All joking aside, what is Alan Levin thinking?
You have to wonder about Alan Levin at this point. Is his heart really in this race? Apparently he was on some panel at the University of Delaware recently claiming that we need to continue to make all of Ruth Ann Minner’s myopic mistakes with regard to economic development (e.g. focus on Fortune 500 companies who will come here for a quick buck and drop us like a $90 Las Vegas whore as soon as Michigan lowers it’s corporate tax rates by another 1 point 5 %) but that is it. He is truly invisible. When you google him it is as if DOUG WILLIAMS of the NJ is struggling to keep his name in the paper out of sheer Protack hatred.
Some say that Levin really is getting cold feet based on the utter futility of the race and the fact that Protack has not been driven from the field. His thinking seems to be that losing to Markell is one thing, but doing so after enduring a close win over Protack in the primary would be just too much work.
Frankly, if I’m a Levin supporter right now – I’m getting a bit nervous. Protack has bounced back from a potentially career killing scandal and shows no signs of letting up while Levin has yet to put his shoes on.
The new Delawareliberal O/U for Mike P is 44% – takers?
DelawareLiberal.Net 
December 5, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Under.
December 5, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Our Channel 28 shows start tomorrow, Health Care the number one issue in the state.
Here are the dates and times for channel 28
Thurs Dec 6, 3pm
Thurs Dec 6, 7:30
Thurs Dec 6 6pm
Friday Dec. 7 2:30pm
Friday Dec. 7 11am
Sat. Dec. 8 9am
Sat. Dec. 8 5pm
Monday Dec. 10, 10:30am
Thurs Dec. 13 3pm
Thurs Dec. 13 7:30 pm
Thurs Dec. 13 6pm
Friday Dec. 14 2:30pm
Friday Dec. 14 11am
Sat . Dec.15 9am
Sat. Dec 15 5pm
Monday Dec. 17 10:30am
Life is very good right now.
December 5, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Be sure to pay in advance for your TV time, Mikey!
December 5, 2007 at 10:55 pm
62% Americans want a partial or total overhaul of the health care system, sounds like a winner to those who want to win.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a GOP candidate who can take this issue away from the opposition?
December 5, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Dave
What is the plan with Levin? Why are you keeping him under wraps?
December 5, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Hey Dave, Protack can always borrow a few bucks from Lofink.
December 5, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Doh! A two-fer.
December 6, 2007 at 1:45 am
Hat’s off, good blogging.
i’m betting you nailed Levin’s motives. Both of them….
From those of us who deal with ideas, it is nice to find one who takes issues more seriously than himself…..
I can’t see that with Levin…He might as well throw in the towel as you suggest, because at this point, no one will vote for him…
Mike has convinced me of his sincerity, and if sincerity were what made one a winner, I would place Protack tied up there with Markell..
December 6, 2007 at 5:42 am
No one wants to be the party’s sacrificial lamb. Those who do are usually ‘paying dues’ for future consideration for office. Levin doesn’t appear to be so politically ambitious that he’s willing to get slaughtered in this upcoming Governor’s race so he can run for something else next time around.
I don’t blame the guy. Plus, it would be pretty entertaining to see Protack get the GOP slot by default.
December 6, 2007 at 7:12 am
Under, and I’m wagering my children.
December 6, 2007 at 8:05 am
WAY under. The Republican Party is facing a meltdown with a singularly unattractive field of presidential candidates. Without someone other than less-than-hardy perennial Mike Castle carrying the banner statewide, they face not only losing the State House of Reps, but perhaps losing it by a significant margin. The powers-that-be simply will not allow a Mike Protack, who the Party itself has dismissed as a gadfly and an annoyance, to be its standardbearer. (Of course, that might lead to yet another divisive primary that yields the same result, but I digress…)
December 6, 2007 at 8:09 am
Wouldn’t Mike Castle be the “Republican” standardbearer?
Oh, that’s right. It is going to be tough for him to wave the Elephant flag while running (for all intents and purposes) as a Democrat.
December 6, 2007 at 8:21 am
God bless a country where everyone is entitled to the expression of their own opinion, no matter how wacky.
Plus, I can’t tell if kavips is joking or serious. He’s not usually sarcastic, but he couldn’t possibly be serious to make that comment.
December 6, 2007 at 8:33 am
Good morning-
A few key points.
The ability of a few to deny anyone the nomination is over. Paying your dues and having a few insiders determine the winner is a fine concept but in the face of overwhelming losses by the GOP that concept has been rendered obsolete.
The Delaware demographic picture has changed quite a bit and it would take a long time to explain it but the old formula doesn’t work anymore for the GOP. That isn’t my verdict- it is the verdict of the voters.
As for running as a Democrat (Jason’s comment). I gladly accept the fact that I support the following things: health care, education and economic growth. I differ with Democrats on how to make those things happen given my wariness of the government.I am a blue collar guy who pays union dues doing a white collar job. An interesting mix.
I will stick to the issues. Others can feed off the negative but I don’t have time for that nonsense. It doesn’t matter what to me how often or how I am attacked. The issues I am raising are winners and I am supremely confident.
Thanks
December 6, 2007 at 9:00 am
Mike-
The ability of a few to gain the nomination has never worked. You never been able to convince more than a few delegates that you were a viable candidate, and you know as well as I do that the people who go to that convention are volunteers – painting them as insider puppets of Strine is a bald faced lie.
You have never been able to convince a majority of primary voters to vote for you. The closest you came still had you losing, and that was with much lower turnout than in previous elections. In 2004, you had 5108 votes for 23.5%; in 2006, your “breakthrough” year, you got 5771 votes. What that tells me in that you got out the vote well against a candidate who had trouble articulating a position on anything other than immigration. But 600 extra people aren’t going to win you squadoosh, especially if you can’t answer the numerous charges about your finances and back debt relating to your previous runs for office. You’d better make time for “that nonsense,” because failure to pay your bills is a crime, and supreme confidence isn’t a defense.
December 6, 2007 at 11:27 am
Don’t get MP’s hopes up just yet, he’s had a couple good weeks from a small media circuit with nothing to talk about giving this broke joke some free press. Furthermore, Protack, I wouldn’t vote for you because of the simple fact that you blog with the rest us. It’s pathetic. Aren’t you a canidate? Canidates don’t blog, they have better things to do! And they certainly don’t waste their time creating fake names, like this one. I like this one, i’m going to use it for now on, i got it from DEonline, you used it yesterday for that article williams wrote, don’t lie! Your so frickin’ obvious! This isn’t the first time your alias had the word tru in it. Keep up the hard work, but dont don’t this small circle of 500 or so, and that may be pushing it, political “experts” think you may have a chance. 95% of delaware never even heard of delawarelib etc.
December 6, 2007 at 12:02 pm
So, you are taking the “under” then?
December 6, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Under. If Protack was smart he would run as an independent. But obviously at this point in his political career its more about a personal vendetta with the republican party and not the great state of Delaware.
December 6, 2007 at 9:27 pm
No one who is smart would run as an independent in Delaware unless he/she has a lot of money and a compelling issue.
You guys want to run against Protack, be careful what you wish for. He could be the type of populist to rewrite the map.
December 6, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Levin is stronger than you guys think. He built organization in the off year and got some name recognition. That is how you get a good start. People don’t pay a great deal of attention until after January.
December 6, 2007 at 10:23 pm
In my humble opinion Mr. Levin should assume the state R. chair and use his magic and moola to knit the party back together.
Terry Spence or Charlie Copeland should throw themselves on their swords for the party and run for governor. It is my understanding that both are too pussy to do the deed. If one or the other of these jokers does not assume the position in the next election (2010) the R. party should withdraw its support and run challengers against them.
It’s time for R.s to get serious and become more disciplined and get a statewide strategy for the next decade.
If I were Mr. Levin I would not be the sacrificial lamb and let R. bunch of gutless wonders lead me to the slaughter.
Run, Alan, Run….away from the ones trying to throw you to the wolves. Wait and run for Biden’s seat once he is appointed to a cabinet job. In the meantime go get yourself a St. Bernard…this is a tried and true campaign strategy that worked for years in Delaware.
December 7, 2007 at 12:14 am
RickJ,
The only person more irrelavant than you in this process is RW.
I don’t understand your infatuation with me but I find it humorous.
The comments on this and any blog takes .01% of my time. Plus, if I didn’t do it you would say I was hiding.
Again, I am supremely confident and content.
December 7, 2007 at 1:00 am
As a recent Levin convert I will say, if Levin runs, no one is going to be “throwing him to the wolves”…. he’s no Ting. If he steps in, he knows what he’s doing. It’s going to be a change election and a Republican would be change. It’s all about how he goes about it but a Levin/Carney race would be much better for Levin than a Levin/Markell race.
Since the Dem establishment seems hell bent on Carney, I think Levin sees a time to step in.
This is going to be the best gubernatorial race in a long time, no doubt. If the Dems run Carney, they are dreaming if they think it will be a cake walk…
December 7, 2007 at 7:31 am
Rickj,
I have a proposal for you because you are so infatuated with me.
Have Jason or any other BLOGGER arange an interview between you and me. I will bring tax records, campaign records, health records-you name it and you can ask any question. The BLOGGER can record it, moderate it and post it.
This meeting will give you a chance to step up and go on record- or you can continue to hide. Either way is fine with me.
Happy Holidays!
December 7, 2007 at 8:21 am
I’ll take that deal.
December 7, 2007 at 8:29 am
I generally agree with George’s analysis. The problem that Alan Levin faces is that he has to get in before he knows who he will be facing in November. If he were sure, or even reasonably sure, that it would be Carney, I think he’d be in already b/c he can run as the change agent and wrap all of the Minner Administration’s real and/or perceived failings around Carney’s neck.
Where I disagree with George is over this sense that the ‘Democratic establishment seems hell-bent on Carney’. Carney has pursued sort of a top-down endorsement strategy while Markell has built, in my opinion, a first-class grassroots operation. A lot of Carney’s support is ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’, and doesn’t necessarily translate to a diligent ground operation.
So, on the D side, not only do you have two distinctly different visions as to how the candidates would govern, you have two different philosophies for running a campaign.
Which is why I agree w/George that this is ‘going to be the best gubernatorial race in a long time, no doubt.’
December 7, 2007 at 8:40 am
Agree with Sagacious Steve. I hope the ‘old school’ Dems supporting Carney realize that they’re backing the wrong horse for the wrong reasons (most of the reason seems to be “that’s the way we’ve always done it”). Markell against anyone the GOP can drag into the race would be good for the State and us, its citizens.
The only other big decision that can help the State as much as Governor Markell is convincing Denn to run against Castle.
December 7, 2007 at 9:01 am
You guys have it all wrong. The machine is in place. It’s the candidates who are trying to convince the machine that they’re the best guy, and Carney is doing much better at it.
Markell is bringing a lot of new people in, but it’s the grizzled vets in the union halls and fire halls that do the electing in Democratic Delaware. You all know it. (I KNOW you know it Dis.)
Levin will get in when Levin is ready, not at the request of others. He will have a great plan and be very prepared, and he won’t look back once he’s off and running.
December 7, 2007 at 9:14 am
MP, If Dave isn’t acceptable as a blogger, I’ll take the deal.
December 7, 2007 at 9:19 am
I agree with you, Dave. I’ll even go one step further and say that a lot of the new people supporting Markell are Republicans who like his message and track record. Unfortunately, these Reps can’t vote in the primary, but they sure as hell can vote in the general election, which, if these grizzled vets you speak of want a Dem Governor, they should support Markell in the primary.
December 7, 2007 at 9:57 am
Dave and Geek,
No sweat but you need to give RickJ a shot of gonads, he has to be part of the equation.
I look forward to it.
I wonder how grizzled Republicans will react to a candidate who has supported Biden and Carper but not GOP Senate candidates? I know how they will react. They will hear about many many times.
December 7, 2007 at 10:52 am
Mike — You’ve never given to Republican candidates for US Senate or US Congress, and you said yourself that you’d have done the same thing Levin did.
So that dog won’t hunt.
Dis — Markell is on a mission to get as many Republicans to change registration as possible so they can vote for him. Not a winning strategy in my opinion. If I were Carney, I’d send out messaging saying that Markell’s doing just that, and that it proves that Carney’s the real Democrat in the race.
December 7, 2007 at 11:05 am
And Dis — The grizzled vets don’t want to just have a Dem Governor. They want to OWN the Dem Governor, like they do now. That won’t happen with Markell, and they know it.
December 7, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Dave says ” if I were Carney, I would send out a message saying just that” Uh, Dave after your lose in the 14th Senate race I doubt Carney will be looking to you for any advice.
December 7, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Actually, Dave had a rather uphill fight on that one. If I was in charge (and I should be, of everything), I would have put all my effort into the 28th and just taken a pass on the 14th.
December 7, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Comments:
Surprise that Dave has a better handle on the Dem’s side than do most of the Progressive Bloggers occupying this site.
His analysis is dead on.
Equally surprised, that with such insight, he fails to see the appeal that Protack has with people who still wish to remain loyal to the Republican Party for sentimental reasons, but wish to repudiate everything that has happened during the last seven years….
Of course, if one is in charge of housekeeping, his focus becomes shifted within the four corners, and he brushes off warnings about the raging fire outside………….
December 7, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Excellent points Kavips. (This is what I love about blogging…it is not the groupies it is the ideas).
So here it is. Take Dave’s plus your comments and what you get is the idea that the race is not just about Republican or Democrat but what interest groups are going to “own” the winner.
That seems clear enough to me on the Dem side (of course you could make a case that Markell, though progressive would not be a real boat rocker from the party’s perspective) but who is the Protack “base”?
People who don’t like Terry Strine. Sorry Mike there are not enough people who pay enough attention for that to be a very big block.
December 7, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Sorry.but that dog is a good hunter. Primary voters are rejecting someone who has helped the other side but not our guys. Stand by for a tsunami of rejection.
December 7, 2007 at 5:57 pm
when do rickj and I meet? Sounds like fun.
December 7, 2007 at 5:57 pm
The case can, and easily will, be made that Levin has done more FOR and less AGAINST Republican candidates than Phony Protack.
Plus, he pays his bills. So he’s got THAT going for him, too.
Primary voters aren’t rejecting anyone yet, not even you.
Have a great day in fantasyland.
December 7, 2007 at 5:58 pm
I’ll be RickJ, and we can meet anytime you want.
December 7, 2007 at 6:38 pm
In that case, can I play the part of Dave Burris?
Dave, How many pounds do I have to put on to get the part? 😉
December 7, 2007 at 7:24 pm
The hunt is indeed on and the rejection is very strong. I can share the details if you can absorb them.
Very few things unite Republicans like Joe Biden, very few things. Plus, writing a check to Carper on the weekend of the 2006 GOP convention but not doing anything for the GOP candidate? That is a home run.
I know you didn’t serve but look at something called SEAD. It will be employed in spades.
I invite you to name one thing I have supposedly done against a GOP candidate. I look forward to those facts and meeting RickJ.
Stand by for a good press conference on health care. #1 Issue of 2008.
As for bills, RW has no substance at all. His biggest error was my schedule, he has it backwards. All in all another hack job which has backfired but I do enjoy the people who join us simply because they know who is behind his actions.
Drive carefully.
December 7, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Plus, Alan Levin sent out a postcard in 2006 showing Jan Ting in an elephant hat.
No. Wait. That was YOU.
And Levin threatened to produce a videotape in 04 of Bill Lee doing God knows what.
No. Wait. That was YOU.
I’ll let RickJ pick it up from here.
December 7, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Are you denying that you owe money to the people mentioned in RW’s opinion piece?
Are you denying that you have outstanding debts from previous campaigns?
He quoted one of your previous consultants, Patrick Davis. Is Mr. Davis lying in print?
Are you denying that you have an outstanding bill of between $6,000 and $10,000 with American Strategies of Columbus, Ohio?
Are you denying that you owe Greg Merkel $4,500?
Can you prove any of the charges are false?
December 7, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Maybe Ron Williams was the shadowy figure in the driveway, hacking in via the router! It’s a vast chicken wing conspiracy!
Right now I’m seeing this as a scene from Naked Gun where Leslie Nielson and George Kennedy are in the car, munching on red-dyed pistachios. Ron Williams starring as Leslie Nielson and Terry Strine as George Kenndy (I know, use your imagination). I don’t even want to say who is OJ (Norberg!!!)
December 8, 2007 at 9:29 am
Dave,
You have a lot of anger and it clear you could never pass the screening I have been through or do my job. If you focused a bit of that energy on positive things you would be better off. Still,I am not the least bit influenced by anything you say or do. Once again, smear statements by you or RW are not my obligation to prove or disprove, you have to prove them not I. The only thing I have to prove is my agenda for Delaware’s future and that is fun, I enjoy it.
I made you an offer which is good for a week. Produce RickJ in person and you can invite Geek also to bring your “Grassy Knoll” evidence like the videotape you mention. I look forward to it. Despite Ron’s assertion I do fly mid week 90% of the time so give me 2-3 dates to pick from. Seniorority is a good thing.
Yes, that elephant hat was a classic but so was the over 300 negative radio ads runs by state HQ against me two days before the election including on 9/11. Money which should have spent against Democrats plus your guy was giving money to Democrats. Is that a “twofer”?
Thanks and drive carefully. Remember one week.
December 8, 2007 at 10:11 am
So you’re not going to answer the questions, not even to deny the charges?
Why does that not surprise me?
Must be true, then.
Phony.
December 8, 2007 at 11:56 am
As I have said over and over. You and RickJ and anyone else can meet me in person. You seem to be big on making that threat to other people so stop hiding behind a computer screen. I am offering you an opportunity to ask questions based on what ever evidence you have. So please bring whatever proof you have. Very simple. You have one week to find RickJ.
There is irrefutable proof of your guy’s contributions to Delaware’s Democratic Senators not to protect his business but to protect Medicare which is clearly set to help bankrupt the country. Mr Biden and Mr Carper have never ever voted against Medicare in anyway so that poor excuse won’t work. That answer is PHONY.
Do you know about SEAD yet??
Along the way I have met many health care professionals while talking about our health care plan, I can recommend a mental health professional for you if you have insurance. If you don’t then read Delacare 2008 and when I am Governor you will have insurance.
I look forward to meeting you and RickJ and hearing your concerns.
Drive carefully everyone and stay tuned we have cable shows running soon in Kent and Sussex on energy.
December 8, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Stop yapping so much, you delusional jackass.
I’ve been posting under an alias for over four years, and for good reason. You’ll have to excuse me if I find your demands for others to “find me in one week” to be maniacally self-centered.
In 2004, I supported your opponent, and witnessed you engage in falsehoods to lower him to your level… or don’t you remember the radio ads that said that Bill Lee was going to recognize gay marriages from other states? While not a strident supporter of Jan Ting’s in 2006, I knew enough of the man you were to support your opponent. After reading the hit pieces you put on chairs at the convention, my inclinations were proven correct.
Given your predilection for attacking those who oppose you (the examples above being examples, in addition to your threat of rendering Bob Valihura “unelectable” in 1998), I have no desire to give you one glimpse at my face. I love my family too much.
So the readers of this blog and others have a choice: They can believe you when you say that an anonymous coward who won’t show his face tells stories about you (that happen to be verifiable and supported by the assertions of many); or they can believe you, who has lied about his opponents, threatened those you got in his way, has a long (and proud) history of not supporting those who defeat him in primaries, and who refuses to answer any questions about financial shenanigans in his own campaign finances in the face of credible printed allegations. Much like yourself, I am supremely confident.
By the way, I look forward to your finance report next month. You sure have spent a lot of money on cable TV, mailings, phone polls, and websites for someone who never raised more than $25,000 for any run at office before and hasn’t sent out any fundraising letters…
December 8, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Another opportunity, no denials. Now I know it all has to be true. Deadbeat.
Maybe I should start a collection agency.
And I have no idea who RickJ is, so I couldn’t produce him if I wanted to.
December 8, 2007 at 3:46 pm
So, I am supremely confident you are a coward. I am not making a demand but I have offered to have you bring anyone you want at any location to discuss anything you want. Yet, you still hide?
Point #1 . In 2004 Bill did not support the Federal Marriage amendment, I did. I never once said he would recognize Gay marriage. Try to be accurate. Bill’s position was much better than Gov Minner’s but yes I did differ with him.
Point #2 There were no hit pieces on Ting on the chairs. They were poll results from NSON Research and were results from a large group of Veterans. About 80% said they would not support Ting. Amazingly, neither did the Delaware voters as a whole. Your candidate wrote a check to Tom Carper the weekend of the convention but not to Ting.
Point #3 Not supporting those in primaries? In 1998 the other three GOP primary opponents attended a fund raising event for Bill McGlinchey headlined by Tom Carper- I did not, I was in Stockholm Sweden. Valihura likes to tell the story otherwise but the facts are I was the only guy to not support his opponent. I offered to man a rest stop for Bill in 2004 on the Bike to the Bay as we had arranged it before the primary. I was told no thanks, but I still manned the rest stop because it was a very worthy cause. In 2006 Ting asked me on WGMD to help him. I responded yes but was never contacted. I did door knocking and lit drops for Rob Gildsdorf and Dick Cathcart in the Middletown area.
Point #4 I am offering you a chance to put out the facts, you have runmor and innuendo and nothing else.If you have a case make it,otherwise keep hiding.
Point #5 You are incorrect about money raised in past races and you have no clue about any of my activities. Again, I have offered you a chance to put out your facts but because you have none, you can’t. You are incorrect about FR letters but that doesn’t surprise me either.
So, you can continue to post anything you want anytime you want but it will have no relevance. If you have the courage of your opinions and convictions please offer them or again suffer the fate you have set for yourself. Quiet desperation smothered in fear.
Also, you forget I stood aside for Ray Clatworthy at the convention. My wife and I did phone calling and lit drops for Ray. Your candidate gave money to his opponent Sen Joe Biden but not to Ray.
Have a safe and Happy Holiday.
December 8, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Dave,
RickJ has a guest host spot on your BLOG.
Surely you do not give that spot out to strangers?
Have a great day.
December 8, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Oh well, very sad.
Contributors
Dave Burris
Randy Smith
Jeff Mapson
RedDelaware
Judson Bennett
David Anderson
Frank Knotts
Matt Opaliski
RickJ
December 8, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Excuse me, but Dave Burris has been wrong on just about every political prediction he has made in the past two years. If he thinks Markell is taking the wrong course, I’m pretty sure it must be the right one. What DB doesn’t know about Markell would fill a blog.
Kavips, you’re pathetic. Dave’s understanding about the Democrats is from getting his ass handed to him. Naturally he puts great weight on the union goons who showed up in Smyrna. They’ll have very little effect on the gubernatorial primary. Basically, the only regular folks who will vote for Carney are those who know him personally. So Markell’s challenge is to find enough regular folks to offset the party regulars. Question: Are there more real people or party regulars out there? We’ll find out next September.
DB’s comment about Markell “not being a real Democrat” is the sort of thing that matters only to the party activists. They’re all going to vote for Carney anyway. Only a party insider like DB thinks that will matter to real people. Out here on planet Earth, nobody cares about that stuff. That’s why Protack is so wrong about Levin’s contributions to Democrats. Nobody in the real world cares.
December 8, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Hey, Protack: Answer the damn questions about your outstanding debts. It’s as simple as that. If you can’t, you might as well STFU. You’re cooked. By the way, I’ll take the under. Way under.
December 8, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I’m with Watcher on this one, Mike. You must respond to the allegations made in Williams’ column. Are they true, or are they not? For the record, I heard about them several weeks ago but didn’t pursue them because I had other pressing concerns.
You really do need to not spin on this matter. Just answer the question.
December 8, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Boys,
I answered them on WDEL yesterday with Alan Loudell at 5:35 PM. There was no spin, just the facts.
For the record, there is no record. Ron writes an opinion column and there were no facts. I called the News Journal and they gave that response when I questioned his information. When he uses OPINION he has carte blanche to say whatever he wants whenever he wants.
Once again, I have offered to have RickJ and anyone else sit down on the record and they can ask for clarification on any matter. There is no requirememt to satisfy anonymous requests from people on a BLOG which will go on forever and ever.
You need to produce facts not rumors.
I am quite busy talking about the future of Delaware which is a serious matter and a lot of fun.
Maybe it is time for the host of this blog to do an IP search on Rickj? How does one say he can’t “find” him but lets him have a guest spot on his blog?? I think we all know the answer.
Watcher, the Democratic primary will have two large influences- union workers (44,000) in Delaware and minority voters. They will be the core of Carney’s support. On the GOP side we have called thousands of GOP primary voters and 3 out of 4 will not support someone for statewide office who has the track record of giving to Biden and Carper but not our guys. Game over.
Have a safe night on the roads.
December 8, 2007 at 5:49 pm
So those of us who didn’t listen to the radio are just SOL? I’m sure that will fly, Mike. What RW put in that column looked like facts to me. There’s a consultant out there who says you owe him money. Do you or don’t you?
Have a safe night in fantasyland.
December 8, 2007 at 6:51 pm
No
December 8, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Mike
I’ve got about 6 or 8 policy questions–to be honest I don’t really care about this insider quibbling–that I’d like to ask you over at Delaware Libertarian (sorry for poaching, guys). Willing to come over and answer them? You answer the questions (as opposed to the usual political shuck-and-jive) and I’ll print it.
December 8, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Steve,
Of course.
I wonder if FSP found out who RickJ was? He says he can’t find him if he wanted to but he is a guest poster on his BLOG?
Well FSP??????
December 9, 2007 at 1:01 am
December 7th – \”The only person more irrelavant than you in this process is RW.
I don’t understand your infatuation with me but I find it humorous.\” – MP
December 8th – \”You have one week to find RickJ.\” – MP
December 8th (later that day) – \”Maybe it is time for the host of this blog to do an IP search on Rickj? How does one say he can’t “find” him but lets him have a guest spot on his blog?? I think we all know the answer.\” – MP
What changed in the few hours between these posts? What turned me from \”irrelevant\” and \”humorous\” into someone who needs to be tracked down like a feral cat so I can be dealt with?
As I\’ve said on this topic and others, I\’ve seen how you treat people, Mike. You threaten to make then \”unelectable\”. You spread falsehoods and innuendo about them. And (giving you a laughable benefit of the doubt) someone else totally unknown to you and unrelated to your campaign writes horrible things about them on pink postcards and mails them to people on a list that your campaign got from Republican HQ. You\’ll have to excuse me if I\’m not racing to set up that face-to-face meeting you\’re suddenly jazzed up about.
As for guest-posting on FSP, here\’s how I recall I got the nod (I\’m sure Dave will correct me if this is fuzzy, I\’m not as young as I used to be). Around the time you were being credibly accused of having ties to the pink postcard campaign (hey, whatever happened to that lawsuit?), I emailed Dave to mention some of the antics from your previous races. We exchanged maybe five emails (I didn\’t save them). Later, when Dave called you on having your phone polls paid for by an unregistered committee, I sent him another email that relayed my suspicions about your finances. He replied that I could post on FSP if I\’d like, having remembered the work I did on a previous site during the Bill Lee for Governor campaign. I have never actually posted there, however – only commented, much like I do here and at many sites. In fact, I have never shared those specific suspicions about your finances publicly, because I have no evidence.
Here\’s the problem with your \”defense\”, Mr. Protack. When presented with credible allegations from an anonymous person, you choose to call that person a coward. When faced with credible allegations from an opinion writer, you say that those were his opinions? RW wrote the following:
Davis said he met Protack through a business associate in 2005 and had a contract for political consulting work shortly thereafter. Davis had been working on the National Republican Senate Committee before starting his own consulting agency. Most of his clients have been candidates from west of the Mississippi.
Davis said he doesn\’t intend to sue Protack over the unpaid bill. \”Basically we [in the political consulting business] don\’t have any legal recourse,\” Davis said.
That\’s not an opinion, that\’s a recollection of a conversation, with attributed quotes. His opinion is that you stiffed a consultant and an employee, because they said so. His opinion, having heard first hand that you shorted your friends around $13,000 and from a source he considers reliable another consultant between six and ten thousand more, is that you\’re a deadbeat. And I\’m no opinion columnist, but given that you didn\’t list those debts on your FEC finance report, I\’d say you\’re potentially worse than a deadbeat.
December 9, 2007 at 1:06 am
And Mike, to end the \”coward\” nonsense once and for all, my employers wouldn\’t be happy with my outspoken political views. Would that Delta were so discerning…
December 9, 2007 at 8:35 am
Protack exposed as a deadbeat once again.
It’s a beautiful day.
Mike, before you start throwing out the word “coward,” you could start by answering the two questions many people are waiting for: who wrote the first Conscience of the GOP letter and who you gave the GOP mailing list to in May before anyone else had it. YOU are the real coward.
And that is exactly how RickJ got on FSP, through a series of emails which didn’t identify his name.
December 9, 2007 at 9:02 am
Because RickJ is a coward.
Anyone who hides behind their real name is a coward.
December 9, 2007 at 9:09 am
Like the trolls posting from the Kinko’s while they’re waiting for the postcards to be done?
December 9, 2007 at 9:55 am
I’m fine with being called a coward. It looks better on a business card than dead-beat.
December 9, 2007 at 10:28 am
Dave,
Why don’t you go to any Kinko’s and have them produce a work request from me for the cards? Seems pretty simple to me.
Once again, I never received the vaunted mailing list you speak of. The only I have is a compilation of past years. A simple excel sort produced the list. Strine never allowed it to be given to me.
RickJ,
Yes, if you hide behind an alias you are a coward plain and simple. I am glad you admit it.
In the end Dave’s and Rick’s comments just like Ron Williams mean nothing in a statewide campaign but keep posting I enjoy the humor.
Anyway, what about Levin’s numerous contributions to Democratic Senators and not GOP candidates??
Again, drive carefully.
December 9, 2007 at 10:48 am
“Once again, I never received the vaunted mailing list you speak of. The only I have is a compilation of past years. A simple excel sort produced the list. Strine never allowed it to be given to me.”
We already proved beyond any doubt that you were sent the list by email. Liar.
“Anyway, what about Levin’s numerous contributions to Democratic Senators and not GOP candidates??”
He gave the same amount of money to Ting and Clatworthy as you did, and he’s actually given money to Republican candidates for federal office, according to the FEC.
Plus, you know, he’s not a deadbeat who refuses to pay young people for their work.
Keep pretending it’s not all over for you, Mike. I’m sure Levin will ignore you, which is the attention you deserve. I, however, will make sure that every GOP primary voter gets a copy of “Mike Protack’s Greatest Misses.”
Ooh! Maybe you can threaten me with a fake lawsuit IN ADVANCE this time! That’d be a new twist.
December 9, 2007 at 11:29 am
He’s right, Mike. This column was pretty much the death knell, unless of course these two kids RW quoted are lying, too. You keep trying to answer these charges against you by attacking Alan Levin. Nobody is fooled. You have done the Democrats’ work for them election after election after election.
Let’s look not at some silly loyalty tests, devised by and adhered to by nobody but yourself. Let’s look instead at resumes.
You served in the military. So did millions of others. You fly planes. So do thousands of others. You…um, that’s pretty much is it, isn’t it? No civic organization leadership posts, no charitable works, pretty much nothing else.
Alan Levin worked as a prosecutor, as an aide to one of the state’s most popular Senators, built a family drugstore chain into a regional powerhouse and led the chamber of commerce. It seems like a damn good resume to me — maybe the best candidate the Delaware GOP has produced since Pete du Pont — and will to tens of thousands of other voters as well.
Yet you have spent months trying to cut Levin down with flimsy attacks that have nothing to do with leading this state. You keep going on about his contributions to Democrats, and when challenged you state that it matters to primary voters. So what? Is winning the primary what this is all about for you? Will that somehow justify your existence?
You have neither the background nor the training nor the personality for high political office. Every post you make proves that further. Clearly you are impervious to both reason and shame. I hope somebody in the GOP has enough sense to fund a lawsuit against you by that girl in RW’s column today. Maybe that will convince you that RW is right — you will never achieve elective office in this state.
December 9, 2007 at 11:32 am
Mike –
For someone who, when confronted with evidence that a number of postings from different aliases came from his home relied on a \”someone must have been in my driveway hacking my router to discredit me (even though the posts were all defending me)\” defense, you may want to take a different tack.
In fact, I\’d take a hard look at all of the posts on all of the local blogs that have anything nice to say about you. I\’d be willing to wager that the vast majority of them are from anonymous and pseudonymous posters. Besides Jason O\’Neill (who works with you) and David Anderson, I can\’t think of many regular posters who do use their name in your defense. Instead, we are subject to screeds from \”WTFO\”, \”GOP Vision\”, \”GOP Disgust\” and others, extolling (often profanely) how much better you are than your detractors.
So I\’d be careful slamming anonymous people, Mike. They seem to be most of your fan base.
December 9, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Watcher –
“No civic organization leadership posts, no charitable works, pretty much nothing else.”
This is 110% percent incorrect.
Mike served in several volunteer capacities as a registered Scout Leader for Boy Scout Troop in N. Wilmington, and also President of the St. Edmond’s Parent Association for his sons’ school.
It was the Boy Scouts affiliation, that I became to know Mike. After earning my Eagle Scout Award, Mike and I and dozen other adults served on the troops’ committee. Mike was the Troops’ Committee Chairman for a few years.
December 9, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Once again, activities that do little to distinguish him from thousands of others. I’m talking about organizations that have some bearing on public policy — GHADA, CCOBH, groups that interact with government at some level. Putting those items on a political resume might be fine if he were running for local office. For statewide or national office, they don’t cut it.
I’m not saying you need such credentials to win a political party’s backing — provided the party backs you. Protack is making his case to the people. It’s not much of a case.
Incidentally, I hope you never went for the merit badge in mathematics.
December 9, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Sorry, but the Ron Williams article is a plus and not the least but harmful. If you remember the News Journal endorsed our GOP candidate in 2000 and Ruth Ann Minner won by 19%. It is clear by the shrillness of his attack how desperate he is. I am very happy. Life is real good.
The hit piece was clearly engineered to slow us down and try to obscure the deafening 2 to 1 defeat we took in the 28th district.
Dave and Rick, you have no proof of anything and you know that. I have offered to sit down with both of you and let you present your “evidence” and yet you refuse. Coward is the operative word.
As for “Watcher”, anyone who will not identify themselves has no credibility, none. Also, there is no Merit Badge for Mathematics.
The contributions to the Democrats does matter to primary voters and they will hear the facts at many many times. It is what you call a show stopper.
Dave, weren’t you the guy who botched the 14th SD race? I don’t think you have any credibility on anything political these days.
Lastly, the party ‘s backing has not resulted in one single victory on almost 20 years for any challenger. At the convention last year Ting was called the most qualified candidate for Senate in 20 years, I think 72% of Delaware disagreed.
Be careful on the roads.
I will post a rebuttal to Ron’s lies on Jud’s network.
December 9, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Good try, Mike, but here in the blogosphere, we let the arguments carry the day. And all your arguments against the GOP leaders do NOT lead to the conclusion that you are therefore a good candidate.
There’s no merit badge in logic, either — it was a joke, moron, about being “110% wrong” — but if there were, you wouldn’t be earning it. I’ll let my arguments speak for me, and you let your arguments speak for you.
If you really think that article was helpful, it’s clear that I was right — you have no sense of either reason or shame. You are a small, pathetic man, no matter what you think of yourself.
December 9, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Hey Mike, does “anyone who will not identify themselves has no credibility, none” also apply to the anonymous posters who occasionally sit outside your house and post things in your support?
December 9, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I’m so glad I got in on this when it was at 44%. I’m gonna double my children!
December 9, 2007 at 5:28 pm
“Dave, weren’t you the guy who botched the 14th SD race? I don’t think you have any credibility on anything political these days.”
This is classic. Mike Protack talking about political credibility with anyone else is classic. “Botching” a race would mean that we ever had a chance of winning it.
I agreed to insert myself into a situation where we had very little chance of success because I believed the candidate deserved the help.
This from a guy who was so inspired by his third place finish in a five-way primary for State Rep that he decided to run for federal office.
December 9, 2007 at 5:51 pm
What should have happened:
I think Protack had some juice after giving Ting a scare. (Let’s face it – even Dave Burris admits that he matched up better against Carper than Ting.)
So he should have taken an election off and used his momentum to build a coalition. It was clear that Christine O was a flash in the pan so he could have rounded up a lot of the single issue voters and run hard against Castle in a primary for 2010.
By running in every freaking election he isn’t doing himself any favors.
December 9, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Jason,
I know you oppose Mike Castle but I would not primary him and I support his re-election. I have been asked to run against him in a primary but I declined.
Your thoughts are pretty good but the issue I believe in the most is health care and that is the issue of 2008 outside of Iraq and maybe Iran. Attend our press conference on Tuesday and you will see the plan.
The single issue voters you mentioned are being cultivated as we speak with good results. I am very comfortable where I stand with them.
The “mining” of primary voters is just about complete.
Have a great day.
December 9, 2007 at 11:17 pm
So tell us, Mike, how much have you raised for your gubernatorial run? How many fundraisers do you have planned? How many actual supporters do you have?
December 10, 2007 at 3:33 am
Watcher:
Need Clarification:
You said….“Excuse me, but Dave Burris has been wrong on just about every political prediction he has made in the past two years. If he thinks Markell is taking the wrong course, I’m pretty sure it must be the right one. What DB doesn’t know about Markell would fill a blog.
But yet you put yourself on Burris’s side while attacking Protack? Could you help us all, by elaborating with more detail to which races you are referring, especially since much of your argument against Mike is that his accusations are too prone to generalization?
I have been reading Dave for a while and cannot think of any contests he got wrong, unless you consider Joanne Christian in the 14th?
As Dave says elsewhere, that shouldn’t count. What should count is Hasting win over Bullock last spring……
When you get time we would be interested to hear what you have to say…………..
December 10, 2007 at 7:46 am
“As Dave says elsewhere, that shouldn’t count. What should count is Hasting win over Bullock last spring……”
Everything counts.
December 10, 2007 at 8:21 am
So far, it looks like the defense for Protack is “Attack the Messenger”.
Dave Burris? Lost a race in the 14th SD (though if losing elections makes you uncomfortable, maybe you shouldn’t be defending Protack).
Ron Williams? Got some details wrong (In fact, check out his point-by-point rebuttal on DWA – two of the disputed point have to do with Mike’s flight schedule and his speed at returning emails. Neither were the point of the piece.)
RickJ (blushes)? Anonymous people have no credibility. (Much like the many trolls who have and continue to defend him on this and other boards.)
December 10, 2007 at 9:13 am
RickJ says:
Dave Burris? Lost a race in the 14th SD (though if losing elections makes you uncomfortable, maybe you shouldn’t be defending Protack).
You make it sound like Dave B is defending Protack,….surely that is not your intention?