Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics?
Friday, September 24, 2010
WHO'S HOT
Gina Raimondo -> After a stellar performance at Wednesday night's Drinking Liberally, many in attendance were heard uttering, "why isn't she running for Governor?" She's smart, she's bold, she's a bigtime fundraiser and, most importantly, she can paint her vision for Rhode Island in a way that really connects with voters. Her future is boundless.
Sheldon Whitehouse -> Kudos to Rhode Island's junior senator for reminding the obstructionist Republican senators that "what goes around, comes around;" if they want to break centuries of tradition in the Senate by filibustering District Court nominees supported by both home senators - like Jack McConnell in Rhode Island - they better expect the same if and when they regain power in the Senate. McConnell deserve an "up or down" vote.
Peter Kilmartin -> As has been pointed out, Kilmartin has been blessed with the most fortunate of electoral circumstances: a 3-way primary followed by a 5-way general election = smooth sailing for this Democratic nominee for Attorney General. In addition to that, Kilmartin has run a well-disciplined campaign (with the exception of the WPRI debate).
Ian Donnis -> This WRNI political reporter gets major props for unearthing the 1990 'peas in a pod' attack ad by Bruce Sundlun. No matter the improvements in technology, some themes never change in politics.
Childhood Lead Action Project -> This terrific non-profit organization celebrates its 18th anniversary with a "Comedy for a Cause" fundraiser on September 30, 2010 at 5:30 pm at the Hi-Hat (3 Davol Square, Providence, RI 02903). The event will feature the Ocean State Follies, community awards and a delicious meal for guests.
Michael Solomon -> This Ward 5 councilman in Providence issued a press release and hosted a Council get-together that promised enough votes to become City Council president. If his coalition holds, he will not only have defeated Luis Aponte's bid for the presidency, but he will have also ensured that the next Mayor - Angel Taveras - and the next Council President - Solomon - both hail from the same Ward (ward 5).
Bob Healey -> This Cool Mooser got quite a boost by the news that the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor was dropping out of the race. The question is whether he will have enough juice to defeat the highest-ranking women in Rhode Island political life: Elizabeth Roberts. I think not.
Earth, Wind & Fire -> Who will be the "greenest" Governor when it comes to preserving the Bay and investing in the green economy? Find out at the Rhode Island Gubernatorial Candidates Environmental Debate which is being cosponsored by the Environment Council of Rhode Island & the Providence College Political Science Department. The event is Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 7:00pm at '64 Hall in the Slavin Center at Providence College.
Tony Simon -> This #2 in Sen. Whitehouse's office is known as one of the smartest and most hard-working political operatives in the state and now, he's got his work cut out for himself as the director of the Democratic Party's coordinated campaign. He's hot for working with Chairman Pacheco to pull together a massive Democratic Unity dinner this Saturday night at 6:00PM at the Convention Center.
Frank Caprio & Linc Chafee -> With their non-stop attacks on each other, these two gubernatorial front runners have successfully marginalized every other candidate in this race (notably, John Robitaille and Ken Block).
The RI AFL-CIO -> After a huge primary night of upsets in the General Assembly, the AFL-CIO convention on Monday night sported a who's who of candidates seeking the endorsement of the state's largest labor organization. Even with a "no endorsement" in the Governor's race, labor is back in a big way.
WHO'S NOT
Women -> Another election passes and, yet again, the number of women in Rhode Island elected office continues to stagnate. On the Providence City Council, it's gotten even worse, with only 1 of 15 democratic nominees being a woman. Scott MacKay has a great synopsis of the crisis in Rhode Island politics when it comes to ending the 'good old boys' club (to which the up-and-coming Ted Nesi had a good rebuttal).
Chris Little -> What happens when you champion yourself as the outsider who will take on the "bad guys" in a new TV ad, but it turns out you've spent your legal career working hard in support of the "bad guys?" Bad press happens.
Ray Rickman -> This longtime Democratic operative went pretty far out there for Gemma's congressional campaign (after abandoning the Cicilline camp) - serving as Gemma's political director. It will be interesting to see what his next move is.
John Loughlin -> This Republican congressional candidate was looking to get some action in his race to replace Patrick Kennedy against the Democratic nominee David Cicilline. He got double whammyed. First, an NBC poll put him 20 points behind Cicilline. Second, Cicilline rightfully took aim at Loughlin's statements, votes and affiliations all pointing to support for privatizing Social Security. I'm sure the senior-rich CD-1 voters will love to hear more about that.
Heidi Rogers -> For once, the Chris Youngs of the world got a conspiracy right. It is pretty clear that this Republican nominee for Lt. Governor ran and won with the intention of dropping out so that Bob Healey could have a clear shot at Elizabeth Roberts. Former Lt. Governor Charlie Fogarty is right: this plot misled voters. It was misleading and it was wrong.
Kerry King -> You know you've had a bad week when you've spent the whole week trying to justify why you have a Florida driver's license (after having to defend your residence in Florida and your unpaid back taxes in Florida....). Kerry "Sarasota" King should pack it up now and wait for spring training. He's not ready for the big show.
Victor Profughi -> This pollster has been getting criticized on talk radio and in the blogosphere for his recent poll for NBC 10. The criticism certainly seems relevant especially considering Profughi asserted the Providence Mayor's race as 'too close to call' and had Steve Laffey with a huge lead over Linc Chafee in 2006.
Send me your HOT and NOT tips to mjerzyk at gmail dot com.
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- Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics?
- Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics?
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- Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Rhode Island Politics
- Side of the Rhode: Who’s hot and who’s not in RI Politics
- Side of the Rhode: Who’s hot and who’s not in RI Politics?
- Side of the Rhode: Who’s hot and who’s not in RI politics
- Side of the Rhode: Who’s hot and who’s not in Rhode Island politics?
- Side of the Rhode: Who’s hot and who’s not in Rhode Island politics?
- Side of the Rhode: who’s hot and who’s not in RI?
- Side of the Rhode: who’s hot and who’s not in RI?
Comments:
Victor Profughi
7:18am on Friday, September 24, 2010
Re: Profughi -- This is what I actually said on the Providence primary, "In the end, whoever has the most effective ground game, the greatest number of committed primary voters, with the best voter ID and GOTV efforts, will be the winner.... This is really a tough race to call."
Russ Lehman
8:49am on Friday, September 24, 2010
The Mayor's race was a "really tough race to call" if you were a cab driver or a barber or a doctor. But if you were a pollster, and had conducted a valid poll, it would not have been a tough race to call at all. Taveras had more votes than his two opponents combined. In The Chafee/Caprio race, Caprio was ahead by 6, and now he's down by 2. The headline should have been that" Caprio has lost ground to Chafee in the past few weeks". Instead, it's the very misleading story that two polls have different candidates ahead. Not all polls are created equal.
Russ Lehman
9:16am on Friday, September 24, 2010
Actually, I take that back about a cab driver: I think that a cab driver would have been able to accurately call the Providence Mayor's race!
Matthew Jerzyk
9:46am on Friday, September 24, 2010
=========================
Dear Victor -
Thank you for your comment. I was actually addressing your comments on this news site wherein you stated, the day before the Primary, "This race appears truly too close to call. I have gotten access to recent internal polling data from three different sources that show all three candidates in contention." I'm not sure which "recent internal polling data" you are referring to. Perhaps you could further explain. But, the reality is that the race was not "too close to call." The winner won by a margin of 20 points - winning 11 of Providence's 15 wards.
-Matt
==========================
Parker Lacoste
1:11pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
Matt,
I find it ironic that you cite a poll as evidence that Loughlin is "not hot" and then go on to criticize that very same poll/pollster. What do you make of Cook Political Report changing the CD-1 race from "likely D" to "lean D?"
- Parker
Matthew Jerzyk
1:15pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
========================
Dear Parker -
Loughlin needed a good poll to raise national money. Whether the poll was flawed or not, the results hampered his ability to bring in the RCCC.
As for the Cook Political Report, I think "lead D" makes alot of sense - especially considering Cicilline only won the Primary with 37% of the vote.
What do you think?
-Matt
========================
Parker Lacoste
1:36pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
Matt,
I think the Cook Political Report will have much more impact on a decision by the NRCC (which has already brought Loughlin into the Young Guns program) than the local NBC 10/Quest poll. Regardless of which side of the isle you are on, or which political ideologies you adhere to, it's clear that mood of the electorate is much different today than in 2008. Loughlin should have an easier time differentiating himself from the policies of the past two years than Cicilline.
It will be a very interesting race to watch...
- Parker
Victor Profughi
5:18pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
Matt,
The data actualy came from your Stephen Beale, "In tomorrow's story, I focus on the breakdown of the wards and what the strategy for winning would be for each candidates. I don't get as much into Taveras and Lombardi being the lead candidates because we have reliable internal polling info that shows Costantino is still a leading contender - unfortunately, it's not on the record, so we can't use it for our story."
Too bad I paid attention to it.
R. Parsons
5:45pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
_____________________________
Ignorance, thy name is Jerzyk.
You know NOTHING ... repeat, NOTHING ... about Ray Rickman and the history of his relationship to the "Cicilline camp."
Yet you wear your membership in the ruling council of the Ignorati for all the world to see.
Arrogance, thy name is Jerzyk.
Did YOU ever abandon the "Cicilline camp"? I don't think you did, given how you threw David Segal under the Cicilline bus in the waning days of the campaign.
Don't deny it, you did it right here on these cyber-pages. And you later urged Segal, again here, to find a way to work with your main man Cicilline.
You are to punditry what David Cicilline is to ethics.
Matthew Jerzyk
5:52pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
==============================================
Dear R. Parsons aka Charlie Drago -
I know, dear Charlie, that you are upset that both of your electoral clients - especially Gemma - suffered defeat on September 14th, but you shouldn't take such matters personally.
Sometimes the voters are smarter than... what do you call yourselves... the intelligentsia?
As for your claims about David Segal, you make me laugh. David is a good friend of mine. Someone who I care about deeply. Someone who has accomplished more change in this state than most would even dream about. Someone, I might add, that you chose to ignore and instead supported a candidate who spent more money on negative attacks than any other candidate in this election cycle. David ran a great race. He has a bright future.
As for you and your two losses, who are you going to support next? Peter Palumbo?
Have a good Friday.
-Matt
==============================================
R. Parsons
9:51pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
________________________
When in doubt, attempt to "out" and smear.
Avoid, at all costs, the truth.
You make honorable observers of the political scene sick to their stomachs.
Shame on Go Local Prov for facilitating your sickness.
R. Parsons
9:52pm on Friday, September 24, 2010
_____________________________
And when you have a minute between evasions, would you care to clarify for the record precisely what David Cicilline did to facilitate your acceptance to and matriculation at Roger Williams Law School?
Malcolm O
10:02am on Saturday, September 25, 2010
I've thought for months that "R. Parsons" must be a disgruntled city worker and/or someone who didn't land the city job to which he thought he was entitled (due to his extraordinary, but underappreciated talents). Thanks for finally revealing the little old man behind the curtain.
Matthew Jerzyk
10:11am on Saturday, September 25, 2010
==============================
Dear R. Parsons aka Charlie Drago -
I am not "outing" you. Everybody knows your attack and smear style of brute politics.
And, of course, there is that conspiracy side of you.
What will we see next? The real killer of JFK? The real plot behind 9/11? The bloody sock that never was?
Worst is your nasty and smear-based attacks on everyone who disagrees with you. Here's a tip. Citizens - especially voters - don't like this style. You should advise your future candidates of this.
Have a nice weekend.
-Matt
==============================
R. Parsons
10:43am on Saturday, September 25, 2010
_____________________________________
Dear Matt Jerzyk, a/k/a David Cicilline:
Two Cicilline surrogates bending over forwards to evade the truth, deflect questions, and attempt -- futilely -- to "out" a critic.
Your little master has taught you well.
Here's a tip: If payments for your services are offered in checks written by your little master's brother -- insist upon cash.
And if you get the cash in one-dollar bills, consider it an invitation to the Cadillac Lounge -- an offer you can't refuse.
R. Parsons
Matthew Jerzyk
10:58am on Saturday, September 25, 2010
==============================
Dear R. Parsons aka Charlie Drago -
Thank you for driving up traffic to my post.
I appreciate all of your efforts.
Yours,
Matt
R. Parsons
11:58am on Saturday, September 25, 2010
____________________________
Dear Matt Jerzyk, a/k/a David Cicilline,
I'm happy to do all I can to expose ignorance and perfidy.
R. Parsons
Malcolm O
12:08pm on Saturday, September 25, 2010
Just for the record, I'm hardly a "Cicilline surrogate". I have no connection whatsoever to him or to his campaign. (Frankly, I thought that David Segal emerged as the best candidate in the Primary.) But the anonymous smears posted by the fictional "R. Parsons" really stood out among the otherwise civil, intelligent, rational comments typically posted here. It's nice to finally know the source (and the motivation) for the smears.
R. Parsons
2:02pm on Saturday, September 25, 2010
You know as much as Jerzyk knows.
No offense.