Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics?

Friday, September 30, 2011

Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv News Editor

 

Who’s Hot

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Governor Chafee -> First, he was irrelevant, yet still responsible for running the state into the ground. Now he’s got too much power and he’s responsible for running the state into the ground. Which one is it? Say what you want about the Governor’s decisions this week, but the man knows how to play politics and he’s starting to figure out how to drive his agenda without the help of the General Assembly.

David Cicilline -> A surprisingly strong showing in GoLocalProv’s recent poll given the constant criticism he has received since taking office. His negatives are still high (51%), but he appears to be ahead of Republican opponents with just over a year before the election.

Anthony Gemma -> Appears closer and closer to officially throwing his hat in the ring in a Democratic primary against Cicilline. Gemma won’t have the support of the Democratic establishment in the state, but he’s got solid name recognition, money to spend and he knows how to stay on message when it comes to jobs.

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John Loughlin -> Loughlin is going to need to step up his fundraising efforts, but the man continues to build his support base as the Republican establishment throws its support in his direction. There is no one hoping for a closed GOP primary more than this former State Rep.

Allan Fung -> Cranston’s finances appear to be back in order after Fitch upgraded its bond rating from negative to stable. Mayor Fung has spent so much time in the news battling his School Committee over Mayoral Academies that folks have largely forgotten that this is a guy who has his city on the right track as so many other communities are failing.

Sheldon Whitehouse -> He’s facing a challenge from a Republican next year, but at this point, voters couldn’t pick Barry Hinckley out of a lineup of one. The Senator had a 30 point lead in the GoLocalProv poll and is expected to report another impressive fundraising quarter, a sign that he will be very difficult to unseat.

Dawson Hodgson -> Kudos to the first-term State Senator from North Kingstown for calling on his colleagues with a pension to not vote on reform measures during the special session. He makes a compelling point. At the very least, it’s a public perception issue. At most, it’s a major conflict of interest.

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Who’s Not

Jack Reed -> How come no one has ever vetted the state’s most popular politician on his stance on same-sex marriage? The Senator is catching heat locally this week because he hasn’t signed on to a bill that would rescind the Defense of Marriage Act. And while he can certainly do what he wants (it’s not like he’ll ever be voted out), the problem right now is that he’s unwilling to offer an opinion either way. What’s the hold up, Senator?

Brendan Doherty -> Has a candidate with boatloads of cash and incredibly low unfavorable numbers ever been totally shunned by one party the way Brendan Doherty is being shunned by state Republicans right now? It’s probably too late now, but it’s looking like the former head of the State Police should have decided to run as an Independent.

Angel Taveras -> The Providence Mayor is starting to show some chinks in the armor, according to a recent Brown University poll. He’s still popular and is going to be nearly impossible to unseat three years from now, but the sudden plunge in support has to be a little bit alarming.

Woonsocket Board of Canvassers -> Not the smartest move for a city employee to suggest that a Council candidate not run for office to save the city money. The candidate is Michael Moniz and it sounds like he’s Woonsocket’s version of Chris Young. But that doesn’t mean he should ever be told not to run, especially by someone from the Board of Canvassers.

Providence Schools -> If you’re keeping score at home, the new teachers contract adds five minutes to the school day each year for the next three years. But that two-hour delay on Monday because of a completely-unrelated-to-school business event in downtown essentially removes five minutes from the school day for 24 days. So much for extra learning time.

Bank Of America -> They’re going to start charging $5 per month to use a debit card while they lay off thousands of workers and continue to force evictions on thousands of families across the country. Talk about a public relations nightmare. And what happens if and when, as GoLocalProv first reported months ago, the company leaves downtown Providence?

GTECH -> Another huge corporation that gets all kinds of tax breaks but could care less about actually putting people to work. The company laid dozens of employees in Rhode Island this week because demand for lottery terminals has decreased.


 

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