Yes, it’s Monday.
Last week, I received an Email from a reader and friend who expressed concern over the election results and the endangered status of Castle-Bush Republicans.
It wasn’t the first time I had heard such sentiments in the past couple of years from moderates in both parties. Delaware is not alone in having a polarized political environment that is culling the herd of moderates.
After the primary upset of U.S. Rep. Mike Castle in his race for the U.S. Senate, moderate Republicans in northern Delaware switched parties or registered as independents.
Meanwhile, the tendency to vote along straight party lines has increased. U.S. House hopeful Scott Walker narrowly carried Sussex County despite GOP leaders disavowing his candidacy.
Up north, the blue wave claimed two veteran moderates, State Sen. Greg Lavelle and State Rep. Deborah Hudson. Others have fallen by the wayside over the decades, including now extinct pro-labor Republicans.
Lavelle had shifted a bit to the right in response to his increasingly conservative caucus but understood Delaware’s place in the world. Hudson crossed party lines from time to time but did not pass the progressive litmus test.
State Treasurer Ken Simpler met a similar fate, with critics mainly upset with his failure to denounce President Trump.
Simpler made the mistake of sticking to his knitting, rather than preparing for a 2020 bid for governor and distancing himself from the president. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has done a good job of walking that tightrope in a decidedly blue state.
Delaware at its best is a Switzerland of sorts with a more freewheeling economy that brings in revenue for schools and services.
With the loss of Lavelle and Hudson, a lot of institutional knowledge of Delaware’s place in the world has been lost.
In its place is a likely ramping up of an emphasis on social issues and regulation, while ignoring the financial iceberg of employee health and pension costs. And let’s not forget the tragically flawed school finance formula.
Instead, we have seen the flawed logic behind a proposed increase in income taxes for the wealthier without a corresponding strategy in dealing with a structural budget deficit.
Outside of Delaware, there is unease in the corporate law community with the leftward leanings of the courts. That could tilt the incorporation battlefield in the direction of South Dakota and Nevada.
One hopes that moderates don’t give up, with consensus-minded Democrats and Republicans working with their colleagues and reminding them that the ability to provide services to the less fortunate hinges on setting some money aside for tougher times.
Check out the story links below. Have a great day. – Doug Rainey, publisher.
