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Explaining Delaware’s Political Demographics

By: Donald Ayotte (Diary)  |  December 18th, 2010 at 02:04 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I was asked the question.  What do you think is the best type of candidate to run statewide in Delaware?  Of course, I knew the answer immediately but wanted to give it some clear thought.

I will start by explaining the state’s political demographics.  Delaware consists of three counties.  New Castle County is the northern most county and by far the most heavily populated and is very liberal and includes the cities of Wilmington and Newark, which is the home of the University of Delaware, my alma mater.  The middle county is Kent, which includes the city of Dover, Delaware’s Capital,  the home of Dover Air Force Base, a Military Airlift Command.  Kent County is conservative and has generally voted conservative.  The southern county is Sussex County with no cities.  It’s capital is the Town Georgetown and except for its beautiful beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, it is a agricultural community.  Sussex County is very conservative and votes conservative.  Even the registered democrats in Sussex County are mostly conservative.

My answer to the question posed in the first paragraph is that a moderate conservative would not have a difficult time winning a statewide election in Delaware.  This type of candidate could attract most of the republican votes, a good number of Independents and more than a few soft democrats.

Glen Urquhart was the 2010 Conservative Republican candidate for the US House Seat and could have possibly won if it were not for Christine O’Donnell who was at the top of the ticket, running for the US Senate Seat.  Her Primary win, defeating RINO Mike Castle so infuriated moderate republicans within the state, including State GOP Chairman Tom Ross that most of them refused to vote for her, some of them instead voted for the Marxist Chris Coons.  This brought the Delaware Republican Ticket down, trickling to the State House and Senate Seats.

As a republican conservative, I liked O’Donnell immensely but she was unelectable for several reasons.  First the Delaware GOP failed to immediately endorse and support her and pundits like Karl Rove and Charles Krauthammer abandoned her.  Secondly, the moderate conservative republicans in New Castle County were angered and would not vote for her.  Thirdly, she made so many gaffes in media interviews and talk radio shows, that she could not recover.

Our party is in shambles and we must work hard to reorganize before any respectable candidate will think of running for statewide office.  We must first get rid of Delaware GOP Chairman, Tom Ross and help everybody build the structure within their individual districts.  This will be a difficult task.

As a committeeman, I introduced a resolution to the floor of the Sussex County Committee censuring GOP Chairman Tom Ross for his behavior during the election and it passed by a 95 percent verbal vote, and it stands.

The type of person that we need to fill the state chairman’s job will require these qualities to be successful.  This person must be a hard-charger and a powerful self-starter, must possess exceptional interpersonal and communication skills and have strong leadership capabilities.  It is not required that this person “walk on water,” but it might help.

I write this post not to point out Delaware’s political problems but to become the beginning of the answer and start the reorganization process.

A nation can only be disgraced by the failure of its citizenry to take action in the face of tyranny!

Don Ayotte Nov. 2010

COMMENTS

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  • wonkish1

    I’ll admit though I was interested in a little more depth.

    I was particularly curious about the typical profiles of soft Dems in Delaware.

    What are some common views they hold?
    What kind of language appeals to them?
    What type of characters gravitate to them?
    How do you think they are different from soft Dems in other states?

    I guess in this particular instance I’m interested if you could put on your best attempt at being a Frank Luntz of you see developing amongst the populace in Delaware. What are they like, and what themes and characters appeal to them.

  • http://teapartisan.wordpress.com Socrates

    That is an indictment of the Delaware Republican Party.

    Until Republicans are willing to unite and vote for the candidate who wins the primary, Democrats will win.

  • aesthete

    O’Donnell was a candidate who continually failed to perform at her attempts to run for high-profile jobs, was a goldmine for ridiculous statements, and her campaigns had a raft of ethical problems. Blame can certainly be placed on the DE GOP for not being more supportive, but DE conservatives are going to have to find better candidates with records of excellence if they hope to win statewide.

  • wonkish1

    It really was a combination of the 3 reasons that the OP posted.

    Correct me if I’m wrong OP, but Delaware politics doesn’t appear to allow many mistakes at all for the GOP. So any one of those 3 reasons could likely kill a GOP candidate.

    So even if the GOP backed her, the pundits and media stayed out, her gaffes still could have easily caused her to lose. We’ll never know, but I think many will agree that the next candidate at least has to be less gaffe prone because it appears they forgive that a lot more from Democrats(Biden) than Republicans(O Donnell).

  • Donald Ayotte

    That’s what we’re attempting to accomplish. We want to rebuild the party and win elections.
    First we need to elect a new GOP Chairman.

  • wonkish1

    Agrees on that front.

  • http://teapartisan.wordpress.com Socrates

    As long as she isn’t actively out to destroy America as we know it, the Party ought to be backing her.

    Conservatives bite their tongues and support moderates all the time. We find something in the candidate we like and balance that against the threat of losing to the Marxists. The choice is clear.

    Moderate Republicans who refuse to support conservatives or even actively attack them have no one but themselves to blame for their continued losses.

  • Donald Ayotte

    In all three counties there are soft democrats and Independents that will vote for a candidate like Chris Christie or Christine O’Donnell if she were electable.
    The mistake some far right conservatives make is to wear their religion on their sleeves. Most of the people will accept a strong Constitutionalist that will explain that we are losing our civil rights. That is a big subject here in Delaware. The First and Second Amendment are also big subjects.
    As you may know, this state is corrupt and also has a local Cap and Trade bill. The people want to see an honest and good Senator or Representative.

    Soft Dems in Delaware are more like moderate republicans than democrats and we have been able to win them over in the past. Many of the soft dems vote republican when a candidate they like comes around.
    We can win. We just need to unite
    There is no unification in the Delaware Republican Party and an Ideological Civil War has broken out, with minor differences becoming major issues.

  • wonkish1

    Agrees on that, too. Except maybe a small group of folks in the Delaware state party apparatus.

    But on here, you’re just preaching to the choir my friend.

  • Donald Ayotte

    She was just naive to think her charismatic presence would intimidate the liberal media. They set out on a systematic agenda to destroy any credibility she thought to gain. She made it easy for Gannett Communications to destroy on a measured led by Ginger Gibson of The NewsJournal of Wilmington. They took her to the woodshed and worked her over good. They demonized her so badly that her own constituency was making witch jokes and wearing witches costumes on Halloween with O’Donnell placards.

  • http://teapartisan.wordpress.com Socrates

    Democrats hae a much greater margin for error, as Democrats own the mass media. Especially in blue states, this is an advantage we in the new media need to work hard to overcome.

  • Donald Ayotte

    O’Donnell didn’t lose just because the GOP abandoned her, and they did. It was a combination of all three reason that I stated in the post.
    I personally liked Christine but she became her own worst enemy, with the ceaseless gaffes.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    INSIDE the Republican Party by filling up as many of the vacant precinct committeeman slots so they can elect more conservatives to become voting delegates to the state Party committees, as reported at Politico regarding the Minnesota Republican Party:

    In a dramatic display of the new Republican order, Minnesota

  • Donald Ayotte

    Socrates

    I was the first to be outraged when Tom Ross made denigrating statements about O’Donnell and failed to support her. Yes, they are at fault, but it is not the only reason that she was defeated. Her election team failed miserably to put together a ground game, while the democrats bussed in three busloads of out of state college kids to go door-to-door and make phone calls to every democrat in the state and most independents.
    Her campaign was run shabbily. I was hoping she would win because I knew she would vote conservatively. I voted for her and would do it again.

  • aesthete

    1) The margin of error for conservative candidates in blue states like DE is paper thin, and they start off behind the Democrat. Candidates who don’t make mistakes aren’t sufficient: we also need charismatic and engaged candidates to make up for this deficit.

    2) Christine O’Donnell was, for several reasons, not to this standard.

    3) Conservatives need to step up their candidate recruitment game in these states: grabbing the first guy off the street who says he’s conservative isn’t enough.

    4) Further (and in keeping with the point of the OP), blue-state conservatives need to be aware of their states’ character, demographics, and the conservative issues that appeal (and are important) to them. Blue states are not a monolith, and what works in NY might not work in DE.

    5) As a rule, blue state GOP parties are milquetoast, moderate, and will not aid conservatives in their efforts. Conservatives should not limit themselves to complaining, and should actively attempt to co-opt state GOPs to refashion them as effective resources for conservative candidates.

  • wonkish1

    nt

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    This was her third statewide campaign, she hadn’t just fallen off the turnip truck. Yeah, the statewide party didn’t help, but that was the least of her problems. She was most of her problems.

  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    You could supply a lot of good information for Delaware if ytou are so inclined – could you contact me at rsr (at) cartsupport.com and I’ll explain and get your permission to cross-post this.

  • tedpomeroy

    Christine O’Donnell fell into what I call the Goldwater trap.

    The words she used though correct rubbed the ignorant masses of general election voters the wrong way. Goldwater went down because of his choice of words and who emerged with his message well crafted? None other than RR himself.

    O’Donnell was correct to say that separation of Church and State was not in the First Amendment, but unfortunately most voters think it is there. When we try to educate them, they will resent it.

    Prayer in school was an issue in Reagan’s day, how did he say it?
    “Students should acknowledge a Supreme Being at the start of every day”.

    By disarming this issue he was free to do our business, ending inflation etc.

    So once “good candidates” like O’Donnell win primaries, they have to hire the focus group keepers and “package” the words they use. She had the money, she should have hired the likes of Rove.

  • wonkish1

    n/t

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    and should actively attempt to co-opt state GOPs to refashion them as effective resources for conservative candidates.”

    That means actually going to the monthly local Republican Party committee meetings and learning how to become a precinct committeeman, as Donald Ayotte has. If we conservatives all did this, we could take over the Party lock, stock and barrel in every state.

    This is the secret the RINO “leadership” does not want you to know. So I tell you.

    We have more than sufficient numbers of conservatives in America to achieve this. We just seem to lack the know-how and the will.

    Let’s change that.

    Thank you.

    For Liberty,

    ColdWarrior

  • Donald Ayotte

    mbecker908

    After micro-analyzing the whole process and watching it go bad, there were many minor reasons but they pile up to what I posted.

  • Donald Ayotte

    Anything I can do to help reorganize our party. We need all the help we can get. I will e-mail you within the hour.

    Don Ayotte
    Committeeman DE

  • Donald Ayotte

    When a candidate like Christine O’Donnell is lawfully elected by her republican constituents, the GOP leadership should be required to fully support her.
    That is the reason Tom Ross was censured. Ross’ mistake was not only one of non-support but he created an atmosphere of hostility for O’Donnell in Delaware and with the national media.
    She didn’t help the situation very much by completely mismanaging her campaign.

  • Donald Ayotte

    The inner Party fighting and bickering is daily in Delaware’s local blogsites and GOP meetings. Most of this is caused by Tom Ross’ refusal to step down. He is willing to destroy our chances of rebuilding and reorganizing to satisfy his need for power.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    but I’m lazy. :-)

    I know you got a resolution passed asking Ross to step down, but can he be forced out?

    If you’re stuck with him for the foreseeable future, can the party work around him?

  • aesthete

    that have a large political impact that could be retooled for conservative purposes? My understanding is that DE is a hub for several large corps: are there any DE business advocacy groups that could be flipped from moderate to conservative, as an example?

  • Donald Ayotte

    Perhaps I’m too close to the situation to see a clear solution. All feedback that I am getting from my peers here says that Ross must go. The closest date that we can vote him out as a committee, will be April 29 at the Republican Convention at the Dover Downs Rollins Center. I am quite sure that he will be defeated in an election by the committee.
    I usually am able to raise support for campaigning for republicans going door-to -door on Lit Drops. We have a candidate running for the New Castle County Council Presidency. This is a very important position in Delaware. It is the position that Chris Coons occupied before becoming Delaware’s first Marxist Senator.
    The responses that I received from over six-hundred people on my contact list cannot be printed. Myself and a friend went ourselves and campaigned for Tom Kovach.
    The people feel betrayed by the party and the wound in deep and bleeds continuously.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    And it sounds like you will be able to drive a stake through Ross’ heart in April.

    If I were looking for a replacement, I’d look for someone who can bring everybody together and consolidate the organization. In an earlier post you mentioned the House candidate who might have won except for the drag on the ticket by CO’D. I am totally ignorant of the situation you’re in, but I would probably recommend that you focus on winning the House race and get the organization behind that goal.

  • Donald Ayotte

    That House candidate is Glen Urquhart and he would be a great choice for Delaware State GOP Chairman or the US House. He ran a great campaign and is a solid conservative with his feet on the ground. We need a GOP Chair but it is an unpaid position here in Delaware and I am not financially able to do this job pro bono. My name has been mentioned a few times but I’m keeping my head down for now like most everyone I know that would do a great job at this position.
    I hope that Glen Urquhart would consider the US House in 2012.

  • aesthete

    Is there anyone out there trying to make GOP Chair a paid position? That would be one way to broaden choices for the position.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    I’d pull together a diverse group of committeemen and sit down with him. Make him the tipping point.

  • Donald Ayotte

    The issue of Delaware’s GOP Chair being paid has recently been addressed with favorable comments. I was asked how much I would need to take the position. I replied $40,000 a year.
    The position would require at least 40 hours a week and more like 60 hours a week.
    The person that does this job would have to spend at least $20,000 a year in expenses. As I see it, the job is not a difficult one but it would take exceptional interpersonal and communication skills and tons of energy.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Any chance of using that? I don’t know what the predicate election laws say about that, but that would certainly get the party back on it’s feet.

    And as a side benefit, she wouldn’t have it to run again.

  • proudgop

    I think I read somewhere that DE has a 1/3 African American population? This has I am sure played a part in swing towards the Dems so in a state like this we need to work on increasing our voice in that community

    All I will say about Christine is that I hated her and Carly in CA ads and they had same guy doing them. Those sloooow talking black screen ads where poorly made

  • Donald Ayotte

    That money is tied up legally until the complaint that Tom Ross filed with the FEC is cleared up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001845352075 Pete

    I am sure that would help.

    If you insult the only one in Delaware capable of raising an unlimited number of millions of dollars, that will probably work out well.

  • Donald Ayotte

    proudgop

    I’ve been telling the party that we should reach out to both the African American and Hispanics. Both of these groups are mostly Christian and conservative just by the nature of their beliefs. I am also christian and even though I am white, I fall into the same group. I am a strong Constitutionalist anyway but my conservative principles are backed up by my Christianity.
    I seen the ad and although I thought it was effective at the time, after hearing your opinion, I certainly can understand why you would be insulted.

  • Donald Ayotte

    If you go into my profile and see my previous posts. You will see that I addressed that issue on a post called “O’Donnell and the First Amendment.
    Often times we a correct but nobody believes us because of the way we state it or our behavior, while stating the truth.
    I have been guilty of that myself.

    Good Point!

  • http://beaglescout.wordpress.com Beaglescout

    CO’D was a sacrificial lamb, destroyed by the local and national media in a shot across the bow of the Tea Party. She was meant to teach us that “electability” was a real issue, but only if “electable” is taken as a code word to mean “Democrat lite.” Her greatest sin was to be attractive and positive while being an authentic, but politically naive, conservative. Tea Partiers do not want to accomplish the same Democrat agenda, just a little slower, but to revitalize freedom, which has been undergoing the death of 1,000 cuts slowly through the 20th century and more quickly so far in the 21st. The trend must be reversed, not slowed, and not embraced. We Tea Partiers cannot allow the local and national media with its socialist program and plan to choose our candidates for us. The media must be treated like an organ of the Democratic Party that will attack at any opportunity. Republicans and Tea Partiers must never lend any legitimacy to media claims or demands, but must constantly underline the partisan and untrustworthy nature of the press, and how no voter can depend on the lamestream media to publish the Truth, or even the facts of any situation.

  • Donald Ayotte

    COD was set upon by a conspiracy of people that didn’t like her and it came from the top. I also that she was a sacrificial lamb to save the other Tea Party Candidates.
    Partly, there was fear that she couldn’t be bought , if elected. If they can’t buy you, they fear you!!

    On the other hand, she was also her worst enemy, She committed so many gaffes, much to the liberal media’s pleasure that a feeding frenzy ensued and consumed her.

  • http://beaglescout.wordpress.com Beaglescout

    I’d like to see a listing and analysis of the gaffes so future candidates can avoid or neutralize them.

  • wonkish1

    “I am not a witch.”
    “Mike, put your man pants back on.”
    The masturbation comment a while back

    I know there were a lot more during the campaign, but most went in one out the other if you catch my drift.

  • Donald Ayotte

    The most damaging gaffe that she done was on WGMD 92.7 Radio Talk Show with Dan Gafney.
    He set her up and skewered her intentionally. He was ready for her to trip up and a tape of the interview exists on the radio stations website but I don’t have it here.
    It is brutal to listen to. A google search will produce it handily.

  • johninohio

    I suggest that the lack of knowledge and experience (not just experience, but absorbed experience) that Chrisitine displayed in all her gaffs are what ultimately lead to her defeat. Because of this, her gaffs undermined people’s confidence in her intelligence, sophistication, and ability to think on her feet. How would she hold up to the pressure and deceipt coming from, not just Democrats, but also from fellow RINOs in Congress? Would it have been easy for the establishment Reps to, as Lott forecast, “co-opt the TEA party…” Congresswoman?

    I suspect that she fell victim to a very common narrowness of insight into other people’s mentality. I’ve been guilty of it myself, where you speak to others as though they are just like you. It could be due to a combination of laziness and conceipt. I believe people like RR are successful because they have the ability to size up their audience or target demographic very quickly, then tailor their words, tone, body language, etc. for greatest effect.

    These are the kind of conservatives we need to run for office.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    This was her third statewide campaign. I’ll agree with the argument that this one was much more heat than both of the others put together, but still she should not have been making rookie gaffes.

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001845352075 Pete

    Otherwise, no.

  • aesthete

    Where did you see mbeck insult Mark Levin or Rush Limbaugh?

  • gekster

    Didn’t see you yesterday.
    By the way, Miss Christine isn’t running for anything right now, and the election is over.
    I wish you could deal with it.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001845352075 Pete

    Don, your analysis overlooks the fact that Democrats in Delaware have registered 110,000 more Democrat voters than Republicans have registered. And that is in a small state of only 900,000 people.

    It appears that the growth in Delaware’s population has consisted of people moving from Democrat-dominated States and increasaing the Democrat dominance of Delaware’s electorate increasingly in recent years.

    You write that “a moderate conservative would not have a difficult time winning a statewide election in Delaware.”

    While this might possibly happen, it would take a great deal more to overcome a 110,000 vote advantage of Democrats than simply a moderate conservative..

    The question is why would Delaware’s 293,817 vote for a Republican instead of a Democrat?

    Delaware’s 146,925 voters registered as “other” are obviously not happy with either party, including not being happy with the Republican Party.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

  • Donald Ayotte

    I did omit that fact and I’m glad that you brought it up. Thanks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001845352075 Pete

    While I think Glen would be a great choice for State GOP Chair, Glen indicated a different insterest on Saturday, when he asked me to set up some meetings for him.

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001845352075 Pete

    I arranged for Senator George Allen to promote Glen Urquahart during Allen’s appearance on Fox News. Unfortunately, it did not produce the kind of money for GLen that Christine O’Donnell raised.

    Many candidates went on Rush and Mark Levin. Although it did help their fund-raising, not anything like what Christine raised.

    In any event, it is Christine who is holding the mailnig list.

    So I am sure you will go far by pissing her off

  • gekster

    The horse is dead.
    Christine isn’t running for anything, and has no plans to.
    Give it a rest allready.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Very, very as a matter of fact. You set the standard.

  • Donald Ayotte

    I was putting the idea out there to see if he might be interested. We’ll have to keep looking. He ran a great campaign and beat the GOP’s pick in the primary.

  • gekster

    I’m tired of nts

  • Donald Ayotte

    I see Pete came to this thread. I guess he wasn’t humiliated enough on his own.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    He posts, we post an appropriate video or graphic. Words are no longer necessary.

    Troll feeding is done.

  • gekster

    We realy shouldn’t be picking on the mentally handicapped.
    God wont like us diong that.

  • aesthete

  • earlgrey

    I really liked it!