SHOCKING!, I SAY.  A STAGGERING TURN OF EVENTS!  GET OUT!  WHO WOULD’VE THUNK IT?  A COMPLETE AND UTTER SURPRISE, THIS IS!

Michele Rollins has us all flabbergasted.  She pre-announced her candidacy (with Jud Bennett…WTF) for a run at the US Congress!!!!!  Wow!  We had no idea.  What a curveball.  Is it true?

Yep.  Take it to the bank, folks; The Grand Cougar threw her name into the hat today and sent a couple of wannabes over to the Logan House for Double Grey Goose shots w/Red Stripe chasers.  Interestingly enough the kitchen crew of the Loho was preppin’ some Jerk Chicken in anticipation of the early arrivals; perhaps as a portent to some future early departures?…lol.   Speaking of which, Fred Cullis was the first to show- carrying with him his departure from the race in the form of a satchel containing his endorsement for Mama.  Gotta love a guy who caves that early.  Must be a handwriting expert or somethin’, or got a piping hot dish of Quid Pro Quo served to him earlier in the day or a promise of a lifetime supply of RBB (really big buttons).  Regardless, Fred ain’t no fool (buttons aside) and caught the first train out.  Wasn’t to Washington, but hey, it was the Acela.  There were some other faces at the bar as well but they was wearin’ Ray-Bans.  Drink up boyz.

One persona who saved the 2 hr drive and the petrol money (to pay for his spiffy new consultants) was Papa U (oh, sorry, Glen Urquhart for all you newbies).  He feels the shine these days and ain’t concedin’ nothin’…  So he sits back in Rehoboth tonight and works on plans to not get smoked in the primary… I’m just sayin’.   K-Wade ain’t opting out either, although he was seen smackin’ down the chicken.  He got himself some sporty new consultants too and they’ve got him fired up; for what we don’t know… but he is fired up.

Mama Rollins is the name of the hour.  She’s got the game, the cash, the glam, and the King’s support.  Yeah, we know… ain’t no such thing as a sure thing (Just ask John Carney), but Glen and K will have to ratchet it up a ton to climb in the winners circle after what is shaping up to be a pretty good primary.

Carney will watch, of course, as he still has to get past Scott Spencer (feature appearing here next week).  John will take – or talk – nothing for granted anymore and will take Spencer seriously (he should).  But his eyes are squarely on the Grand Dame.

So are everyone else’s.

Welcome to the Delaware beaches.  The nations vacation spot.  Fun in the sun.  Dolles and Grottos.   On lazy summer nights the sunburned mass of humanity cruises the boards in Coca Cola style lapping up their quickly melting mountain of Kohr’s frozen custard or with napkin in hand, inhaling entire “Nic-o-bolis”  with mouths opening just short of dislocation.  And on chance that the dolphins dance, there is a spectacle of fins and flapping kites much to the children’s delight.

Further up – or down – the coast the surf fisherman angle their Garcia’s and Penn’s in hope’s of landing a record “Blackfish”.   Whoa!  What, you may ask is a “Blackfish”?  You mean Bluefish, don’t ya?  Ain’t never heard of no Blackfish.

Well, the entire eastern seaboard may soon be one Capt. Hazelwood perfect storm away from painting the whole beach with one long black oily stroke.  Black Gulls and sandpiper’s and bathers no longer in need to oil up with Coppertone.  At least the colour is slimming… or is it sliming?

And what could cause such a Cimmerian scenario?  A hint: take a Black and Decker drill, put it on anabolic steroids and place it on a platform miles off the coast and away from the consciousness of the Suburban driving public.   Sarah Palin (remember her…lol) was crucified for uttering the words “Drill Baby Drill” during her ill fated campaign run.  We as a country were driving past our need for a pic line of foreign oil, weren’t we?  F$$$ the middle east crude pushers, we were goin green… weren’t we?    Hybrids, Solar roofs, Ethanol tax credits, Hydro and Wind.  Hell, we’re even recyclin’.

Seems we had another 180 in Washington as it applies to offshore drilling and now the left – at least on this issue – resembles more the right.  After battling tooth and nail Bush 43’s offshore petro agenda just two short years ago, The O’Biden’s have floated out their own derricks claiming they provide a more balanced ballast.  In Poli-speak; yes, we changed our minds, now support the drill; but it is better and safer and more “balanced” than W’s.  Uh huh.  Says you.  Come on guys, give us a Barack…er, I mean… break.

Against the irate and irascible opposition by those soon to be drilled coastal legislators, the White House is now proposing drilling for more than just oil.  They are drilling to see if they strike any strong and viable support for placing some really big albatrosses a mere 3 miles (is that nautical?… like it matters) off the coastlines of Florida, Georgia, SC, NC, VA, Maryland, Bethany, Jersey, Conn, RI, New Hampshire and Kennebunkport.   But hey, it’s something we need to do to help “reduce our dependence on foreign oil”.  Where have we heard that before?  Our own Sen. Ted Kaufman has broken with party oilers Biden and Carper to blast the proposal citing spill risks that affects could reek havoc to both the environment and tourism should the unexpected come calling.   He don’t believe these reserves are sufficient to stem any tide… just make the tide blacker.  He ain’t alone.  It also awoke a slumbering John Carney today and has him calling out the White House a lil… and we mean a lil.  He left some “we need to “reduce our dependence blah blah blah” wiggle room. But the O’Biden’s now got a civil skirmish brewin’ on Silver Lake.

God forbid we have those wind driven eyesores within a binoculars reach of Dewey.  But give me one of them Gulf of Mexico behemoths (that they evacuated during Katrina).  Now that is a postcard.  Especially if ya like your burger with some Thrasher’s and a lil pint of Havoline.

So we have another in the series of hot buttons rainin’ down on the mid-term boyz; favourites and pretenders alike.  This, like health care is a big one.  We’d like to hear from those who’s political engines are revvin’ up on the tarmac waitin’ for their Delaware to DC commuter flight to depart.  We would love to hear from King Mike, Mama Rollins (when she graces us all with her already made up mind) and Chris Coons; in addition to Urquhart, Cullis, Wade, Izzo (she carries a craftsman w multiple bits), Wangen, and Campbell, give us all the pleasure of knowing precisely where they come down on the issue.  We’d ask Miss Tetley, but we know she’s plannin’ on homesteadin’ on one of them bad boys… at least till the FEC leaves town.   And we know where Scott Spencer stands: out on the boat harassing the platforms construction efforts, looking every bit like Ahab, replete with fuel injected harpoons.  No, we can tell you all where Scott stands and you won’t need an ear to the ground to hear him.   At least he will tell you exactly where he stands… an it ain’t gonna be on the drilling platform.

Speak up candidates.  This is, as Joe likes to say; A BIG F’N DEAL.  The voters got their ears to the ground too.

It’s that time of year, folks.  The signs are all popping up.  Brackets…lots of brackets. Office pools, trips to the Mandalay Sports Book in Vegas, and 2 days of total immersion into ESPN and CBS Sports as to follow every 5-12 upset and budding Cinderella Story.  We are talking about the NCAA Basketball tournament aka MARCH MADNESS.  An event that transcends the sport and acts as a vortex in drawing – for two days anyway – millions of business Americans into its feverous climate.

It also produces 2 days that wont go down as contributing a F’n thing to the GNP as no one…I mean no one has as his or her mission on Thursday and Friday anything other than to log into ESPN, CBS SPORTS; hooking up their Blackberry’s, iPhones , and HTC’s to witness firsthand their hoops prognosticating prowess taking shape.  It is madness.  It is awesome.  It also has prompted many a business to shut off access to company computers in attempt to siphon a dollop of productivity from their employees.  It also produces a number of upsets that confound the pundits and ruin the brackets of even the most knowledgeable fan.

Now we thought that in the spirit of the tournament we would offer our own Delaware political version of March Madness replete with the bracketing, match-ups and the chance to pick some upsets.  There of course doesn’t exist 64 candidates or even a Sweet Sixteen (but give the repubs time and they might get there)  But we do have the what be believe to be fair seedings and pairings.  So have a look pour a beer and pick ‘em.

SENATE

It’s a short field in the Senate with prohibitive favourite Mike Castle the Class of the field.    The early round game with Miss Tetley will be like Kansas playing West Chester; no upset here.  Coons may have the other bracket to himself but there are rumblings that another soul may suit up.  So we’ll call this one for Coons setting up A Villanova – Georgetown 1985 scenario whereas a perfect game would be needed by Coons to upset the King… and we all know how that game turned out.

Seeds

1. Mike (The King) Castle
2. Chris (The ax man) Coons
3. Christine (I’m a real candidate) O’Donnell
4. Guess who?

Castle vs O’Donnell - An unlikely upset scenario.  Tetley’s got prettier Uniforms and looks the cheerleader herself.  The king’s got better scouts and executes to a tea.  He also has Cougars in the band.

Coons vs Guess Who – The mystery Candidate may remain a mystery… may not.  But Coons plays all 94’.

HOUSE

The repubs have made this an interesting bracket due to the number of players and the presence of the female Bobby Knight lurking in the locker room.

SEEDS

1. MICHELE ROLLINS
2. GLEN URQUHART
3. FRED CULLIS
4. KEVIN WADE
5. BRENT WANGEN
6. DOUG CAMPBELL
7. ROSE IZZO

Wade vs Izzo – the winner gets the right to face The Grande Dame in Round two

Urquhart  vs  Campbell – the Old man Conservative against the Constitution.  The Constitution was potent at one time  but in the shredder recently.  Plus Glenn has the storied past and a tougher schedule.

Cullis vs Wangen – Similar styles here but the nod goes to the rifleman

On the Dems bracket there is but one game on tap.

Carney vs Spencer  – this is a match-up that is reminiscent of any team who has ever faced a Petey Carril coached Princeton team in the first round.  The talent wasn’t always equal; but the pace, coaching, and intelligent deliberate style made the Tiger’s a tough out.  Spencer = UCLA?   Interesting possibility.

So we begin the Delaware March to Madness.

UPDATED 2/19: Press Release from Tony Wedo

What’s that you say?…

You could’ve sworn you heard some a high pitched celebratory squeals coming from the three counties?  Can’t make out the voices but you’re certain they are men… and very gleeful men at that.  And now you hear that there has been a sighting of these same middle aged gentlemen (one thin, one heavy, one non-descript) doing an Irish jig on a banner that once read PRETENDERS… and they are delirious.

WTF!  What could possibly have transpired that would cause grown men to act in such juvenile fashion?  Do you know?  WEDO.

“DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD” “DRINKS ON THE HOUSE… GOP voters, that is”…

These political munchkins are responding to the breaking news – exclusive as it is to DE2010 – that Anthony Wedo has reached into the GOP’s fedora and pulled his name out.  You heard it here first, folks with 100% confidence… Wedo has decided against a run for the House of Representatives.  Yep… take it to the bank.  The ensuing statement and/or press conference will be cursory and littered with some most palpable explanations: Timing, Family, Business etc… but there will be more questions than answers.  We will digest and revisit, you can count on that.

In the meantime, the floodgates of golden possibilities for those most likely to benefit – Fred Cullis, Kevin Wade, and a former shadow that seems to be manifesting into a hard assed candidate before our very eyes… Glen Urquhart; a Sussex stalwart who may have the background and enough DRF (in Sussex anyway) to hit the scene with a bullet.  It’s gonna be interesting.

But the podium and the forum belong to the man that had been penciled in as, at the very least, solid new GOP blood with all the markings of the player for 2010.

What his sudden and soon to be explained departure will do to this now wide open primary is anyone’s guess.  The next few weeks will tell the tale.  But for the moment let us wish Mr. Wedo well in whatever his future does hold.

So we do bid you au revoir Tony… as do the Three standing Musketeers.  Well, after they finish celebrating standing may prove a lil difficult.

A final note:  Quietly rejoicing tonight with a cocktail and a sigh of relief will be one John Carney.

The label “Pretender,” while not exactly a term of political endearment, does – if one is truly objective – have a way of shedding light on the prospects of the said candidate.  Analogous to what any thoroughbred handicapper does to determine the order of finish of any particular race, it is a subjective tool to properly analyze how the horse will most likely compete against the rest of the field.  The pedigree and past performances give the bettor insight as to what ponies have the edge and which ones are long shots.  A political race has many similarities to the ponies.

With respect to the current and crowded field being assembled for the primary run at the GOP Congressional nod, there has been some problem loading them all into the gate.  There is some issue with exactly who the official entries are, and when – and if – the rest of the field will be announced so the party can call to the post.  Only 2 out of a field of 5 has been ushered into the gate to date.  One would be in the person of Fred Cullis.  A larger than life – and I mean larger – figure who while not having a  political resume, name recognition, fundraising prowess, or remote chance in the general, could actually benefit at this time due largely to the fact that any semblance of a heavy hitter has yet to emerge to usher him back to a leader? of the rest of the pack status.   At least he did, through the power of self lending, cough up the 5G’s to qualify as an “official” entry.  Ya gotta give him credit for that as the remaining band members – save for one-  have yet to anty up.

So for now he finds himself A bit of an early player.

So let’s take a gander at this Uncle Fester-like bear of a pretender

Fred Cullis comes with business sense and long corporate resume.   Never a bad trait when looking for a candidate.  This of course does not set him up for the House, but it does show he possesses a grasp of structure and logistics and has some measurable people skills.  However, he has a penchant for showing up in a Top Hat and some ridiculously BIG buttons –and what’s up with the trench coat? –  to best draw attention to himself.  Yo, Fred… ya don’t need that hook, bro.  Substance, not show.

He is not considered a genuine player within the party but is well liked.  Hey, another good politico trait.  When we roll over his site we find at least some elaboration on the bullet (like that word, don’tcha, Fred ) points of his agenda.  There is a healthy diet (don’t like those words we’re certain) of same ‘ole  same ‘ole partisan rhetoric – all framed in Common sense, of course.  It is these very colloquialisms that endear the deeply partisan tea drinkers that make up a hefty portion of his fan base.  Ah, the rhetoric.  Immigration: interpretation;  he ain’t courtin’ the south of the boarder vote and he ain’t maskin it even a lil.  But hey, at least he can drive through Elsmere without worry of a ticket.  Prob gets free pastry from Serpe’s too.  He avoids the standard “Fiscal Sanity” by masking it as Federal Spending… A rose by any other name.  We too are for balance budgets, but are realistic enough to know that the bureaucracy don’t run on Kool Aid.  But at least he gives us his breakdown of the issue with the numbers and what he would do to fix it.  Energy – We will give him some props on at least intelligently looking at alternative sources but still believe he is a Drill in Hybrid’s clothing.

Lawyers Guns and Money – on this issue he will play well to the right and tea drinkers.  The Second amendment is a hot button issue that can divide a room quicker that Cigar smokers lightin’ up em mass.  We don’t have an issue with the Second amendment and think there’s a genuine balance… something the left don’t even wanna talk about.

We would be remiss should we not mention Fred is a genuinely charitable fellow.  From his work with the Sunday Breakfast Mission to the Brandywine Senior Center, these, while affording him tremendous political photo ops, are for real.  We can’t get cynical when we believe its authentic.  And say what you will about him being a pretender politically – and we do – he would be better served as head of any large charitable organization… I know, I got soft.

But the softballs end there as the picture – as we see it – that gets painted in our mind of Fred Cullis is still that of a wannabe.  A good one, a whacky one, but a wannabe nonetheless.  That he has much more on the ball that say… Rose, is a given; but a legitimate player for a House seat he is not.  Not even the favourite should Wedo of Copeland remain in self captivity.  Fred plays, well, kinda like Ross Perot did – perceived straight talk, no bullshit, I feel your pain, hell with the illegal’s,  Lock ‘em all up, Drill drill drill, meet me at the local diner, and wrapping himself up as the Uncle Fester  of every value Mr. and Mrs. Middle America could ever dream of.  The Tea drinkers love him and that’s enough to take him out of any measurable mainstream political consciousness.  It is what it is.

But at least he did come up with the 5G’s to get in the race which makes him official.  But we suggest he take some of that booty and buy himself a clue.  His best bet is to hope Tony or Chuckie stay off the trail, because even if they should vaporize before our eyes he still is not the favourite amongst the rest of the band.

Dream on Fred and stick to what your best suited for… Charity.  You ain’t goin’ to Washington but you can keep making a difference to those in need right here in Delaware.

The bright light of his campaign as it turned out was just the floodlights bouncing of that shiny pate.  Your future – in this race- isn’t that bright where you need shades, but at least you brought a lil something to the table.

We wish ya luck, Fred.

Most of us remember the name of one of the most influential bands from the 70’s and their razor edged female lead, Chrissie Hynde.  The Pretenders were high octane and remain in spirit as relevant and revered as they were in their heyday.

This description hardy applies to our current crop of Congressional pretenders as they remain virtually anonymous and at times no more than a blip on the political radar.  While these figures are rife with ambition and good intentions, they can only dream at the moment of becoming what Chrissie referred to in one of the Pretenders earlier hits, “Talk of the Town”.  There would, or could be such talk if in fact any was being generated by any measurable buzz emanating from the respectful camps of Rose Izzo, Fred Cullis, Scott Spencer, Kevin Wade, Brent Wangen, and Doug Campbell.  To date only Fred Cullis (loaning himself the 5g’s to get in), and Kevin Wade with his 3 county declaration jaunt have even announced officially that they in fact are running.

The rest have seemed to be dabbling in the waters of a race with the obligatory Campaign photos – replete with stars, stripes and stock tag lines… nothing terribly creative – serviceable web sites, will anyone ever get a professional – I mean a real one – to orchestrate a serious web presence? – and some loyal followers giving it the old college try in efforts to hit the blogs in defense of their man/woman.  This is all well and good, but they (or most) are in essence giving us the non – run run.  They say they are running; have the campaign buttons on order (when they can afford to pick them up) and are by all accounts off and running… well, kinda

Hey, guys… if your genuinely serious then hop in with both feet.  That’s not too much to ask… is it?  Take out a loan or something.

So we will take a take a look at the extras on all these babies over the next week to better shed some light into the list of hopefuls.  We will provide each candidate our version of the “15 minutes”…DE2010 style over the next few weeks.  We feel that anyone who gives public office (especially the House of Representatives) a shot – even should there exist no logical shot at the job – deserves to be featured …at least a lil.   And if any should fall off the map in the meantime? …then it just wasn’t meant to be, now was it?

Since it is apparent the respective candidates are operating in somewhat of a vacuum, and what little the public – or anyone else – knows can be picked up on their site (unless you are already a strong supporter who has sat in a “Back Room” with one or more of this cast), we will present them to you in our own way.

Hey, we’ll be fair and balanced.  Now where the hell have we heard that before, eh?

AND IN THE ON DECK CIRCLE AND BATTING FIRST… ROSE IZZO.  See ya tomorrow, Rose.

A final note:  We will in addition over this time maintain our focus on the Big Ticket Names as those with punch, money, and excess of DRF, position themselves for the run at the roses.  Perhaps we may even be graced with an announcement or two from the Brooks Brothers.  We would love to feature y’all, that is when you guys actually become  candidates.  The fence must be a mighty cold place to be this time of year …lol.

For anyone who’s ever played poker, whether it be in a friendly – or not so friendly – basement Friday night game, testing your Texas Hold ‘Em prowess at Poker At the Beach, or facing down Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey in the World Series Of Poker at the Bellagio in Vegas, you know that you have to pony up the cash to play and show your cards when called.

What’s the callers point?

That politics mirror poker in many respects i.e. needing the green to play, holding your cards close, the art of the bluff, and when to challenge your opponent with a sizable bet to force his/her hand.  It’s all part of the game and the really good players know when to go all in.

So with that said we turn focus to  the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) release of it’s latest filing of the campaign finance reports; analysis of the campaign war chests as it applies to Delaware’s  Candidates (players who have officially announced) for both the House and Senate seats.  Here we see precisely where the various contributions emanate and provide us a map as to where the players support lies and how it might – or will – mirror their respective legislative agendas.  It gives us an idea as to who the players really are, and because filing as a candidate requires a nominal $5000 as a buy in, it kinda exposes those pretenders who couldn’t even come up with the scratch to play the first hand.   If one announces – which a few pretenders have – and don’t appear in this report it states for the record that they couldn’t see the 5 G’s…  Now how the hell ya gonna give the race a whirl if ya even get 5 grand?  Fair question.  Some may still be in the “testing the waters” phase but those that have pulled the trigger and are actively campaigning are highlighted below:

Senate Race

Mike Castle has raised a total of $1,337,001 and spent a total of $500,729, leaving him with a cash on hand total of $1,699,015. Mike has 50/50 split in PAC contributions vs individual contributions. Some top contributors include the law firm of Young Conway Stargatt & Taylor ($22K), BoA, E&Y, Deloitte, NY Life, PwC ($10K each). Finance, Insurance and Real Estate industries were most widely represented in Mike’s total reporting with the total contributions at $234K. PACs represented around $426K in total contributions.

Christine O’Donnell on the other hand has (surprise, surprise) missed the deadline yet again to file her report. Without going into the details and simply referring you to Judson Bennett’s latest tirade into the utter disorganization of her campaign (and personal life), we will simply say that she’s not sitting pretty, however her most recent filing from almost one year ago had $123K raised and $120K spent.

House Race

On over the US House race… John Carney is the only one to have a formal announcement and anything notable in the bank.  JC has raised a total of $714,897 and spent $183,569, leaving him with a cash on hand total of $531,327 as of December 31st. PAC contributions for John represent 26% of money raised leaving 73% representing the individual donors. Like King Castle, a top donor is the law firm of Young Conaway with $12K in the hole among the unions – pipefitters, plumbers, longshoremen, electrical workers, laborers, machinists, sheet metal, teamsters, etc.

A blip on the radar screen is Republican Fred Cullis, who loaned himself the $5100 filing fee but hasn’t raised any money as of the end of the year.

Our Analysis

What the most recent reporting illustrates is the disparity between the haves and have not’s – not necessarily a good thang – and that it requires gobs of booty to not only play the game but win it as well.   Castle has scared off most of the competition with a can’t miss tag and Grand Canyon pockets.  Miss Tetley  has raised some for certain but lacks the capacity to truly increase her war chest or her paltry mob appeal.  But we, like most every informed – or even uninformed – constituent are gonna beat Fox News to the punch and call the race for King Michael.   We know he hates to read that, but the facts are the facts, Mike.

Now the race for the House is another boiling kettle of fish entirely.  There blows the wind of an uber expensive and heated primary  – Wedo will match Copeland buck for buck and then some and threaten party unity – in what could be the most expensive and heated primary in our state’s history.  And that might just be the precursor to the most expensive – and heated –  general election for the House in the First State’s history,  so whoever emerges from the September war will have to refill their tank – and in a hurry – to compete with the well funded and popular front running Carney.  My, how money talks and it can be a rather loquacious and powerful ally.

If you wanna play, ya gotta pay the band.

A race – any race – isn’t always about the money… but it helps… BIG TIME.