Including a Few notes to Describe and Introduce the New Faces among the Delco Democratic Committee
I live in Media. I've been volunteering and hanging out with various Delco Democrats and Democratic candidates since the summer of '06. After reading various diaries on this site that did nothing more than look at the recent presidential election returns and make predictions based on that, I've decided to add my two cents in. There's a lot that the outsiders seem to be overlooking, from the local history of republican dominance to the details of the Bryan Lentz campaign to the new leadership of the Delaware County Democratic party (Delaware County makes up about 75% of the 7th Cong. District)and recent changes in party registration in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Local History
While we do have a Republican Machine, it is not what it once was. State rep. Greg Vitali (mainly Haverford and part of Radnor) has been in office since 1992. (Of course it helped that Steven Friend was CRAZY.) State Senator Dylan Leach is a Democrat. The territory of the Republican machine is shrinking. The Mainline towns, such as Radnor and Haverford were mostly "Country Club Republicans" who are slowly switching to the Democratic party. Upper Darby township was a Republican stronghold, but the 69th Street area adjoining Philadelphia is much more diverse and many folks there have registered Democratic to vote for Obama. Now only the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby is Republican in registration. Nearby Lansdowne Borough has Democratic majority on Borough Council and Mayor Jane Young is a proud Democrat. Swarthmore Borough is also in the D column.
Bryan Lentz
Unlike many previous candidates, Bryan Lentz has a campaign headquarters, campaign staffers and a volunteer network from when he ran for State Rep. in 2006. He has also raised more money than many other Democratic candidates in the 7th. Paul Scoles in 2004 only raised $24,000 for his whole campaign. Oh and he has a campaign website. In addition, Bryan's campaign staffers are competing with Richard Sestak for the title of Most Annoying Political Spammer in the Metro Philly region.
New Delaware County Democratic Leadership
Our former Chairman Cliff Wilson chose not to run again and the First Vice-chair Tony Campisi lost the chairmanship election by 7 votes to David Landau. David Landau knows how to raise money, having raised a couple hundred thousand in his 2007 run for Delaware County Council. In addition, the new vice chairs include Nancy Rhoads a 2009 judge candidate who ran a rather high energy campaign and Mario Cimino who was Joe Sestak's volunteer coordinator in 2006. Both individuals are much more active than the previous leadership of the Delaware County Dems.
While the Seventh Congressional district presents some hurdles for Democrats, given the activity of Bryan Lentz's campaign and the change in Delco Democratic leadership, this should be a competitive raise. There's no guarantee of a Republican pickup for Joe Sestak's seat. Rather than assuming Joe Sestak's Senate run hands this seat to the Republicans, let's give some time and resources to this winnable race.