Is Rhode Island the Least Politically Influential State in America?
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
For the past forty years, when the Republicans were in control in Washington, Rhode Island either had one or more top level elected Republicans who could give a call to the White House. Regardless if Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, or George W. Bush was President, Rhode Island always had someone who could make the call to protect a federal grant, ask for help with an oil spill or make a pitch for a federal judge.
Today, Rhode Island is a bastion of blue at a time when Washington is awash in GOP red.
RI's Recent Republicans
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor decades, Rhode Island always had a GOP leader. In Congress, there was Senator John Chafee (R-RI) starting in 1976 when he first took office. Even when George W. Bush was President after Chafee's death, Lincoln Chafee held the seat for a eight years and Rhode Island had Republican Don Carcieri as Governor.
One top level Washington GOP consultant told GoLocal that Rhode Island now ranks dead last for influence - and that no one at the White House is going to be returning a phone call anytime soon.
“Rhode Island arguably has the least political clout of all 50 states. The primary reason for this isn’t just because its delegation is 100% Democrat, it’s because half the delegation is deleterious to their own causes. Senator Whitehouse and Representative Cicilline are the rare elected officials who would actually have more influence on society being out of office,” said John Goodwin, Vice President at The Herald Group in Washington, DC.
“They are not legislators, they are activists solely focused on their own personal agendas rather than working on behalf of the people who voted for them. They seem to be more at home at protests and rallies for progressive causes than debating trade, defense, the U.S. manufacturing base or infrastructure funding,” said Goodwin.
Brookings’ Darrell West contests that despite an all-blue delegation, Rhode Island's Democrats have a place inside the beltway.
“Rhode Island still has clout because its federal representatives are well-respected in Washington. Reed is recognized for his knowledge about military and defense issues. Whitehouse is a leader on climate change and healthcare. Langevin is one of the go-to people on cybersecurity,” said West.
When RI Was King
From the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, Rhode Island had tremendous seniority and regardless of who was in power in Congress or the White House, the State had significant influence. And in the mid-1980s, Rhode Island might have had the most clout pound-for-pound of any state in America.
The powerful Housing Committee in the House was Chaired by Democrat Ferdinand St. Germain, Republican Chafee was ranking on both Finance and Environment and Public Works, Senator Claiborne Pell was ranking on Foreign Relations and Labor on Health, Education and Welfare Committees. And, Republican Claudine Schneider was a moderate that the national GOP was always wooing to run against Pell (which she did in 1990).
Chafee and Pell would both go on to chair powerful committees over the next few years.
But, even West admits Rhode Island has potential vulnerability -- but it may have an upside.
"If there is a large scaling back of the federal government, Rhode Island would suffer because it gets a lot of national money. However, Trump already has indicated he wants to put a lot of money into infrastructure repair so that is an issue where the state could be a beneficiary," said West.
Rhode Island does rank 50th for the condition of its roads and bridges.
How Blue is Rhode Island?
Rhode Island is one of a handful of states in which both houses of the legislature and the Governor’s office are controlled by Democrats. In addition, all five general officers are Democrats, and all four members of the Congressional delegation are Democrats. Only Connecticut and Hawaii are as blue as Rhode Island.
Implications
“I don't think there's any doubt that many of the key policy priorities of the state's delegation could take a hit in the coming years, including tax reform, action on climate change and other environmental problems, and immigration reform,” said Providence College Professor of Political Science Matthew Guardino.
“There is always greater political influence when a state's delegation is in the same party as the president, but with the polarization in Congress, there has been little chance for big legislation on any of these things over the last six years. What comes out of the new Congress on these issues is almost surely going to be opposed by all or most of the Rhode Island delegation,” said Guardino.
In addition, the Manhattan Institute’s Aaron Renn said, “Big states like California can have an influence on the nation regardless of their local politics. That's not going to be true of Rhode Island unless it happens to have a particularly influential Senator or Congressman. Obviously that's not the case at the moment.”
