Back in June, Northampton County Council member Charles Dertinger dropped in on a meeting of Bethlehem Democrats to crack the whip. They were growing upset about county endorsements and state mailings made on behalf of some, but not all, candidates. Instead of playing peacemaker, Dertinger alienated everyone, including Bethlehem City Council members Karen Dolan and Willie Reynolds. Dertinger slammed Dolan for airing her views publicly, especially because she did so on this very blog. He'd prefer that she confine herself to backroom politics like a good little Long Dem. As described by a person who watched in horror, Charles' position was essentially this: "Screw you guys, we're not going to address any of your concerns, we're going to declare you wrong, and you're going to leave here unhappy, AND still, you will be loyal and follow us."
Maybe he should have been a little nicer.
Bethlehem Dems had little reason to vote on Tuesday. There were no contested races, and Dertinger's dismissive attitude sure made it unlikely they would organize a GOTV effort just for him. Voting records show that Bethlehem's total turnout was just 14.99%. In Precinct 3, it was an appalling 4.48%. This had to hurt Democrats.
1 North - 10.61% (136 of 1282)
1 South - 9.67% (122 of 1262)
2 - 5.73% (75 of 1308)
3 - 4.48% (138 of 3081)
4 - 9.01% (132 of 1465
5 - 12.56% (272 of 2166)
6- 24.70% (206 of 834)
7 - 12.83% (202 of 1575)
8 - 11.73% (176 of 1500)
9-1 - 11.81% (92 of 779)
9-2 - 13.81% (111 of 804)
9-3 - 17.91% (260 of 1452)
14-1 - 24.21% (322 of 1330)
14-2 - 27.77% (513 of 1847)
14-3 - 25.02% (344 of 1375)
14-4 - 16.82% (216 of 1284)
14-5 - 22.39% (334 of 1492)
14-6 - 14.70% (308 of 2095)
14-7 - 27.99% (363 of 1297)
14-8 - 26.67% (239 of 896)
15-1 - 18.42% (244 of 1325)
15-2 - 34.63% (697 of 1753)
15-3 - 6.54% (171 of 2615)
16 - 5.33% (80 of 1502)
17- 7.25% (61 of 841)
5379/35878 - 14.99%
7 comments:
Ever see 40s movie THE LITTLE FOXES when Bette Davis' husband cant climb the steps to get the medicine he needs to save his life? Bette just sits on the couch fanning herself watching him on the floor until he dies not lifting a finger to get his meds...that's what Bethlehem did to Dger.
Charles! gets properly slammed here for being owned by labor, but Panella got a free ride for being deep in the same pocket.
In fact, Jack's acceptance of their filthy lucre was deemed righteous on this blog because,his father was a union guy.
Their losses are both rewarding and reassuring.
This Republican revolution was all about the Dems, nothing to do with the Republicans. They were fortunate bystanders.
Amen, brother. Alleluia. See you in church.
Bernie was directing this post at Dertinger alone, not the Dem slate. Dertinger could have been re-elected had the Dems in the City of Bethlehem voted for him, or in some cases voted at all.
Republicans came out in strong numbers in areas outside of Bethlehem, so I do not think that Bethlehem could have effected other candidates as much as it hurt Dertinger. The 3,000 or so that did not vote would have helped Charles! the most.
What does that tell you about Dems?
No big party, no one night stand for hope and change, no free cupcakes or busrides to the polls, so...
Let the other side win?
I vote for the best candidate available (to me) even when I know he or she is gonna get an ass whuppin. People DIED to provide us the right to vote, and those who stayed home because either party "didn't make it fun or exciting enough" are beneath contempt.
I was going to call them shit-eating scumbags, but I didn't want to get deleted.
Well, it's a good thing you didn't do that.
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