Divisions Plague Rhode Island Right
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Rhode Island conservative movement has found itself fraught with division and dissension at precisely the moment that it is most poised to capitalize on nationwide dissatisfaction with President Obama and liberal policies.
In the past month, two key organizations have suffered either a major defection of members or outright implosion. Last week, a group of key volunteers announced they had split off from the Rhode Island Tea Party. Weeks before that, GoLocalProv reported that the state’s only conservative think tank, the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, was dissolving, after its founder and former president, Bill Felkner had been terminated under controversial circumstances.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe discord is all the more puzzling for the Tea Party, which arguably is more influential than ever on the national scene. During the debt debacle, the Tea Party was often viewed—correctly or incorrectly—as the force driving the debate on the Right. And, in the GOP presidential race, two of the leading contenders, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, are seen as Tea Party favorites. Even in deep blue Rhode Island, the Tea Party has also seen its share of political wins, such as the defeat of binding arbitration legislation at the Statehouse.
‘No spoils to divide’
Given their smaller numbers and limited resources, unity is all the more critical for local conservatives. But it is precisely the circumstances that create the need for more unity that have led to division, some say.
“This is what happens in any coalition or group when you have no spoils to divide, no government seats or power,” said Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller. “You have nothing to deliver to anybody. It all becomes about personal ego.”
State GOP activist Will Ricci agreed—saying that conservatives lack either political carrots or sticks to keep members in line. “We can’t reward people with great stuff and we can’t punish them if they fall out of line either,” Ricci said. As a result: “It’s too much of a focus on personality than on the goals these groups are said to represent. They’re just too many egos.”
Personality conflicts become more significant in volunteer-based organizations that do not have one large funding source, said Steve Frias, the vice chairman of the state GOP. “There’s no overriding entity or person that can keep them in line because they control the purse strings,” Frias said.
He draws a contrast with unions. “Although they have all these locals, they have centralized control because they control the purse strings.”
Commitment to ideology
Not everyone is convinced that what some call the center-right coalition has an ego problem.
Mike Napolitano, a Lincoln town chair and spokesman for John Loughlin, said he is not sure why divisions on the Right have erupted in recent weeks. “I wish I knew. I have no idea. All I’ve heard is rumor and innuendo,” he said.
One political scientist said it’s all about commitment to a rigid ideology. “I would be more inclined to believe that these groups on the Right have strong beliefs and convictions on things and if there is a perception that some group or individual is deviating in some way from their mission or ideology that is more likely to cause friction or divisions,” said Victor Profughi, a retired professor at Rhode Island College.
In the two recent instances of this—the Tea Party and Ocean State Policy—differences of opinion about the direction of the organizations were cited by some members as the reasons for their internal divisions. The new Tea Party group, the Ocean State Tea Party in Action, wants to focus on Statehouse issues. Meanwhile, the successor to Ocean State Policy, the RI Freedom Center, will broaden its policy work.
Not everyone is inclined to see the organizational shake-ups as unhealthy divisions. Instead, they take a more-the-merrier approach.
“I don’t think there are divisions. I think there are people with different foci,” said Colleen Conley, president of the Rhode Island Tea Party. “I think there are some people, like the group who spun off, who clearly want to focus on legislative issues. I don’t see that as a bad thing.”
The 2010 election—a case in point?
Such so-called divisions are hardly a new thing.
In fact, soon after its formation in 2009, the Tea Party voted out one of its board members, Marina Peterson, who left armed with a sizable mailing list and a promise to continue working on her own.
In a way, one of the biggest symptoms of the divided Right came in the 2010 gubernatorial contest.
Three of the four candidates—Republican John Robitaille, Moderate Party Ken Block, and Democrat Frank Caprio—all espoused, to varying degrees, small government, anti-tax, pro-business philosophies. Ultimately, the fourth candidate, independent Lincoln Chafee, took the race with just 36 percent of the vote.
In the final month of the race, fiscally conservative groups had a high-profile tiff over whether to back the more ideologically pure candidate—Robitaille—or the candidate some saw as the more pragmatic choice—Caprio. Late in October, the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition, which bills itself as the state’s largest taxpayer group, endorsed Caprio. The move was immediately followed by a sharp rebuke from the Tea Party.
In the end, many in the Robitaille camp blamed Block’s candidacy for stopping Robitaille at 33.6 percent of the vote. Block categorically denies such accusations. “I had extraordinarily conservative leaders vote for me,” he said. “I had extraordinarily liberal leaders vote for me.” If anything, he said he hurt Caprio more than Robitaille.
He also rejected the premise that he is part of any cohesive center-right coalition of fiscal conservatives. “I am fully planted in the middle,” Block said. “I believe that most people are not classified as simply Right or Left.”
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Related Articles
- Liberal vs. Conservative, In-State vs. Out of State. Who has the Cash?
- Top Conservative Group Implodes
- Conservative and Liberal Groups Claim Wins in Election
- Conservative Research Institute Hires Former Red Sox Player
- Conservative Groups Split over Caprio and Robitaille
