In the Stretch by John DePetro
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Greetings from the campaign trail where the candidates are frantically racing toward the final week of campaigning. Some thoughts on the races:
The leading players in the race for Governor got upstaged by understudies for a few days: Instead of Frank and Linc, it turned into "JR versus the Judge." Expect a very late night tallying votes on November 2nd as neither team Caprio nor team Chafee seem unable to finish off the other. Reminds me of when Vinny Paz would fight a good fight but was unable to knock out his opponent. Too bad Republican John Robitaille decided to take the high road or he could have made a move here. The race for governor could truly become the race to "get out the vote." JR and Linc may be asking the judge for jobs at CCRI once this thing is over.
With the race for Attorney General, the frontrunner Democrat Peter Kilmartin has apparently entered the witness protection program and gone underground. Is Whitey Bulger running the campaign? Kilmartin makes Linc Almond seem like Bill Clinton the way he has gone under the radar and gone unnoticed. Kilmartin has the lead on a 4-way race that has gotten little to no media buzz. This would be a different race if it was just Republican Erik Wallin against Kilmartin, but the credibly performing Chris Little and "I can't stop suing OR being sued by people" Keven McKenna have managed to scatter the field. Expect lots of serious effort to police the ethical behavior of the General Assembly (NOT) if lifelong public employee and Assembly veteran, good 'ole boy Peter wins this one.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn the First Congressional: Can John Loughlin become Ron Machtley and Scott Brown? Loughlin is coming on very strong in recent days and has a decent shot to upset David Cicilline if he can penetrate into enough undecided voters and bring them over by reminding them that the Providence mess has cost ALL state taxpayers who subsidize many functions of the dysfunctional city. Cicilline is feeling the heat and doesn't respond well when cornered and his stereotyping of Loughlin as just another middle-aged angry white guy (and if he works for a living and pays taxes, why shouldn't he be?) may backfire. The big question is whether President Obama coming in to Rhode Island next week will help the muddled Mayor or hurt him. Keep in mind that Hillary crushed Obama in the Rhode Island primary in 08, and the President's approval ratings have plunged like flood waters. Loughlin has a solid shot to pull this off.
The race for Lt. Governor is one of the more interesting races. Can Bob Healey convince voters to "vote Bob to end the job." Liz Roberts seems very uncomfortable with a chief of staff who makes $165k plus benefits for an office with no job description. It is like the John Celona definition of "heaven."
The leaves are starting to fall, the days are running down, and it can only mean one thing: soon the squabbling will have to come to an end, the charges will stand where they are, and in under two weeks - throngs of confused, angry, or just downright exhausted Rhode Islanders will finally have their say. It's your state, messy as it is. Pay attention in the final days.
John DePetro can be heard weekday mornings 6-10A, on GoLocalProv media partner 630WPRO & 99.7 FM, and podcasts of show highlights are found at 630wpro.com
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