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BLUE AND GOLD
2005
Delaware politicians show their true colors. Who is feeling blue? Who
is looking like gold? The Grapevine knows.
Dec. 22, 2005
Delaware politicians show their true colors in this
special holiday edition. Who is getting presents that
make them feel blue? Who is getting presents that make
them look like gold? The Grapevine peers into the gift
boxes.
| Joe Biden |
Democratic U.S. senator |
BLUE |
His kid gets no opponent. He gets Hillary |
| Colm Connolly |
Republican U.S. attorney |
BLUE |
Santa gives him commuter tickets to
Philadelphia. Bah humbug, this New Castle County case was going so well when
it was in Delaware |
| Terry Strine |
Republican state chair |
GOLD |
Re-gifting is OK, if someone would like to
package up Michele Rollins for the U.S. Senate again |
| John Daniello |
Democratic state chair |
BLUE |
He wanted Mike Castle's early retirement,
not Ruth Ann Minner's! |
| Carl Danberg |
Democratic attorney general |
GOLD |
Whaddaya know, it's his very own household
name |
| Chris Coons |
Democratic New Castle County executive |
GOLD |
He gets the gift that keeps on giving --
voters' memory of Tom & Sherry |
Posted: Oct. 31, 2005
| Jane Brady |
Republican attorney general |
GOLD |
Years ago she had a pet rabbit and
ambitiously called it "Woodburn" for the governor's house. Who knew she
should have named it "Gavel'? |
| Beau Biden |
Democratic possibility for attorney general |
BLUE |
His father got to the U.S. Senate in an
upset. He could get to attorney general in a setup |
| Leo Strine Jr. |
Vice chancellor |
GOLD |
After Brady, nobody will remember Carper
had to appoint a senator's son as a judge and another senator's nephew as a
judicial commissioner to get the votes to put him on the bench |
| Joe Biden |
Democratic U.S. senator |
BLUE |
He threatens to perform selective
tonsillectomies with his rosary beads. Good thing he decided to become a
lawyer and not a doctor |
| Michele Rollins |
Possible Republican candidate for U.S.
Senate |
GOLD |
She's supposed to be leaning against
running. Apparently she's figured out a political truism -- A rich
candidate and her money are soon stuck paying for her own campaign |
| Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
GOLD |
She gets laryngitis. It's a politician's
dream -- a medical excuse to say "no comment" |
Posted: Sept. 14, 2005
| Thomas R. Carper |
Democratic U.S. Senator |
GOLD |
His timing is perfect, as usual. He
weathers Katrina before it turns into a monster, and he's running for
re-election after the Republican Party turns into a mouse |
M. Jane Brady |
Republican attorney general |
BLUE |
Her timing's not bad, either. She thinks
about switching to the court, where the constitution guarantees political
balance. The way things are going, it may be the only place Republicans can
stay in office |
| Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
GOLD |
Why put Brady on the court? Because the
only thing better than naming a judge is appointing your own attorney
general |
| R. Thomas Wagner Jr. |
Republican state auditor |
GOLD |
He's been quiet, and so have the Democrats
in locating an opponent. It could be his best strategy, next to coming up
with a Mike Castle mask |
| Christopher A. Coons |
Democratic New Castle County executive |
GOLD |
He sends police cars to New Orleans.
Imagine, Coons gets rid of something without accusing it of cronyism with
Tom & Sherry |
| Jack A. Markell |
Democratic state treasurer |
BLUE |
He gets upstaged by his own daughter
Molly, recognized as the state's expert on Harry Potter. If only she could
come up with a spell to make John Carney disappear . . . |
In a
special candidates/non-candidates edition, Delaware
politicians show their true colors. Who is running?
Who is not? Who says yes but means no? Who says no but
means yes? Some are feeling blue. Others are looking like
gold.
Posted: July 22, 2005
| John C. Carney Jr. |
Democratic lieutenant governor |
BLUE |
He talks about running for governor but says he might not.
Who does he think he is, Joe Biden? |
| Beau Biden |
Possible Democratic candidate for attorney
general |
GOLD |
Other people talk about him for attorney
general, but he keeps mum. And he calls himself a Biden? |
Jack A. Markell |
Democratic state treasurer |
BLUE |
He's running for treasurer. Oh bitter day.
It's nearly eight years, and he's still running for treasurer |
| M. Jane Brady |
Republican attorney general |
BLUE |
It's said that A-G stands for Aspiring
Governor. For Brady? It's looking more like All she Gets |
| Colin R.J. Bonini |
Republican state senator |
GOLD |
He's not yet up to anything as strenuous
as running for the U.S. Senate against Tom Carper. Would it be OK if he just
dieted for it? |
| Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
BLUE |
She's not running for anything. And it
shows |
Posted: June 8, 2005
| Joseph R. Biden Jr. |
Democratic U.S. senator |
GOLD |
Joe holds two fund raisers, one for
bankruptcy lawyers getting rich on the new federal law and another, even
more exclusive, at his home. He taps into two of the best motives for giving
-- greed and prestige |
| House Republican majority |
|
BLUE |
They schedule a day off in June so some of
them can take a trip to Lake Tahoe on the state's dime. If they keep this
up, the next trip they take could be a freefall into the House minority |
John C. Carney Jr. |
Democratic lieutenant governor |
GOLD |
Jack Markell gets named chair of the Urban
League, so John gets himself named a co-chair of the mayor's city commission
against violence. Anything Jack can do, he can do better |
| Jack A. Markell |
Democratic state treasurer |
GOLD |
Oh yeh? Carney thinks he's Mr. Fitness
with his Lt. Gov.'s fitness challenge, so Markell gets a national award for
a state workers' fitness program. Back atcha, John |
| Terry A. Strine |
Republican state chair |
BLUE |
He brags he got more than 80 percent of the vote when he was
re-elected, crowing it "even beats Mike Castle." Get real, Terry. Those are
Democrats voting against Castle, not the fellow Republicans who went against
Strine |
Friends of Rockwood |
|
GOLD |
New Castle County Exec Chris Coons
welcomes them back to the museum after Tom & Sherry exiled them. It's not
quite like surviving the Taliban, but they seem just as happy |
| M. Jane Brady |
Republican attorney general |
GOLD |
Despite a 2002 dispiriting showing that
left her party unimpressed, she's a top GOP priority for 2006. It must have
something to do with that new Beau she attracted |
Posted: May 5, 2005
| Jack A. Markell |
Democratic state treasurer |
BLUE |
The Republicans think they have a candidate to run against
him. Big deal, the Democrats found Carney ages ago |
| Robert I. Hicks |
New Castle County ex-auditor and possible
Republican candidate for treasurer |
BLUE |
Republicans blasted the new
county-appointed auditor because he once ran for state auditor for the
Democrats. Let's get this straight -- you're a hack if you go from candidate
to county but a hero if you go from county to candidate? |
Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
BLUE |
Talk about your quiet second term. Who's
planning her work weeks, Aaron Chaffinch? |
| Joseph R. Biden Jr. |
Democratic U.S. senator |
BLUE |
He champions the filibuster. Stop the
presses. The next thing you know, MBNA will come out in favor of money |
| Terry A. Strine |
Republican state chair |
GOLD |
He overcomes all sorts of lapses to be
re-elected, mostly because he's a heckuva fund raiser. Politics may be
Republican red, or politics may be Democratic blue, but Strine proves the
most important color in politics still is government-issued green |
John D. Daniello |
New Castle County Democratic chair |
GOLD |
The Democrats finally figure out how to
keep Daniello from bugging their state chair. They're going to give him the
job and let him deal with himself |
Posted: March 9, 2005
In a special edition of Blue & Gold, Delaware Grapevine
looks at the potential candidates for governor in 2008 and
the candidates who went before them. Who is feeling blue?
Who is looking like gold?
| Jack A. Markell |
Democratic state treasurer |
GOLD |
He has a million dollars |
| John C. Carney Jr. |
Democratic lieutenant governor |
GOLD |
He has a million friends |
Charles L. Copeland |
Republican state senator |
GOLD |
Oh yeh? When you're a du Pont, you have
money and friends |
| Wayne A. Smith |
House Republican majority leader |
BLUE |
He says you can get to be governor with
good ideas and lots of shoe leather. Sorry, Wayne, that makes you a clever
cobbler, not governor |
John C. Still III |
Senate Republican minority leader |
BLUE |
He says he can flip the Senate to Republican control. That
gets him to president pro tem, but governor? He better consult first with
President Newt Gingrich |
William Swain Lee |
2004 Republican candidate for governor |
GOLD |
He's set to become the Sussex County
Republican chairman, a job he had in the 1970s. If there is no such thing as
second acts, at least Lee gets a rerun |
| Frank Infante |
2004 Libertarian-Independent candidate for
governor |
BLUE |
Up in smoke |
| Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
BLUE |
Who? |
Posted: Jan. 24, 2005
| Joseph R. Biden Jr. |
Democratic U.S. senator |
BLUE |
"Fee, fie, foh, fum! That Condi Rice is sitting in my
seat!" |
| Delaware Republican Party |
|
BLUE |
Its crusade against top officials' pay
raises would have looked awfully silly attacking Lee and Ursomarso. Good
thing they lost the election |
Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
BLUE |
She nominates Cordrey and Sharp. What is
this, the Cabinet of the Living Dead? |
| Robert L. Byrd |
Lobbyist and Minner confidant |
GOLD |
Minner put him in charge of the state's financial
forecasting panel ages ago. Whaddaya know, after Cordrey and Sharp, this
appointment doesn't look so bad, after all |
John C. Carney Jr. |
Democratic lieutenant governor |
BLUE |
All this criticism! Please stop calling it the Minner-Carney
administration. Please? |
Charles L. Copeland |
Republican state senator |
GOLD |
Minner-Carney! Minner-Carney! Minner-Carney! |
Posted: Jan. 3, 2005
In a special holiday edition, Blue & Gold peeks at the
New Year's resolutions that Delaware politicians ought to
be making. Who should be feeling blue about their
resolutions? Who should be looking like gold?
Ruth Ann Minner |
Democratic governor |
GOLD |
I will let others fight over how big my
raise will be. No matter what, I'm getting some cash |
| Christopher A. Coons |
Incoming Democratic New Castle County executive |
BLUE |
I'm taking over a government riddled with rookies and
honeycombed with diehard loyalists to Tom & Sherry? From now on, I will look
before I leap. I mean it. I mean it. I mean it |
James M. Baker |
Two-term Democratic mayor of Wilmington |
GOLD |
I will post photos of Jim Sills and Dan
Frawley and look at them every day and remember that even though mayors are
allowed to serve three terms, no one ever has |
| John C. Carney Jr. |
Democratic lieutenant governor |
GOLD |
I will keep telling people that Jack Markell is my friend |
Jack A. Markell |
Democratic state treasurer |
GOLD |
I will keep telling people that John
Carney is my friend |
Charles L. Copeland |
Republican state senator |
GOLD |
I will bust out of the legislature, if
it's the last thing I do |
John C. Still III |
State Senate Republican minority leader |
GOLD |
You heard it here first -- I will turn the
state Senate to Republican control. Then everyone can stop talking about
that Charlie Copeland, who gets all the attention just because he's a du
Pont and I'm not |
| Joseph R. Biden Jr. |
Democratic U.S. senator |
BLUE |
Before I keep dropping a new round of
hints about running for president, I will re-read the story of the boy who
cried wolf |
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