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

Friday, January 13, 2012

Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

Who's Hot

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Brendan Doherty -> Nobody had a better week than the former head of the state police, who learned that he'll be able to avoid what could have been a bruising primary with conservative-favorite John Loughlin. Col. Doherty still has a lot of work to do when it comes to convincing the Party faithful that he'll be a strong Republican vote in Congress, but with the path clear to November, his biggest challenge now will be remaining relevant leading up to the general election.

James Langevin -> Kudos to Congressman Langevin for opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which, while it may have good intentions, includes far too much language that promotes censorship on the internet. Langevin is one of the most influential Congressmen in the country when it comes to internet-related issues and he's once again getting it right when it comes to the SOPA.

M. Teresa Paiva Weed -> Two big wins for the Senate President this week. First, she was correct to come out against building a casino at Quonset and she introduced legislation that will repeal the foolish tourism tax the General Assembly vote for just last year.

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Anthony Gemma -> More than one political insider made it very clear that John Loughlin's decision not to run for Congress could be connected with Gemma's pending announcement, which he'll likely make in the next 45 days. The thinking is that everything comes down to math. Redistricting made the district even more Democratic and a Presidential election year will increase Democratic votes. If Gemma were to knock off the incumbent in a primary, he would be awfully difficult to defeat in November.

Rich Luchette -> Speaking of Cicilline, the Congressman has a new communications director. Get ready for a busy year, Mr. Luchette.

Scott Avedisian -> RIPR reported this week that the Warwick Mayor isn't ruling out a possible run for Lieutenant Governor in 2014. How about a battle between Mayor Avedisian and Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee for the LG's position? It's not out of the realm of possibility.

David Salvatore -> The Providence Councilman is calling for more oversight over travel costs incurred by City Hall employees. It's nice to have a first-term Councilman that is willing to step up on something like this and it's the right PR move to make by the Council and the administration.

Rhode Island's Future -> Congrats to Brian Hull and the bloggers over at RI Future for re-launching the website. With Anchor Rising as well as other more mainstream blogs in the picture, there will be plenty of discussion to go around this election season.

Who's Not

John Loughlin -> The former Congressional candidate's closest allies said they were shocked when he announced that he won't run again. And some were also a little hurt. Loughlin gave every indication he was planning to run and a lot of GOP members stuck their necks out for him, openly criticizing Brendan Doherty. To not make a phone call before issuing a press release announcing his decision not to run was probably a mistake.

Jack Reed -> The senior Senator still has not made up his mind about whether to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). It has been more than 100 days since he said he'll make his decision "soon." It's time he comes forward with an opinion one way or the other because this issue isn't going away and his constituents deserve to know where he stands.

Brown University -> It has been a terrible PR week for Brown, which simply won't win the battle with the city. Yes Providence needs Brown. But the school shouldn't have reneged on a deal and it needs to contribute more.

ACLU -> Our schools are failing and some in the inner-city are literally crumbling. To waste so much time on a prayer banner in Cranston is laughable. It's time for folks to keep their eye on the ball.

Editor's Note:  The original version of this post incorrectly reported that Sheldon Whitehouse was a cosponsor of the SOPA. That section has been removed.
 

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