Senator Coons at 1; Occupy Delaware’s message

Rob Tornoe has a lot on his plate this week.  He offers his perspective of Senator Chris Coons’ first year in office this Tuesday.  Plus, he can’t ignore the message of the Occupy group now that they’ve established a tent in Wilmington.

Amid all the news of Penn State scandals and GOP presidential antics, here in Delaware it’s easy to overlook the one-year anniversary of Democratic Senator Chris Coons. Coons might be the luckiest politician in state history. The former New Castle County Executive was put up as a token candidate against popular long-time Congressman Mike Castle, who wanted to end his career in the Senate. But as everyone in the free world knows, the likable Republican was defeated in a primary by everyone’s favorite non-witch, Christine O’Donnell, allowing Coons to sail to an easy and unlikely victory.

Speaking of luck, it looks like the folks trying to get Occupy Delaware might have finally had things break their way. A Chancery Court judge issued an order preventing Wilmington police from preventing protesters from using Spencer Plaza.  It’s only a temporary court order, but it’s a step in the right direction for the rag-tag group of protesters trying to bring to light the imbalance in our financial and economic system. The fact that the Occupy Delaware movement has had so much trouble gaining a foothold here has been particularly sad, considering Delaware is home to most of the Fortune 500 companies in this country. In actuality, the city of Wilmington was being a bit ridiculous in their demands. At one point, officials told the Occupy protesters that they couldn’t set up tents because it would pose a safety hazard. You see, someone could place a bomb in a tent, and authorities wouldn’t be able to see it. Through all of this, I fear we’re losing site of the big picture. The Tea Party thinks the government is bad, and Occupy protesters think that Wall Street is bad. Unfortunately, the problem is much more complex than that. Politicians are no longer beholden to voters or our demands because money to run a campaign has become the most important factor in gaining public office. According to OpenSecrets.org, in 93 percent of House of Representatives races and 94 percent of Senate races, the candidate who spent the most money ended up winning. And we wonder why politicians do the bidding of big corporations? , and follow him on Twitter @RobTornoe