Independence Hall Tea Party Association Releases 2012 Scorecard

The Independence Hall Tea Party Association released its 2012 Tri-State Area Congressional Scorecard.  The scorecard compiles votes of members of both the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate and rates the members according to Tea Party principles.

For Delaware, lone Congressman John Carney (D-DE) scored a seven out of possible 100.  Delaware Senators Thomas Carper (D-DE) scored a nine out of 100 while is junior colleague Chris Coons (D-DE) scored the lowest amongst the Delaware delegation with a six out of possible 100.

Congressman John Carney and Senator Tom Carper are up for re-election in 2012 and analysis on this scorecard for each candidate will be done under separate posts.

Club for Growth Flunks Carper, Coons and Carney on Pro-Growth Votes

In case you missed it, the Club for Growth released its annual Congressional Scorecard for both U.S. House and U.S. Senate members on pro-growth votes.  The methodology Club For Growth used to score each member is found here.

Delaware's federal delegation did not fare all that well.  In fact, they flunked.

Senior U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) voted 14% of time in favor of pro-growth economic policies during 2011.  Throughout his entire tenure, he voted 10% of the time as pro-growth.  Junior Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) supported pro-growth policies 12% of the time and lone Congressman John Carney (D-DE) supported pro-growth policies only 8% of the time.

If anyone in Delaware is unemployed, they need to look no further than the Carper, Coons and Carney.  For Democrats, they sure are not looking out for their constituents.

BlueHenConservative will evaluate the scorecard in further detail for specific votes and provide further analysis in a future post.  It is important to note that Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. John Carney are up for re-election in November 2012.  Clearly, given the meager results for improving the economy, neither can be re-elected.  Remember, elections matter, and there are consequences.

O'Donnell - Witches, Sex and Silliness

I've seen the Mainstream Media sources, from FoxNews to CNN and MSNBC spending an exorbitant amount of time covering some clips from late night nobody Bill Mahr's former show "Politically Incorrect with Bill Mahr" and from MTV (what news sources! *please note the sarcasm*). Most of these clips come from the mid - late 90's when O'Donnell was in her 20's. O'Donnell has said, when asked at a debate at a Jewish Community Center in Delaware, that the statements on sex and masturbation were made when she was in her early 20's and perhaps overly excited in her youth about her new faith. She has said that her faith has matured now and that she sees sex as a personal matter.

Her statements about witchcraft made to Bill Mahr on his show in the late 90's have recently become news after Mahr began a public blackmail campaign against O'Donnell. Mahr has said that he would release 1 tape per week until O'Donnell agrees to come on his show. Interestingly enough, Mahr and his friends John Stewart and Steven Colbert who are all good for a laugh but who can't be considered "serious" commentators are rumored to be involved in a "Million Moderate March" this October right before the November elections. Ok, I have to pause for a second to make this point, it's biased so I may lose you here but... I doubt I'll be proven wrong about this but, I can't see how Mahr, Colbert and Stewart could get 15 people in a coffee shop to all buy a cup of coffee, much less rally a million people on the mall. In fact, I predict that all three hosts are likely to draw less than 1 10th of the number of Americans who showed up at the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor Rally" on Aug. 28th in D.C. That event drew between 500,000 and 750,000 Americans from all over the country. I challenge these Three Musketeers to get even 50,000 people to slither over to their debacle on the mall.

So what does all this mean? Well, it means that the MSM and the Delaware Democrat Party either didn't get the memo or just don't get it period. My guess is that it's a little bit of both. The News Journal, specifically liberal hit piece writer Ginger Gibson, spent the majority of the campaign peddling petty garbage stories to attempt to eat away at O'Donnell's credibility. They have paid a dear price for their disgusting display of hit journalism and yet the mainstream media is all too happy to walk in the same footsteps. Perhaps MSNBC and CNN have simply lost so many viewers that the don't care any longer how many more they lose. The mainstream media often beats it's head against the wall so that is less surprising than the maneuvers that the Delaware liberal/progressive crowd have taken. Consistently peddling the narrative that Christine is flawed because she believes in God, has had the same financial problems as the majority of it's own party members and has "acted stupidly" in the past. Specifically it is interesting that the focus of late has been on her mid 90's "dabbling in witchcraft".

Let's first point out the TV series' "Charmed" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". There is also the movie "The Craft". These TV shows and movies came out in the 90's because at that time there was a LARGE sect of young people who became fascinated by these subcultures. Many of us, especially liberals, became enamoured with the characters and the romantic natures of them. So she dated a witch...well guess what folks, I played a Vampire role playing game called "Vampire: The Masquerade" for over a year. I suspect there are many others who did as well. So she experimented with other ideas. Clinton smoked pot...despite his claims the man likely STILL inhales and is suspected of womanizing with countless women and yet the left loves him. So why the hate for O'Donnell? Because, like Palin, Bachman and Haley...she's a conservative woman which means she MUST be a radical fringe right winger.

The bottom line is that just like when Mike Castle went negative on O'Donnell, the attacks from the left only draw voters to O'Donnell. The assaults are part of an old brand of politics where the idea was to see who could destroy who faster. The American people have woken up and they're looking for more than the attack politics of the past. They are looking for who has a record of supporting policies that they agree with and who has the best ideas going forward. So to Bill Mahr and his Comedy Central goons I say, have at it. Attack away. Sticks and Stones may break her bones, but words will never hurt her. And to Chris Coons and his Progressive friends, be careful when casting stones. Your homes are made of glass made in Marxist communes.

In the end I guess the election will come down to an ex-Witch vs. a Marxist.

Who is Chris Coons? - Marxism

Chris has graciously said that he would like to keep this campaign about the issues and not about smears and personal attacks. I appreciate that and I hope he continues that position. This campaign SHOULD be about the issues that Americans and Delawareans specifically, care about. It should be about how to get the economy back on track and growing, how to stop reckless spending, what role the government should have, the most effective way to stem the rising tide of healthcare costs, how to best manage our energy resources and what the tax policy ought to be. There are other important issues but these are what I hear about the most. All of these issues come down to a difference in ideology. On one side you have those who seek to continue spending, often recklessly, your tax dollars, increasing those taxes to spend more and increasing government control. On the other, you have those who understand the need for a limited government, emboldened AND restrained by the Constitution who will control spending and lighten our tax burden.

Now I said before, that Chris wants to keep this campaign about issues and I agree, it should be about issues and not a few sound bites from someone's past. We have all made mistakes...yes, even me...especially when we were young. However, there is something about Chris' past that concerns me, and many of you as well. Back in 1985, he wrote an article entitled "Chris Coons: The Making of a Bearded Marxist". When I saw this I was hoping for a satire or some sort of joke. But as J.E. Dyer from Hot Air's Green Room tells us, Coons was quite serious.

Upon returning from a trip to Kenya, Chris wrote:

“I became friends with a very wealthy [Kenyan] businessman and his family and heard them reiterate the same beliefs held by many Americans: the poor are poor because they are lazy, slovenly, uneducated,” wrote Coons. “I realize that Kenya and America are very different, but experiences like this warned me that my own favorite beliefs in the miracles of free enterprise and the boundless opportunities to be had in America were largely untrue.”

He also wrote:

“My friends now joke that something about Kenya, maybe the strange diet, or the tropical sun, changed my personality; Africa to them seems a catalytic converter that takes in clean-shaven, clear-thinking Americans and sends back bearded Marxists,”

However, it wasn't as if just the trip to Kenya aroused some deep part of Coons' questioning temporarily. Before Chris even left for Kenya, he was questioning America:

A course on cultural anthropology, noted Coons, had “undermined the accepted value of progress and the cultural superiority of the West,” while a class on the Vietnam War led him to “suspect…that the ideal of America as a ‘beacon of freedom and justice, providing hope for the world’ was not exactly based in reality.”

Although Chris does say that upon returning to Amherst for his senior year, he accepted that had "returned to loving America" despite discovering the nations faults, one must ask what faults he has determined America has. If Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan Marxist leader is any indication, our faults are many and great and the only pathway out is financial slavery and redistribution of wealth. There is reason to believe that Coons and Obama have much in common.


On September 16th, at a debate in Wilmington, Delaware, Coons reiterated his support for Obamacare as currently written and indicated that there is little going on in Washington that he would change. He also indicated his support for extending Miranda rights to terrorists. In fact, Coons sounded eerily like the "pet" that Harry Reid described him as. Coons did try to move to the center around fiscal issues but despite his polished debate skills (remember, he is a 2 time national debate champ) his record unfortunately doesn't bear out his claims. He made the obligatory reference to his TV Commercials which portray him as a fiscal conservative. Sadly, Chris has raised taxes three times ('05,'07 and '09), raided the county's reserve fund and increased water and sewer fees. He also references the corruption rampant during the Tom Gordon administration in his television commercial and suggests that he fought corruption. What Coons fails to mention is that the Democrat Gordon/Freeberry scandal took place while Coons himself was on county council. Additionally, what is not mentioned in Coons' commercials is that when Coons took office, the Gordon administration had left him with a balanced budget and a reserve surplus.

Currently, Chris Coons is presiding over his own scandal. County Council President Paul Clark is advocating for a project which he personally stands to gain from. His wife Pam Scott (liberals apparently love to keep a different name than their spouse so as to create doubt in issues like this) is a lawyer in the case. Clark has said he would recuse himself from any vote regarding the proposal but his involvement in lobbying for the case stinks. Coons has thus far not stepped in to suggest that Clark stop lobbying for the deal his wife stands to gain from. He's certainly no corruption hound.

Finally, Coons consistently calls on people to recognize that he was able to give County Council a AAA bond rating. There is truth in that statement but he doesn't tell you how Fitch Ratings gave New Castle County that rating. The fact is that Fitch only granted that bond rating to NCC because the County raided the reserve fund and decreased its value by more than 30% while Coons raised taxes 25%. The size of County government has grown every year under Coons and the budget has steadily increased. In 2009, Coons did make some cuts...he cut county employee pay by 5% and cut their benefits by 3% while the state cut worker pay even further. Meanwhile, county spending plans stayed in effect and other cuts were "avoided".

Who is Chris Coons? - Fiscal Conservatism

So, now that Christine O'Donnell has defied all odds and beaten incumbent Congressman Mike Castle to grab the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, the nation focuses on County Executive Chris Coons. Mr. Coons has spent the last few months flying inconspicuously under the radar. In fact, his name recognition outside of New Castle County is nearly zilch while Christine's is now in national headlines. That's all going to change now. Mr. Coons will have his record examined thoroughly and from initial conversations with members of all political parties, that spells problems for the current New Castle County Executive.

Chris has had his commercials running over the last 2-3 weeks and I have begun a cursory look into Mr. Coons' claims.

1.) He claims to have taken the reigns of county council steeped in corruption and debt. Interestingly, in 2005 Chris Coons said the County's finances were "fundamentally sound"

"While the county's economic health is ‘fundamentally sound,' Coons said, there's been a widening gap between expenses and revenues in the past several years. His proposals would help avoid a projected $152 million shortfall by 2009." (Angie Basiouny, "NCCo Exec Proposes Reining In Spending," The [Wilmington, DE] News Journal, 3/30/05)

It turns out that in 2009, The News Journal reported that Coons said "‘We're 18 Months From Being Out Of Money -- Unable To Operate, Not To Use The "B" Word,'"

"‘We're 18 Months From Being Out Of Money -- Unable To Operate, Not To Use The "B" Word,' Coons Said, In A Reference To Bankruptcy. ‘That's where we are, and it's at a time when many families are struggling, and they're looking to government to help them.'" (Jeff Montgomery, "Sobering Challenges Reflected In Speeches," The [Wilmington, DE] News Journal, 1/22/09)

Now this seems to me to be a bit of a quandary for Mr. Coons. His commercial says that he balanced the budget as County Executive, yet the County went from "fundamentally sound" to "unable to operate".

A deeper inspection reveals even more problems with his commercial. He uses the AAA bond rating of the County as proof of his fiscal conservatism but what he doesn't tell you is that he raised taxes 3 times since he took the reigns in 2005.

In 2006 Chris proposed a 5% increase in property taxes that his Democrat controlled County Council passed instead of cutting spending.

Just a year later in 2007, Coons again had to initiate a tax increase. This time the bill was blown up by 17.5%. Again, he chose to raise taxes instead of working to reduce the cost of county government.

In 2009, amidst the height of "the worst recession since the Great Depression" Chris Coons brought yet ANOTHER tax increase to his Democratically controlled County Council. The result was a 25% increase in property taxes and not a DIME cut from the budget.

In fact, the bond rating company (Fitch Ratings) that has given the County the AAA bond rating said they only did so because Coons increased takes by 25% in 2009 which made the County more stable. Between 2004 and 2009 (when Coons has been in charge) the County lost more than 30% of it's reserves. Despite his claims to have balanced the budget, New Castle County carries a debt burden of $1,639 per man, woman and child in the county.

Still think Coons is a fiscal conservative? The County's spending has increased 10% since he took over and the county budget has grown by a DRAMATIC 33%! Prior to becoming County Executive, Chris voted for every operating budget submitted by his predecessor whom he now claims to have save the county from. In 2008, as cash balances fell, Fitch Ratings put a watch on the county. That watch was a warning that downgraded the status of the county finances from "stable" to "negative". Coons' answer? Not cutting spending on rapidly accelerating union worker costs, not working to slash and cut budget line items that the county couldn't afford. No, his answer was to raise taxes by 25%.

This is NOT the resume of a fiscal conservative.

Christine O'Donnell can win in November and the numbers prove it

There has been some suggestion that "even if O'Donnell wins the primary on Tuesday, she can't win November 2nd and Coons will be out next Senator". Well, why do we think that? The message from those who have so far controlled the dialouge is staggering. Here is their proof:

47% of the state is registered as Democrats

Barack Obama won DE in 2008, Joe Biden spend more than 30 years in office and Jack Markell was elected Governor

Ray Clatworthy and Charlie Copeland were not able to win seats as "conservatives"


Compelling evidence in these cases. There are of course, problems with the theories. If you delve into them, you will find a much different story than the narrative that local talk show hosts and political guru's might let on.

Registration Totals in Delaware are:
R - 182,796
D - 292,738
I - 146,212

Independents are breaking 3 to 1 for O'Donnell at this time but let's live under the assumption that she will only recieve 65% of the Independent vote (this would be a Progressive MIRACLE in 2010). You must also note another statistic often ignored by the pundits. Despite Delaware's Democrat leaning registration totals, in 2004 12% of Delaware Democrats went for Bush over Kerry and in 2008, despite the annointed one being at the top of the ticket, 9% of Democrats went for McCain. Historically, at least 9%-10% of Democrats vote for the Republican candidate regardless of ideological position.

In fact, when Joe Biden, Tom Carper and Mike Castle are out of the race, the edge goes to Republicans in Delaware. The 2010 election would be between Chris Coons, a Progresive Far-Left Democrat and O'Donnell who is a Conservative Republican. Over the years, Conservative Republicans (Bill Roth, Ronald Reagan, Pete DuPont) have won the day when they have run against those who are not one of the "Big Three".

So what would the numbers say if 65% of Independents and 10% of Democrats voted for O'Donnell? Assuming that every registered voter turned out (which won't happen) the numbers would be as follows:
307, 107 O'Donnell vs 300,017 Coons - O'Donnell wins

So what would the numbers say if 75% of Independents and 10% of Democrats voted for O'Donnell? Assuming that every registered voter turned out (which won't happen) the numbers would be as follows:
322,179 O'Donnell vs 300,017 Coons - O'Donnell wins

The key here is turnout. Which side will control the turnout? In 2008 the Democrats did. In 2010 Conservatives and Republicans control the day.

O'Donnell garners major endorsement

“Delaware families deserve the pro-life leadership Christine O’Donnell so capably provides,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List Candidate Fund. “Unlike her primary opponent who has an explicitly pro-abortion voting record, O’Donnell has expressed her strong determination to be a vocal advocate for women and unborn children in abortion debates on the floor of the U.S. Senate.”

These words came from the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund who endorsed Christine O'donnell today. This is a significant endorsement in a state like Delaware which although leans Democrat in registration is more of a pro-life state. This is not the kind of endorsement that can turn an election by itself like an endorsement from Sarah Palin or Jim Demint could. However, when you add it to the ever growing list of organizations and individuals endorsing Christine you end up witha whole new picture. The Susan B. Anthony List now joins Common Sense Communities Society (Delaware's T.E.A. Party endorsement), One Nation PAC, Erick Erickson of Redstate.com, Nationally syndicated conservative talk star Mark Levin, Citizens United, Pam Geller (Atlas Shrugs), Joanne Herring, and Catholic Families for America.

Couple this with the results of a poll released July 15th by Rassmussen Reports which shows O'Donnell now holding a 41-39 lead over New Castle County Executive Chris Coons and you have the making of a winner. Also, as O'Donnell's conservatism gives her campaign rise, the outright Progressivism of her primary opponent, Congressman Mike Castle is bringing the house down around him. Castle has lost 9 points since April and has dropped below 50% in polling against Chris Coons. Castle is holding on to a 47-36 lead which is STAGGERING when you consider that Castle has been Delaware's lone congressman since 1992.

Castle's fall, O'Donnell's rise and Coons' inability to rise out of the 30 percent range all are signs of the T.E.A. Party's positive influence on the 2010 elections in EVERY state. Those who would claim otherwise, are spinning the truth. Indeed, a look at the numbers behind O'Donnell's lead over Coons shows that Delawareans are every bit as T.E.A. Partied up as any other state. 51% of Delawareans favor repeal of the healthcare bill, 58% desire a law similar to Arizona's to be enacted in Delaware and 64% believe that the economy is getting worse or staying the same. Look for November to be a referendum on both Congressman Mike Castle and President Barack Obama.