Don Roach: Brendan Doherty Needs to Up His Game

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Don Roach, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

The standard bearer of the ABC (Anybody But Cicilline) coalition, Brendan Doherty, needs to up his game. On a recent WPRI Newsmakers show, his performance was uneven. First, Brendan Doherty is not a politico, he’s a political novice. In my opinion, that’s what’s good about him versus the uber-politician Cicilline. From his Newsmakers performance, Doherty has a personal style that will play well with Rhode Islanders because he’s not Whitehouse stuffy and certainly not Cicilline polished. He comes off as someone who is real and Rhode Island at heart.

I can’t underscore how much a difference that is from our current Congressman. Congressman Cicilline comes off as aloof and elitist – it’s almost as if every time Cicilline speaks in the back of his mind he’s laughing at the fact that the people of Rhode Island believe his bologna. “Republicans are working to undermine the middle class and get rid of your medicare benefits” is what he’s saying publicly but I wonder if he’s not really saying “Ha ha ha! I cause a category five fiscal hurricane in Providence and you jokers are going to elect me to a second term. Suckas!”

You don’t get that same impression from Doherty. Instead, what we saw on Newsmakers was a rookie politician making a number of rookie mistakes that were he facing an opponent not as vulnerable as Cicilline might prove fatal.

A conservative or not?

In my opinion, Brendan Doherty is not really a conservative. On Newsmakers he said he was but I’m not really buying it. Yes, he’s pro-life but contrary to popular belief being pro-life does not automatically make you conservative. Yes, he mentioned “rebooting America” by putting all budget items “on the table” for review. However, Doherty is a moderate.

He spent most of the program and I assume will spend much of the next few months talking to Rhode Islanders about bi-partisan solutions and if asked for off the cuff remarks on everyday issues, he’ll seem more moderate than his Republican brethren.

For example, I have discussed the not so convincing arguments surrounding in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. I’ve said many times, that if these students receive an education what will they be able to do with it after graduation seeing as though they cannot work in the country legally? When asked about illegal immigration, Doherty hesitated and talked about the difficulty of the issue and understanding the situation. He then went on to talk about people who were here illegally and selling drugs, etc. But, I think his first response, where he paused is the telling one. He’s genuinely concerned about the issue, but I think he was trying to figure out how to stay on message while not coming off as cold hearted.

If you get a chance, watch his performance and see how a number of times he makes similar hesitation then message bullet point statements. Again, this isn’t a bad thing for a Rhode Island Republican to be moderate on these issues, but Doherty, in my mind, is most definitely not a conservative.

That won’t hurt him against Cicilline at all, and it should be fun to watch Cicilline try to paint him as a cookie cut conservative. Good luck!

Doherty needs a consistent message

Doherty gaffed most significantly when talking about the Bush tax cuts. He stated he wouldn’t extend them at first. Then it seemed like he didn’t understand their significance. Finally, he stated that he would agree to temporarily extending them giving the Congress coming in 2013 the opportunity to come up with a bipartisan agreement. Doherty has been in the congressional race for months, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he should have been able to address this question easily without hesitation, backtracking, or stumbling as he did.

That concerns me and I am sure will concern voters if this continues. Why is it a concern? The Bush tax cuts are one of the significant issues facing congress and it’s an issue Doherty needs to have an answer to so that he can share what he’ll do in Congress versus the man currently holding the seat. Rhode Islanders need to trust that Doherty can take a position and articulate it to the masses in order to get their buy-in or in most cases lead them to where he believes we should go.

He didn’t do a good job of that on Newsmakers and if his performance there is an indication of his future ability, it’s not a good sign. But then again, political neophytes generally get better and my hope is he does as well.

If he doesn’t, Cicilline is going to eat him alive and all the money in the world won’t save him. It’s time for the Colonel to step up his game and hopefully those around him won’t sugarcoat his performance. Nothing’s worse than a bunch of sycophants chanting your praise when what’s needed is a dose of sober reality.

Doherty has some qualities that are going to be appealing to Rhode Islanders. What he needs now is to become more polished and consistent on issues facing the state so that his highlights aren’t lost amongst an inability to present a clear and appealing message.

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

4:07am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Roach,

His inability to articulate and defend a solid position on these issues comes nearly a year into his campaigning. He announced last May. There is no excuse. You said it best, Cicilline is going to eat him alive.

louis rizzo

7:12am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

DC is a former defense attorney...the colonel was always in control...he called press conf, he put on the gloves, the boots, the hat..he ran the show..3 round decision, DC wins...he can think on his feet

vinny coia

9:25am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

dohertys indecisiveness and lack of knowledge versus cicillines contrived deception .

Joseph Bernstein

10:01am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I think Brendan Doherty may be getting some pretty mediocre advice from his campaign staff.
He seems to want to avoid going negative when there is so much legitimate material available on Cicilline.
It's not like he's running against Claiborne Pell-Cicilline is a slimy,lying,scurrilous little rat.
I hope DC doesn't get another term-it will be confirmation that people in this state are insane.
Brendan is a very nice,soft spoken guy in person and very smart also.
It is probably hard to drop the 28 years of of controlled,professional responses to questions.
It's okay to "get dirty"in a political campaign against such a lowlife as Cicilline.

TOM LETOURNEAU

10:48am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I will admit to not always being the brightest bulb on the tree....along with, sometimes, having difficulty putting my thoughts, and my words, to write....all the while not destroying the 'King's English'! That, along with my also being Grammatically Correct. so as to not embarrass Sister St. Martin, my homeroom teacher back at St. Mary's, on Broadway in Providence!

That said, and clarified, I am absolutely stumped with the many, somewhat negative comments being directed at Brendan Doherty for his not being the kind of a "Polished" Political Hack of the exact same 'Ilk' that we want to get rid of?

I see in Brendan Doherty all of the positive kinds of traits and characteristics that we all seem to clamor for, up to and including, his being about as honest a person as could possibly be asked for. He has a reputation and credentials that are beyond dispute....and exceeds, in what really counts, any and all of the 'Polished' Politicians that, as I have already mentioned, we want to get rid of!

SO....that said, I think back to the words of Clara Peller, the deceased former, and very funny, spokeswomen of Wendy's Hanburger Commercial's Fame" "WHERE'S THE BEEF?"

There is, in my opinion, no beef what-so-ever with Brendon, who and what he is and what he represents!

That said I think that all Republicans and others that want to support this man, stop their Bitching and Bellyaching and your calling for him to become a better, more polished, Politician, and accept him for what he is and what he represents!

The BEST that there is!

"Tom" Letourneau
Former Town of Cumberland Republican Town Committee Vice-Chairman

Rhonda Bennett

2:03pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The problem in the Doherty campaign is with the Chairman, Giovanni Cicione. This will go down as perhaps Doherty's biggest error and may end up costing him the election. Remember among many other failures is Cicione's Clean Slate blunder, registering candidates to run for office incorrectly, campaign finance blunder, on and on--- long history of errors.

Donn Roach

7:05pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Tom,

That Doherty is not a political hack is a plus, a big plus, in his race against Cicilline. He still needs to evoke an intelligent and consistent presence when speaking about issues. At times during his performance on Newsmakers, he faltered in this aspect.

My point is not to say his campaign is over or overly damaged by this, but to exhort Doherty and his team to make sure that his next public appearance is stronger than this one. Continual performances like this will make it a whole lot easier for Cicilline to defeat him in the fall.

Winston Smith

7:22pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Doherty will be carried to victory by the honest, hard working, God loving democrats who now see just what a piece of crap Cicilline is. The bloom is off the rose.

watching providence

8:18pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Doherty is a breath of fresh air. He's not as well spoken as Cicilline because he is not a career politician. I'll take the honest guy with integrity over the flashy crooked fast talking Cicilline any day. The fact that Tavares is supporting Cicilline is a travesty after what he did to providence

tom brady

10:07pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I think the glove thing was a little over the top. I worry he is a poser, but what's the alternative?

W. Walwyn

1:56am on Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tom Letourneau,

It's funny you should mention that Wendy's commercial, because that was created by an experienced Madison Avenue ad man. Clara Peller just read the lines. That you should equate her with the ownership of the lines sort of undermines your point.

Authenticity is partly perception. A well-spoken candidate can make you believe they truly care, even if they don't. Likewise, a candidate with poor speaking skills can make you distrust them, even when they are truly genuine. This is politics, and to a large extent, life. We evaluate based on instinct and gut and emotion and perception, and very rarely on fact. Even the people who consider themselves "rational" fall prey to all of this.

Some politicians spend years and never learn how to connect with the average person, how to hold themselves, or how to exude the qualities people want. Yet they might be very good at manipulating parliamentary procedure or maneuvering into leadership positions. Just like any other batch of people.

Brendan Doherty wants to be perceived as a capable candidate? He has to sound, look, and appear capable to the public. Not unsure of himself, not argumentative, and not dopey. That means working on his image.

Todd B

7:27am on Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tom, you seem to be confusing a lack of substantive knowledge with being "polished". Just the opposite is true. Doherty has a great public image as a physically-imposing, crime fighting state trooper. His problem isn't with his image, it comes when people ask him basic policy questions.

Telling Doherty that he is the "best" on the heels of this interview is false and only does him a disservice. Doherty's campaign should just be glad this interview was in March when nobody is paying attention and not in September. Six months from now a repeat performance of this interview might spell the end of his campaign.

By the way, everyone commenting is assuming that Cicilline will be the Democratic nominee. But if Cicilline's numbers don't improve soon, Gemma may stand a very good chance of winning the primary. Doherty needs to be able demonstrate people should vote for him for other reasons than "he's not David Cicilline". Come November that argument might not be enough.