Joe Smyth is a former editor of the Daily State News and CEO of Independent Newsmedia, and the author of “Fixing America’s Broken Politics: Common Sense Solutions to the Issues That Divide Us.” He’s now retired, and the opinions expressed here are his own.
I got my start in journalism as a young reporter in Delaware.
Everywhere I’ve gone since then, I’ve bragged about the civility of Delaware politics. I assumed it was because Delaware was such a small state that the politicians all knew one another as human beings — not just as political enemies. They had spirited debates but always civil — listening to and trying to understand one another instead of interrupting or raising their voices.
I can remember governors like Bert Carvel, Cale Boggs, Charlie Terry and Pete du Pont working cooperatively with legislators like Doc Hoey, Allen and Nancy Cook, Sherman Tribbitt, Walt Simpson, Curt Steen, Herman Holloway, Thurman Adams, Reynolds du Pont, Gene Bookhammer, Don Isaacs, Ruth Ann Minner, Dave Buckson and many others in the opposition party — and compromising when necessary — to get things done. They put their state and their constituents above party politics.
It was distressing, then, to read the recent letter from Sen. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, in which he says that, after nearly 22 years in the General Assembly mostly free of political gamesmanship, “D.C. partisanship has now entered Delaware politics.” I sure hope this doesn’t mean that Delaware’s legislature is going to follow Washington’s example and put partisan politics above what’s right for the nation.
If that’s where Delaware may be headed, the state now has a rare opportunity. The state’s Superior Court has struck down permanent absentee voting and early-voting laws for general elections. The attorney general is appealing, but Delaware’s election laws were already far too cumbersome.
Politicians probably like the way things are now, so citizens will have to band together to force changes. With enough pressure from public opinion, the politicians will follow. Here are some reforms Delawareans could consider:
Come on, Delaware, show the rest of us that politics doesn’t have to be hateful.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.