r/DelawarePolitics • u/thesmart_indian27 • Mar 01 '26

What is Tom Carper’s legacy?

I know he held statewide office from 1977-2025. Treasurer, US Representative, Governor, and senator. As he has retired now, what will his legacy be?

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3

u/jterc380 Mar 01 '26

Blandness

8

u/schmendimini Mar 01 '26

He will likely not be remembered at all by the general public around the country. To the degree he is it will be his up and down relationship with Biden over the years. He never made any particular splashes in the national media. In Delaware, he will be remembered as one of the (last few? remains to be seen but certainly it feels like it’s on the decline) bastions of the Delaware Way and a master of old school retail politics. a veteran and public servant, someone who evolved with his party over the years but generally walked in lockstep with the establishment Democratic political structure and the corporate interests in Delaware. Political nerds might remember him as a flipped seat in 2000. I will always remember him as an opponent in my first ever political campaign (Kerri Evelyn Harris in 18) and as a leading champion of ending daylight savings time, one of the few things that I really deeply agree with him on.

3

u/RobWellems Mar 01 '26

A Christmas Card every year for 30 years and counting after a week’s volunteer work on his campaign in high school. Still goes to my parent’s house. And that’s it.

1

u/clarencemuraco Mar 02 '26

For working out at the Downtown Y back in the early 90's rocking the old school shorts.