday in the event that she wasn't able to finish them off in New Hampshire. But that won't happen, and if the Obama surge translates into huge turnout and the undecided voters break his way (which is indicated by the trends but not guaranteed), he could find himself in the driver's seat on Wednesday. Watch California. If Obama picks off a win there it will be stunning, and he will emerge as the new frontrunner (with a favorable calendar later in the month). If undecided voters break for Obama nationwide, this will become his race to lose. Like I said, it hasn't happened yet. But it wouldn't surprise me if it does.

On the Republican side, Huckabee's presence in the race is killing Romney (with voters and his kids, who feel he's wasting their inheritance on a fool's errand!), allowing McCain to edge ahead in primary states where he still has significant conservative opposition. But because the Republicans have so many winner-take-all states, McCain looks to win more delegates than his relative strength among supporters would suggest. If the Republicans played by the same proportional rules as the Democrats, McCain wouldn't be able to build a commanding delegate lead tomorrow. But they don't and he will. The one wrinkle in all this is California, where the Republican base is very conservative and where Romney has moved ahead in late polling. If he pulls it off and wins enough delegates elsewhere to maintain some semblance of viability, and if Huckabee pulls out after playing spoiler in state after state, Romney may calculate that he can go head-to-head with McCain and win. And he may be right, but the delegate numbers have to be there.

So that's what I'd look for tomorrow.

Progressive Update--02/01/2008 Obama & Delegates

Michelle Obama came to Wilmington and Dover Delaware yesterday, on January 31^st, and she was spectacular. I met her at a reception before her speech at the Grand Opera House, and then sat in the 3^rd row to hear her full talk. She captivated the entire standing-room-only audience.

I am sometimes asked why I back Barack Obama. Earlier this week I pointed to Caroline Kennedy’s Op-Ed on how Obama can be a President like her father, JFK. Caroline’s essay really captured my gut feel, that both Obama and Clinton have wonderful sets of policies, enough to make it a tie in my mind on that level. This forces me to examine the character, to examine what kind of president each would make. I would like to tell my grandchildren that I helped Barack Obama become President. I am not certain that I would be proud to say the same for Hillary Clinton.

Then I heard Michelle Obama. Her speech helped further crystallize this. Let me quote David Brooks (a seemingly Republican columnist for the NY Times): Obama is the one insistently calling on audiences to serve a cause greater than self-interest. He’s the one transcending partisanship and telling young people that politics can be the means to a meaningful, purpose-driven life. The Obamas won’t let us off the hook—they force you to ask what you can do for the country, and I like that, and the country does too.

I am tired of politicians telling us what we can not do, why we can not hope for better things. Obama inspires me to dream. Michelle Obama hit home another point—the road the Barack Obama lays before us is not easy, and he will not go it alone—it is much too difficult. The only way for us to make the changes he is laying out is for us all to work together towards these goals. This is hard, and a politician such as Hillary Clinton or John McCain have no ability to mobilize the country for something this hard. No one since JFK has had the ability to get so many people to say ‘where do I sign up?’

To sign up, first come to the rally on Sunday and get fired up. You will also have plenty of opportunities to sign up then.

***********************

Thank you to the twenty-plus friends who came to our Obama fundraiser on the 30^th. We raised over $2,500 to help Obama win most of Delaware’s delegates, on the road to his nomination as the Democratic candidate for US President this November.

Please join Barack Obama at a 'Stand for Change' Rally in Wilmington, where he'll talk about his vision for bringing America together and bringing about the kind of change we can believe in.

Stand for Change Rally with Barack Obama in Wilmington

Rodney Square
Corner of 10th and Market Street
Wilmington, DE

Sunday, February 3
Gates Open: 11:30 a.m.
Program Begins: 1:15 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public but an RSVP is strongly encouraged, so sign up now:

http://de.barackobama.com/wilmington

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners are permitted.

I’ve attached a PDF file with the schedule of Representative District (RD) Caucus Meetings. If you turned in your delegate form by yesterday afternoon, then you are permitted to participate in your RD’s caucus. See the PDF file for date, time, and location for your meeting. Then show up! If you selected Barack Obama on your form, and would like to help me make it to Dover and then Denver, then if you are in the 23^rd RD, vote for me on the 11^th. If you selected Barack Obama on your form, and would like to help me make it to Dover and then Denver, but you are not in the 23^rd RD, then ask your fellow caucus goers to send vote for you so that you can go to Dover on April 5^th, and on April 5^th vote for me to go to Denver.

The following explanation of the caucus procedure was distributed by the DelDems (www.deldems.org) earlier this week.

· * The Next Step on the Road to Denver

If you filled out a delegate selection application and your presidential candidate received at least 15% of the February 5th primary vote in your representative district, you're eligible to participate in the representative district caucus. At the caucus, you'll meet with other delegate hopefuls in your representative district who are supporting the same presidential candidate as you. You'll receive 1-2 minutes to explain to the others why you should represent the district as that presidential candidate's delegate at the state convention. After everyone has had the opportunity to speak, both you and all of the people in the district supporting your candidate will vote on who becomes that candidate's delegates to the state convention at the Sheraton Dover Hotel on April 5th. Each representative district will send four delegates and two alternates to the state convention. Again, you cannot vote for delegates who are pledged to a presidential candidate other than the one you selected. You cannot change your presidential preference at any point after January 31st at 5:00pm. You are not allowed to "write in" anyone's name on the ballots distributed at the caucus. Finally, you cannot vote in the caucus or be selected as a delegate in the caucus if your candidate did not receive at least 15% in the primary. Go to the Delaware Democratic Party's website at deldems.org to find the time, date and location of the caucuses. If you have any questions or need to know in which representative district you live, please call Delaware Democratic Party headquarters at (302) 328-9036.

Paul S Baumbach

http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/

Email me if you’d like to be removed from this email list. You can always go to the blog to see past entries.