Arthur Schaper: I Would Vote For Fung
Friday, May 23, 2014
In California, the Republican gubernatorial primary is a precursor for the future direction of the state party, with clearly conservative Tim Donnelly winning support in the face of RINO Neel Kashkari, the TARP bailout supervisor who voted for Obama, and has a Democratic stance on nearly every other issue.
The choice has been very easy for me: Donnelly all the way.
Rhode Island’s Republican gubernatorial primary is similar in some ways, but not decisive in determining the future of the state party.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTI’ve taken an interest in many races in my state as well as New England (including possible House seat pick ups in New Hampshire and one seat in Maine)
From the Republicans’ failures in 2012 to take the US Senate and the White House, I faced a situation similar to what the Democrats faced in 2004: What do we do now?
A fifty-state Republican strategy was needed, just as the Democrats did in 2006 then 2008, when they took back Congress and then the White House.
States which Establishment Republicans had written off, like New England and the Left (er West) Coast are now coming into play once again. Oregon’s US Senate seat may be in play for the first time in years, and Republicans in Maryland are emboldened by secession efforts from one section of the state as well as ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings’ swarm of corruption allegations against him.
Following US Senator Rand Paul’s invocation to spread GOP influence into all states, including New England, I wanted to lead the charge and help out any way that I could.
As far as I am concerned, with conservatives like Mark Smiley as GOP Chairman and Raymond McKay edging closer to an official announcement for US Senate, plus Cormick Lynch’s hat in the ring to take on Grand Theft Auto Cicilline, the Rhode Island Republican Party may go from life-support to state-restoration in 2014.
Which now turns me to the gubernatorial race.
Treasurer Gina Raimondo helped structure the pension reforms, which she is now practically running against. Providence mayor Angel Taveras inherited a mess, but he hasn’t made it any better. Clay Pell. . who cares? The two Republicans running for Governor are former Moderate-turned-Republican Ken Block and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung.
Ken Block supporters stump for his civic activism with bringing down the Master Lever. Detractors point out that Moderate Block spoiled the 2010 gubernatorial elections, which tossed the seat by a mere 38% to Chafee instead of John Robitaille.
As far as I’m concerned, city activists who want to hold office are permitted to make mistakes, or to change their minds about party affiliation.
But when a Republican admits that he voted for Obama not once but twice, that is more than a mistake. When the same candidate admits that he bought what Obama was selling (twice!), that is not just an error in judgment. Such admissions demonstrate either a serious character flaw or an underlying incapacity to articulate one’s views for the long-term.
If I could, I would vote for Cranston Mayor Allan Fung to be Rhode Island’s next governor.
Despite the police officer ticketing scandal, which some rumblings had suggested would bring down the mayor’s campaign, the fact is his leadership stood out in trying to investigate it with his own resources. T
When Fung stood before the press to acknowledge his role in an accidental death during his youth, such composure commanded a great deal of respect to me. We need leaders in statehouses all over who are not afraid to come forward with personal tragedies or failings from their past. As I had written before, past failings should not prevent anyone from making present runs to hold office in the future.
Other city leaders have informed that even though Cranston police officers can accrue more sick days following a new contract with the city, the fact remains that no other city in Rhode Island has led the effort to transfer liabilities to a 401(k) plan other than Cranston. Economists have even blasted Warwick Mayor Avedisian’s failures to reign in pension costs. With Avedisian’s announcement to raise property taxes on his own residents in his newly proposed budget, Avedisian has more explaining to do about his city’s current finances. Not Mayor Fung.
The Cranston leader supports the Second Amendment, a crucial yet contentious issue which cannot be ignored, now that crime rates remain a problem (thanks again, GTA Cicilline!) He even wrote a letter to the Rhode Island General Assembly demanding that the state respect the Second Amendment rights of its citizens. He also opposes bailing out 38 Studios with taxpayer dollars.
So he donated money to Democrats in the past. I have Republican friends who endorsed Democrats for local office because they were friends, not ideological partners on key issues. At least I know that unlike Block, Fung has remained a registered Republican from his years on the city council to the present day.
If I could, I would vote for Allan Fung for governor, a fiscal conservative who recognizes that the state should serve the citizens, not the other way around.
Arthur Christopher Schaper is a teacher-turned-writer on topics both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A life-long Southern California resident, Arthur currently lives in Torrance. Follow him on Twitter@ArthurCSchaper, reach him at [email protected], and read more at Schaper's Corner and As He Is, So Are We Ministries.