Don Roach: It’s Doherty or Bust for Rhode Island
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
David Cicilline has emerged from the primary as strong as he’s ever been. His main opponent, Brendan Doherty, held a double digit lead back in may but according to Cicilline and Democratic pollsters, the former mayor now holds the double digit lead over Doherty.
What the heck happened between now and then?
It’s been equal parts Cicilline machine, Gemma ineptitude, and Doherty silence. Cicilline apologized for his part in Providence’s financial situation albeit a year and a half later. I’ve written previously about the forgiving nature of Rhode Island voters and Cicilline needed to apologize and his timing earlier this year is pretty good. There was enough time for it to cycle through the news and it was far enough away from the primary to blunt its potentially negative impact on his campaign.
Not that he needed to worry all that much during the primary as Anthony Gemma was probably the best opponent for Cicilline. Gemma didn’t know how to campaign effectively as in compelling actual voters to vote for him. Nor did he dent Cicilline’s image. On the contrary, he probably helped Cicilline best by throwing out accusations to this day appear more fiction than fact. I’m very disappointed he didn’t expose Cicilline’s faults and give him a much more difficult race. I’m completely flabbergasted that he actually helped Cicilline gain some momentum. Thankfully, the Gemma experience is behind us and I doubt he’ll ever make a serious run at any political office again.
And then there’s Doherty’s relative silence throughout the summer. If you’ve got a double digit lead, it’s understandable why he didn’t want to enter the fracas. It’s also understandable that he didn’t want to in any way associate with Gemma due to Gemma’s aforementioned ineptitude. By remaining under the radar, he allowed Cicilline to define many terms in this race and definitely get a jump start on the fall campaign.
Certainly, it’s not over for Doherty and he has come out swinging over the last two weeks with ads, press releases, and the like. He’ll need to continue to hit Cicilline where it hurts, seniors. Seniors are going to be critical in this race. Cicilline is trying to use scare tactics while Doherty is talking about solutions. Sounds cliché, but Cicilline is trying to scare the electorate that if you elect a Republican you’re going to lose your Social Security. Doherty is a moderate Republican and a Republican who is clearly concerned about seniors.
Doherty must find a way to define the debate and not allow Cicilline’s recent poll numbers to take him off message. If this race is about who’s better for Rhode Island, Doherty wins going away. However, if it’s about who’s the better politician, Cicilline wins every time. But let’s not make like Cicilline is the best politician not named Bill Clinton. Doherty has many strong talking points and has the money to get his message to voters.
As voters, it’s up to us to tell Cicilline that skirting the truth is unacceptable and that we want something more. If we vote Cicilline back into office this fall, then any politician who has ever told us a lie so that he could win an election is emboldened to do so again. We need to say no to such notions and vote for Brendan Doherty. Period. End of Story.
Don Roach is a member of the RI Young Republicans. He can be reached at don@donroach.org .
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Comments:
Edward Smith
7:21am on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Doherty remained silent over the summer because his handlers were convinced that Gemma would cripple Cicilline for him. That says a lot about his handlers.
Rhonda Bennett
10:37am on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
It is frustrating to see Cicilline in the lead in this race. It is even more frustrating to watch the one step forward and one step back by the Doherty campaign. This race should be a slam dunk for Doherty. It is clear that Gio Cicione's hands are all over this, and his legacy of errors is well known statewide. Robert Coupe is no better having served along side of Cicione in more than one capacity. Time to clean house and get rid of the incompetence. Don Roach is correct! This race should have already been over given the character of Cicilline.
Captain Blacksocks
11:08am on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Vote, vote, vote! Only about half of RIers show up to the polls! That's why we get stuck with the corrupt, inept government we have. Ask all your conservative friends if they are planning to vote this year. If they say no or maybe...then smack them upside the head!
Captain Blacksocks
11:08am on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Vote, vote, vote! Only about half of RIers show up to the polls! That's why we get stuck with the corrupt, inept government we have. Ask all your conservative friends if they are planning to vote this year. If they say no or maybe...then smack them upside the head!
Charles D.
2:13pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
If Mr. Roach wants us to vote for Brendan Doherty, he has to provide a more compeling argument than this fluffy piece. You cannot hang on David Cicilline a complaint about lying and appear to make that situation more pervasive than it really is And apart from denigrating Cicilline, he also has to make a stronger case for Doherty and why Doherty is a better canididate. Until that happens, I will vote for Cicilline based on the simple rationale that I do not want to send another Republican to Congress to present more obstacles to legislation getting passed.
Art West
6:04pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
Well said, Charles D. You represent the intelligent liberals who are voting on policy and ideology. I disagree with your decision, but respect it.
What I can't respect are the lame brains who vote for Cicilline simply because he's the Democrat in the race. Or because they recall his name. Or because they've been brainwashed into voting against the evil Republican who will ruin their lives, forcing them to eat cat food in the dark until they die...