Posted: Dec. 17, 2013

2013: FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

The year of 2013 was a political banquet in Delaware, and no wonder. It came with Pastabilities.

SO HAVE A BITE. The last time Tom Gordon was New Castle County's Democratic executive, his chief aide was Sherry Freebery, and nobody ever doubted her bark was every bit as bad as her bite. This time his chief aide is David Grimaldi with just a bad bite. It happened when he got into a bar fight at Pastabilities and was bitten on the hand. It gave a whole new meaning to "finger food."

NELLY, PUT THE KETTLE ON. The delegates to the Republican state convention went with Nelly Jordan, a tea party Republican, for their vice chair over Ruth Briggs King, a regular Republican who is a state representative. For the Delaware Republicans, it is still high tea.

KORN MEAL. Richard Korn flopped as a candidate, most recently losing as a Democrat for state auditor, and finds himself fighting charges of dealing in child pornography, but what really set him apart was suing his own mother. Let him eat crow.

HARD TO SWALLOW. If anybody made a political hash in 2013, it was Chip Flowers, the Democratic state treasurer, with the travel and credit card usage in the treasurer's office and the power struggle for control of the state's investment practices.

Who could forget his room-service breakfast tab that has become as memorable as two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun with its farmers omelet, wheat toast, pancakes, two orders of bacon, two orders of apple juice, orange juice and a small pot of coffee?

It has left a whole host of people, including the governor, the attorney general, the  president pro tem, the speaker, the Senate minority leader and whip, the secretary of state, the finance secretary and the budget director, all wanting to eat his lunch.

THE FOOD KING. Every week Jeff Spiegelman, the Republican rookie representative from Clayton, sends an e-mail to constituents, and every week he includes a recipe. It is not for the faint of heart. The recipe often contains frightening amounts of hot peppers, or else it is a caloric orgy, like the recent Butterfinger milkshake made of the candy bar, ice cream, milk and chocolate syrup.

HUNGER GAMES. As the year ends, the Democrats outnumber the Republicans in registration by more than 123,000 voters. Of the five basic political food groups -- voters, candidates, contributors, operatives and volunteers -- it is the one most likely to suggest whether the political parties can expect feast or famine in the coming election year.

WEDDING CAKE. Now for gay couples, too.

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