“The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose”  -  Kahlil Gibran  -

If optimism were a campaign run in Delaware then Rose Izzo would be the poster girl.  She defiantly ain’t lookin’ at the thorns surrounding her run for a big ticket office… The House.  This expo will not be especially kind, but neither will her opposition (assuming she ever files and subsequently announces) or the realities of raising her virtual image and enough cash to play this game.  She will learn that meeting the Delaware Republican Committee is not “news” and that not being a Delawarean is news.  As we’ve pointed out in other essays, this is a regrettable mindset of the provincial Delaware voter which we will forever be looking to alter.  But in Rose’s case it is the least of her problems.  What is Rose’s problem is that no one… and I mean no one has a clue as to who this girl is and what it is that makes her believe she can run for, and win, the opportunity to get smoked by John Carney in November.

Well we are gonna take a lookie here and provide a glimpse into this world that Rose’s supporters have probably not made her privy too.  We do believe Rose knows the realities and is way smart enough to face them head on… cause they’re not goin’ away, and neither are we… So here goes, Rose

ROSE IZZO – Peruse her web site – which is the only sight we see of her – and one finds the normal republican mantras;  Cutting taxes (good luck with that one); Smaller government (good luck widdat too);  Family values – when anyone can finally fully explain that awfully broad and hard to pin down political idom?… I mean, don’t we all have family values? …or is this exclusively a GOP vernacular? …as in only conservatives possess such an ideal.  And, of course she trots out …A Strong military.  Now we too favour a strong military, but does Rose, an aspiring leader, possess the knowledge that can take a tag line from rhetorical to refined?  Does she have an accessible command of what the military actually does (besides attack bad guys), and the labyrinth of complexities that are woven throughout our armed services?  Would she be able to provide a well balanced dissertation on SOCOM and its command structure for US special ops deployment?  Can she recite which branches Delta force, Rangers, Green Berets, Night Stalkers and SEALs belong to?  Or provide us her extensive knowledge on the methods and interworking of the highly specialized and mysterious band of ally clandestine entities; Britain’s MI-5 and SIS or Israel’s Masad?    How bout her exploits or knowledge of precisely how the Pentagon operates.  Has she ever been to the Pentagon?  Perhaps we would better suited on hearing her lecture on covert night ops in Kabul.  Or how the 2001 USS Cole incident and the lack of a fierce US response (Both Clinton and Bush 43 were criticized) has been linked as reason for the 9-11 attack.

Why, you ask are we (DE2010)too in such attack mode?  Poor Rose blah blah blah.  Because we tire of the “get tough” on this and “get tough” on that rhetoric that plays well with the public in a sound bite and is repeated by a base that couldn’t answer any of these questions either.  I’m just sayin’ that if you, as a Congressional Candidate are gonna say it you ought to really know what you’re talking about.  Rose Izzo or any other pol.  Maybe you do, Rose, and if so, we surrender the high ground… but be honest.

And lest we forget what may be a harbinger as to her possible political naiveté:  “No back room deals”.  Hmmmm, interesting.  We do have a lil news flash  for Rose… that’s the only room of the house where deals are made… I’m just sayin…  She also has cloaked her online presence and persona around the ghost of the “Gipper”; connecting her own leadership to that of our 40^th president.  Pretty lofty comparison we’d say …pretty ballsy too.   But hey, we all have our heroes, and Ronnie did have a knack for pissing off the Russians and Democrats alike (by somehow linking the party name to his own… Reagan Democrats.

And what analysis of any GOP hopeful would not be complete without the “Fiscal Sanity” tag?  Are we to suppose that those who debate as to what constitutes  fiscal sanity are badly in need of shock therapy?  Hell, maybe they are… lol.  But then again, when one gets past the getting comfy in their DC digs stage they are reminded by reality that things cost money …all things.  And cutting things aint popular …and politicians like being popular…

Now that we’ve got the “tough” part out of the way we would be remiss should we not mention her qualities.  She is well respected, intelligent, congenial and has a huge heart.  Nice features all but with little in the resume department it’s not nearly enough.  We believe she believes in her lofty aspirations and we certainly wish her well.  There are also legitimate merits to the platform she adheres to.  Nobody wants more government and we would all would like lower taxes.  Actually I agree with her Forbes-like stand for a flat tax, but that too will never see the light of day …neither will lower taxes …neither will less government.  We have fed this monster for too long and now it is waaaaaay out of control.  But it doesn’t hurt to make a stand.

We do have some advice for Mrs Izzo.  Get someone professional to produce your site and write your web content.  It’s ok to mention you were not born in Delaware (not really, but we’re being nice) but don’t include when you moved to Pennsylvania and not when you moved to Delaware.  Also, being politically active does not somehow qualify you for Congress.  You seem to run for elected office (5 listed) but not a win in the lot.  And we wouldn’t recommend listing who you supported i.e. Bill Lee (even though we like him and feel he would have made a fine Gov) as it comes off like your support was a qualification and that it in fact mattered. It didn’t.  Try running for County Council, Rose.  Get your feet wet before you attempt to make such a run… k?

Finally, if you are truly serious about your candidacy than you got to hop in the race, lady.  Maybe you can prove us wrong and go from obscurity to Washington.  Miracles do happen but not to a Brooklynite… in Delaware… sorry.   But good luck and thanks for playing.