Tag: delaware
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Delaware MAGA Group Aiding RFK Jr. On Ballot Access

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scrambling to get on the 2024 ballot in enough states before a critical deadline. And in at least one state, he's counting on former President Donald Trump's loudest supporters to reach his goal.

The Daily Beast reported recently that in President Joe Biden's longtime home of Delaware, the Kennedy campaign has been in close contact with the Independent Party of Delaware (IPD), which has the ability to put its own candidate on the First State's presidential ballot this fall. At least one member of the IPD's leadership was in Washington during the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.

"So I was there Jan 6th," tweeted Phil Dyer, who is vice chairman of the Independent Party of Delaware, in 2022. "I left after hearing Trump because everything was peaceful. Never thought he made any threats. Never thought the Capitol would be stormed." And earlier this year, Dyer tweeted excitedly about "Jan 6 part 2."

In addition to Dyer, others in party leadership are also hard-right Trump supporters. Chairman Donald Ayotte has insisted publicly that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats despite ample evidence disproving that claim. IPD treasurer Kathy DeMatteis has tweeted similar sentiments.

As the Beast reported, RFK Jr.'s entreaties to MAGA don't start and end with his IPD outreach. In May, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and Democratic political scion spoke in New York at an event hosted by a group with deep MAGA ties. The Constitutional Coalition of New York State, which hosted the event, has also dabbled heavily in propagating the Big Lie (that Trump is supposedly the rightful president).

RFK Jr.'s MAGA alliances are likely an thorn in the side of the former president, who has publicly attacked the independent candidate after polls suggested he had appeal to Republicans. In a post to his Truth Social account, Trump told his millions of followers that a vote for RFK Jr. would be a "wasted protest vote."

"His Views on Vaccines are FAKE, as is everything else about his Candidacy," Trump wrote in April. "Let the Democrats have RFK Jr. They deserve him!"

The RFK Jr. campaign is trying to get ballot access in enough states in order to meet CNN's qualifications to appear onstage at the network's June 27 presidential debate alongside President Joe Biden and Trump. The network is requiring that Kennedy get on enough ballots in enough states whose Electoral College votes add up to at least 270, and has a deadline of June 20 to qualify. Kennedy also has to register 15% support among voters in at least four national polls, which he has also not done.

The Associated Press reported last week that while Kennedy claims that he's on enough ballots to meet the threshold, his petition signatures have not yet been certified in several states. The campaign said that it had qualified for 19 state ballots constituting 278 total electoral votes, though CNN said it won't consider states that haven't certified his petition signatures.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Rick Scott Hits Biden's Delaware 'Staycation' -- From A Yacht In Italy

Rick Scott Hits Biden's Delaware 'Staycation' -- From A Yacht In Italy

Rick Scott is once again under fire. The former governor who now serves as a U.S. Senator and the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is being criticized for taking a swipe at President Joe Biden for his “staycation” at his home in Delaware, which reporters discovered the Florida Republican did while tweeting from a luxury yacht in Italy.

Presidents generally take a few weeks off in August because Congress is on their summer recess.

Scott, the former CEO of a healthcare company who oversaw the largest Medicaid fraud in U.S. history, is considered to be the richest person in the U.S. Senate.

The Florida GOP lawmaker “is spending part of his congressional recess on a luxury yacht in Italy with his family after criticizing President Biden for vacationing in Delaware,” Axios reports. “Vacationing in Europe while Republicans face cash problems and rough headlines about their midterm chances could further hurt his standing with his GOP colleagues.”

Scott is already under fire for lavish spending of the NRSC’s meager finances, including on efforts to improve his standing ahead of a possible presidential run.

Pointing to a Washington Post article about the NRSC’s money troubles, Talking Points memo editor Josh Marshall last week said: “There’s clearly been some shift in momentum over the summer. But fundraising collapses like this don’t happen in a week or a month. Did Rick Scott defraud the NRSC like he did Medicare? How on earth can they be out of money after a year of gop surge?”

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman Tuesday afternoon, pointing to the Axios report, added: “The figurehead of the NRSC, whose staff posted in giant posterboard a tweet questioning if he’d have fundraising troubles after his J6 vote, is aboard someone’s luxury boat as R candidates are struggling and the NRSC’s $ situation is also troubled.”

“Knives are out for Rick Scott,” notesWashington Post congressional reporter Paul Kane. “Hey, he’s a mega-millionaire who can work from anywhere. But it’s a leak that shows Rs are growing restless.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Tearful Biden Delivers Heartfelt Farewell To Delaware

Tearful Biden Delivers Heartfelt Farewell To Delaware

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

On the day before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden spoke at a send-off event in Delaware — and he was overcome with emotion when discussing his connection to his adopted state.

Biden, now 78, was only 29 when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate via Delaware back in 1972. After decades in the Senate, Biden was sworn in as vice president in January 2009 as part of President Barack Obama's administration.

The president-elect, originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, explained, "My colleagues in the Senate used to always kid me for quoting Irish poets. They thought I did it because I'm Irish. I didn't do it for that reason; I did it because they're the best poets in the world."

Biden added, "James Joyce was said to have told a friend that when it comes his time to pass — when he dies, he says, 'Dublin will be written on my heart.'"

Overcome for a moment, Biden paused and then continued, "Well, excuse the emotion. But when I die, Delaware will be written on my heart and the hearts of all of us — all the Bidens." At one point, he wiped way a tear from his eye.

Your Guide To Super Tuesday IV: Northeastern Edition!

Your Guide To Super Tuesday IV: Northeastern Edition!

Voters in 5 states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island —are hitting the polls today in yet another “Super Tuesday” primary. If you’re following along, either to keep abreast of current events or for pure schadenfreude, we’ve compiled each state’s delegate math and most recent polling to help keep track.

Connecticut 

Each of Connecticut’s five districts awards three delegates winner-takes-all, and the remaining 13 delegates are distributed proportionally based on popular vote, unless one candidate manages to win 50 percent or more of the popular vote, in which case that candidate wins all 13 delegates. If Trump lives up to some of the more ambitious expectations of him (some polls have him at 52 percent of the popular vote), he could manage to take home all 28 delegates.

Even without a majority, Trump will likely dominate the Connecticut primary. Real Clear Politics, which averages multiple polls to make its projections, has the Republican frontrunner up 26 points, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich likely stealing second: he holds 28 percent of the vote, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz trails at a dismal 19 percent (one recent poll suggests Cruz won’t even break 10 percent in Connecticut).

The Democratic Party regulates primary and caucus rules in all 50 states and is significantly more straightforward, logistically: a majority of the delegates are awarded proportionately, assuming runners up win at least 15 percent of the vote, and the remaining delegates are unbound “superdelegates” and can vote for whomever they choose.

Of the 71 delegates up for grabs in Connecticut, 55 will be awarded proportionately based on today’s vote — both Sanders and Clinton are projected to hit the 15 percent threshold. Still, the race will be a close one. RCP has Clinton leading Sanders by only 5.6 points, and one Public Policy Polling survey published yesterday suggests an even tighter race, with Clinton at 48 percent and Sanders at 46 percent of likely Democratic voters.

Delaware

Sixteen delegates are at stake in the Republican primary, awarded on a winner-take all basis. One of the few polls available in Delaware has Trump leading Kasich by 37 points, with Cruz falling to third place.

With little polling data available, the fate of Delaware’s 21 Democratic delegates is anyone’s guess. Clinton leads Sanders in the only available poll, 45 to 38 percent, but as Huffington Post points out, 17 percent of those polled were still undecided.

Maryland

Maryland will award 38 total delegates in today’s Republican primary: three in each of the state’s eight districts, 11 to the candidate who wins a plurality of the popular vote, and three remaining pledged to support the winner. This winner-take-most set-up will likely favor Trump, who has a substantial lead in the state. RCP has Trump up 14 points, and other polls suggest Trump could lead by as much as 20 points. While there’s not a lot of polling data from Maryland, election watchers suggest Kasich will likely come in second, with Cruz falling, yet again, to third place.

There are 95 pledged delegates up for grabs in the Democratic primary, and early data don’t fare well for Sanders, who trails Clinton by 24 points in the latest RCP poll. The analysts over at FiveThirtyEight put Sanders’s chance of winning Maryland at only 2 percent.

Pennsylvania 

Despite sending 71 delegates to the Republican National Convention in July, the winner of the GOP primary will only gain 17 delegates as the result of today’s vote. Yes, that’s two fewer delegates than Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country. Still, Trump will likely win big in the Keystone State, at least in terms of the popular vote. RCP has the frontrunner up 26 points in the polls and a new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll echoes that sentiment, with 45 percent of likely Republican voters supporting Trump. Cruz trails behind at 27 percent of likely voters, and Kasich is just behind him at 24 percent.

Clinton will likely win a majority of Pennsylvania’s 189 pledged delegates. Polls show her leading Sanders by 14 points (54 percent for Clinton, 40 percent for Sanders), thanks largely to the state’s African American voters. Despite receiving an endorsement from the country’s oldest African American newspaper, The Philadelphia Tribune, Sanders is still down among likely black voters; in Pennsylvania, only 29 percent of African Americans support the Vermont Senator, compared with 67 percent who support the former Secretary of State.

Rhode Island

Trump will also dominate Rhode Island, where he holds a 25-point lead. One poll has the business mogul at 61 percent, Trumping Kasich’s 23 percent. Cruz is at a measly 13 percent. Still, Rhode Island is another state with incredibly complicated Republican primary rules: six delegates are awarded proportionately by district, provided a candidate wins at least 10 percent of the vote any given district (there are only two congressional districts in Rhode Island). If a candidate wins over 67 percent of the vote, they receive at least two more delegates. Ten of the remaining 13 are awarded proportionately based on popular vote, and the final three are bound to support the winner of the primary.

On the Democratic side, Rhode Island is shaping up to be an intense fight between Clinton and Sanders. There are 24 delegates at stake, and the polls are at a statistical coin-toss. RCP has Clinton up 2.5 points in the polls, however Public Policy Polling puts Sanders at a four-point lead over Clinton’s 45 percent.

The Takeaway

Trump will walk away from Super Tuesday IV with significant backup for his claim of delegate inevitability. If he sweeps all five states, we’ll surely hear louder calls for Cruz and Kasich to drop out of the race. But don’t expect that to happen anytime soon: both candidates have made it clear they’re in it to undermine the will of the an arbitrarily small plurality of Republican primary voters win it in an eventual open convention.

Despite signs that Sanders may pull off one or two upset victories today, he’s unlikely to put a dent in Clinton’s delegate count. One of Sanders’s biggest weaknesses is his inability to sway black voters in places Pennsylvania and Maryland. While he is also unlikely to leave the race anytime soon, Sanders’s progressive faithful may have to resign themselves to an inevitable Clinton candidacy in the near future.

Photo: Migraine. Pexels/ Gerd Altmann

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