Election’s over; it’s time to ‘bury the hatchet’
You often hear about “the Delaware way,” but what does it mean? Here’s how E. Norman Veasey, a former chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, recently described it:
Speaking at a local luncheon, Veasey said “the Delaware way” is “… people working together to get things done for good government and openness in our society.”
A courtly gentleman and a Republican, Veasey was talking about how both parties work together for the common good of all Delawareans.
I’ve never completely bought the “Delaware way” tradition, but Veasey’s comments were actually quite restrained compared to the lavish praise heaped on Delaware government by Lawrence Lessig.
Lessig’s not a household name, but he’s someone worth listening to. A Harvard law professor, Lessig gave a popular TED talk spelling out the need for campaign finance reform.
Lessig came to Delaware at the request of Wolf PAC, an organization dedicated to overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which unleashed a fire hydrant-strength flow of money into politics.
A longtime activist, Lessig has attended political events around the country. Here’s his take on attending a House debate about Senate Concurrent Resolution 6, which would add Delaware to the list of states calling for a constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United:
“So yesterday may have been the most extraordinary political event I have ever seen,” he began.
In little Delaware?
Lessig’s blog went on to talk about how everyone agreed that Citizens United had been a disaster. Still, many were against a constitutional convention, most significantly House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth.
In an opinion piece, Schwartzkopf had raised the specter of a runaway convention that scrapped our present constitution. He also pointed out that Article V of the constitution provides meager guidance about how such a convention should be conducted.
Here’s Lessig describing the climax: (By all means read the whole blog post.)
“Shortly after, the question was called. The Republican minority leader, Daniel Short, moved to send the resolution to the floor.
“The Republican whip, Deborah Hudson, second[ed] it. A vote was called. No hands went up. (Remember, it takes 3 to get it to the floor).
“It looked like we were defeated when, in a scripted-in-Hollywood moment, the Majority Whip John Viola slowly raised his hand. The room erupted in cheers.”
Republicans and, in this case, one Democrat working together to bring legislation to the floor of the House!
Earlier in the post, Lessig had described how citizens had listened politely and offered their own comments.
“Democracy in Delaware,” Lessig wrote. “As it should be everywhere.”
Wow, Delaware could get a big head listening to this kind of talk.
Not that everyone works here in perfect harmony, of course, as was demonstrated by the recent school board election.
In some ways, the race between incumbent Roni Posner and challenger Dr. Jose Saez was a model of democracy in action. Voter turnout was heavy.
The Cape Henlopen election totals dwarfed all other districts in the county.
But afterward things got a little ugly. Saez, on his Facebook post, said, “I think that Roni Posner is not good for the district! She should not be on this board or any other board!” (His exclamation points.)
He went on to shame those who didn’t vote and charged Posner with representing “an agenda/ideology that will be detrimental to this district!”
Not exactly the usual comment from a gracious loser. Was it a tough race? Sure. They always are.
Some of the bitterness seems to stem from last year’s controversy about “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” a novel dealing with gay themes that appeared on Cape Henlopen High School’s summer reading list.
If so, this is unfortunate. I don’t pretend to know for sure if that’s the reason, but there were suggestions of concern about a “gay agenda.” I’m not even sure what that means.
In the past several years, the Cape District has built a beautiful high school and performed well on state tests. Still, it faces big challenges, including the possibility of building two new elementary schools. We need to focus on real issues.
It would be good to remember that Sussex County does have a very real tradition that is unique in the U.S. - Return Day. It’s held two days after the general election in Georgetown, the county seat.
According to the official Return Day website, it harkens back to a time when people from all over the county actually had to travel to Georgetown to vote.
Two days later, the voters would “return” to hear the results, hence Return Day.
Now we get results shortly after the polls close, but the tradition lives on, for a very different reason: It provides an opportunity for political enemies to “bury the hatchet.” Literally. They take a real hatchet and bury it in sand.
Sure, some of the former candidates, losers especially, might prefer burying the hatchet in their opponent’s cranium, but politicians realize people are watching.
Those who want to run again put on a brave front, accepting defeat as gracefully as they can manage. It may be a silly ceremony, but I like to think it helps people move on.
Saez garnered more than 1,200 votes, an impressive total. He’ll have another chance, provided he recalls the lesson of Return Day and “the Delaware way.”
But, in any case, for the students of the district, we need to “bury the hatchet.”
