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

Friday, August 06, 2010

by Matthew Jerzyk

 

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Read Side of the Rhode - Who's Hot and Who's Not in RI Politics - every Friday only at GoLocalProv.com!

WHO'S HOT

Gina Raimondo  -> The most impressive candidate thus far in the 2010 election cycle is this candidate for General Treasurer.  Despite being way down on the Democratic ballot and facing no Primary competition, Raimondo has accumulated almost $700,000 in her campaign account in the last 7 months.  She is certainly the rising star in the RI Democratic Party and perhaps Rhode Island's first future female Governor.    

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Ralph Mollis  ->  Mollis got a double decker of good press this week. First, he received the endorsement of the RI AFL-CIO, the state's labor federation - a huge plus in both his primary against Raptakis and his general electoin against Taylor.  Next, he bucked his Party's own leadership and came out against the master lever.

David Segal  ->  You have to give this progressive long-shot candidate for Congress some credit.  While most pundits thought that he got into this race too late to raise enough money, build enough organization and win organizational support, Segal is starting to turn some heads.  First, Segal raised $140k in the first quarter and used that money to hire a dozen plus canvassers who are spreading his message across the Blackstone Valley and the East Bay.  Second, Segal won the endorsement of the powerful teachers union: the RI Federation of Teachers.  Now, just yesterday, another powerful union, District 1199 SEIU endorsed Segal.  

RILPAC  ->  The powerful Latino political advocacy group recently announced their endorsements and raised many eyebrows in endorsing Chafee for Governor.  The group pledged to turn out their vote for their endorsed candidates which included Elizabeth Roberts for Lt. Governor, Ralph Mollis for Secretary of State, Angel Taveras for Mayor of Providence and Allan Fung for Mayor of Cranston.

Elena Kagan  ->  By a supermajority vote of 63-37, the United States Senate confirmed Kagan as the 4th woman and the 112th Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. Kagan's confirmation is an historic event as on the First Monday in October, for the first time in our nation's history, three women will take their seats on the nation's highest bench.

Brown University  ->  Not only is the state's top university releasing a new poll soon that will shake up many Democratic Primary races, but Brown has been awarded $15.5 million to form a national mathematics research institute, where scholars will explore the intersection of computation and mathematics.  The award funds the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics and comes from the National Science Foundation. It is the eighth math institute in the United States funded by the NSF and the only one of its kind in New England.  And ladies beware!  This means even more Providence Geeks! 

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker  ->  Kudos to this California federal judge for striking down Prop 8 as unconstitutional.  Judge Walker immediately stayed his decision meaning that the volatile 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and ultimately the US Supreme Court will have a say on the future of marriage equality.  However, for now, Walker's decision is worth a read.  Repeatedly citing two prior decisions written by swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy, Walker wrote that "t would demean a married couple were it to be said marriage is simply about the right to have sexual intercourse." "'[M]oral disapproval, without any other asserted state interest,' has never been a rational basis for legislation," cites Walker. "Animus towards gays and lesbians or simply a belief that a relationship between a man and a woman is inherently better than a relationship between two men or two women, this belief is not a proper basis on which to legislate," Walker notes

Mike Lowell  ->  With Kevin Youklis out for the season with upcoming surgery on his right thumb, this Red Sox fan favorite will likely see alot more playing time.  Props go to Theo Epstein who resisted the pressure to dump Lowell's salary and either trade or release him.  He appears very smart now as the Sox head to the Bronx for a 4-game series against the MFY - trailing the Rays by only 5.5 games for a wild card berth.

Patrick Kennedy  ->  Kudos to Rhode Island's 1st District Congressman for staying out of the 4-way Democratic Primary and allowing the voters to select their next Congressman.  Many incumbents want to anoint their successor, but Kennedy has decided against it.  A bold and refreshing move.

The RI Haitian Community  ->  This growing RI community will certainly have an important say in the upcoming presidential election featuring hip hop star Wyclef Jean.

Anthony Weiner ->  Just watch this.  Nuff said.

WHO'S NOT

Don Carcieri  ->  With multiple judicial vacancies on the Family Court, the District Court and the Superior Court, the legal community is abuzz with speculation about whether Carcieri has given up on the Courts or has simply resigned himself to leaving these judicial appointments to the next Governor.  Can someone bring him back from vacation and put him to work?  

Ken Block  ->  Despite pumping $350k of his own money (!) into the Governor's race, Block has failed to make any significant gains against the favorites in this race: Caprio and Chafee.  Can anyone identify a clear message from this candidate that separates him from his opponents?  Not me.

Steven Costantino  -> I have seen some audacious campaign stunts in my time, but this one boggles the mind.  As the House Finance chairman seeks to have voters forget his incumbent status in the coming Mayoral race, he announced this week a plan to put the future of the I-195 land into the hands of a newly-created quasi-public agency that will be run by cronies and the connected.  Huh?  Why would a Mayoral candidate give away Providence land to the whims of a state agency?  Could this be the brainchild of Costantino's new policy advisor - former Cianci lawyer Charlie Mansolillo? 

Erik Wallin  ->  This little known Republican candidate for Attorney General has apparently taken the Dave Rogers approach to running for office.  While Wallin has not swum the Bay, he has taken to launching attacks on the Democratic candidates for Attorney General leaving pundits to wonder why a Republican would abandon the Scott Brown strategy of letting Democrats bloody each other up and then pounce in the general election.  Timing, after all, matters.  P.S. health care does too. 

Joe Larisa  ->  This East Providence Mayor lost his appeal on the Ethics Commission’s decision that he violated the ethics code by representing an official before the East Providence City Council before one year had expired since Larisa left the council.  Don't let that (revolving) door hit you on the way out, Joe!

City Councilman John Lombardi  -> What does it say about this Mayoral candidate that he told reporters a month ago that he raised $75k in the second quarter of fundraising but his recent report shows that he only raised $40k?  A $35k slip of the tongue?  Sounds like desperation to me from a candidate with only $10k left in the bank after a spending spree on the ever-effective bus ads.  Good thing Lombardi has 3 pensions waiting for his retirement.

John Loughlin  ->  If anyone had any doubt that Loughlin would play to the middle as a moderate Republican in the race to replace Congressman Patrick Kennedy, this bizarre campaign video should set the record straight.  Loughlin unabashedly defends the Arizona immigration law in spite of the fact that CD-1 is full of Rhode Island's biggest immigrant populations - from Portuguese to Dominican to Italian.  Did he not get the memo that jobs matter in this election?

PACs  ->  Until we have publicly financed elections, the influence of PAC dollars are an ugly stain on the American democracy.  And their influence on RI races are the same. 

Kerry King  ->  Here we go again.  You know what they say about those in glass houses...

Send me your HOT and NOT tips to mjerzyk at gmail dot com.

 

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