I am seriously considering the idea of starting a cleaning business so I woke up this morning with a plan to time myself cleaning my entire house single-handedly. Good times…good times. I was still in my pajamas contemplating my course of action when Mat’s friend, Tim McBride, called to see if I was going to be attending this morning’s Markell/Carney debate. Evidently, Carney had managed to drum up quite a few supporters and the Markell supporters were extremely outnumbered. So, rather than begin my time trial, I quickly got ready and scooted off to Wilmington to support my candidate.
I should probably preface this by saying that I am a member of Women for Markell (a fundraising group). As a member of the group, I have had the opportunity to get to know Jack and his wife, Carla, over the past few months and I can’t express how impressed I am with both of them. They are two of the most down-to-earth people I have ever met. Even though I am involved with the Markell campaign, I can also say I like John Carney. While I don’t know him very well, he came to our home last September to address a group of about 30 members of the Young Democrats Movement . He was extremely gracious and polite; a genuinely nice guy. Jack Markell had spoken to the group a few months prior to that and had developed a bit of a fan base. I’m certain Carney knew that many of the YDM members (including Mat) were actively involved with Jack’s campaign when he spoke to them, but he was still willing to come which I think says a lot about his character.
This morning’s debate was hosted by the Interfaith Coalition which consists of religious leaders from various churches and denominations across the city. Audience members were given forms on which they could ask the candidates questions. Most of the questions were about the prison system, health care, education and jobs. Carney evidently spends a lot of time “rolling up his sleeves”, a phrase he used quite often; however, most of the sleeve-rolling seems to have been done on blue-ribbon commissions during fact-finding missions. He spent a lot of time talking about his first-hand knowledge of the issues because of his involvement as chair or co-chair of many of those commissions, but I didn’t hear too much of what had actually been accomplished beyond gathering statistics.
Markell spent a lot of his time speaking about the importance of the community working together to improve society as a whole. It takes a village, if you will. He supports creating educational programs for children as young as three years old so that they are ahead of the curve when they enter kindergarten. He believes that there is no limit to what children with strong mentors at home and in the community can do with their lives. He spoke of two boys that he and his wife have mentored over the past six years and the difference it has made for both the boys and the Markell’s. (Carney spoke of a child he mentored as well and the impact it had on both Carney and the “little guy”). Markell believes that strong education and a strong community are important aspects of reducing crime and improving society as a whole.
In terms of addressing crime and recidivism, Markell spoke of ensuring that inmates were properly rehabilitated – including drug/alcohol counseling and education – so that when they are released, they can begin to rebuild their lives in a productive manner. Carney expressed similar sentiments and added something about prisoners knocking you over the head and stealing your pocketbook (or something to that effect) if they were not properly rehabilitated. That was an interesting visual. Almost as vivid as when he described how he can hear gunshots in the distance when he walks his dog in his neighborhood at 19th and Broom. Hmmm.
At the end of the day, both Markell and Carney are good guys. The state would do well with either of them at the helm. However, Markell definitely has better plans for how to improve our state and a much more innovative vision for our future.
Posted by Dominique in General