Which Candidate is Most Rhode Island? Attorney General
Monday, August 23, 2010
First up: Attorney General candidates... three Democrats, two Independents, a Moderate, and a Republican all running to be the top prosecutor and each claiming to know what Rhode Islanders feel, what they care about, and their pain. But, which candidate is the most Rhode Island? Who was born here, went to grammar school and college here, and worked here? We checked. Of course, no analysis of who is the most Rhode Island would be complete without bringing in a speech expert to review the authenticity of everyone's Rhode Island accent. We looked at and scored their history from being Rhode Island born and breed or if they are a transplant. Everything mattered.
One might argue that being from the proverbial neighborhood is critical. How can you represent the people of the state if you don't know the state - intimately. Others might argue it's critical to have a varied perspective. Growing up elsewhere might be advantageous or having gone to college outside Rhode Island might bring you a "bigger perspective." Regardless, GoLocalProv has built the ultimate evaluation tool. No: we did not include gimmes like, "What's your favorite, lemony-frozen, summer drink that has four letters and starts with a "D" and ends with an "s." No, we knew any carpetbagger could anwser that one.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThis evaluation is purely fact-based. Candidates got points for each year they went to school or worked in the state, and correspondingly, lost points for heading off to "Harvard" or working on Wall Street (face it: neither is near Block Island). Moreover, what's wrong with our own Ivy League college and working in the financial district in downtown Providence?
To get the ultimate assessment, we engaged professor and speech expert Pam Howell (of course she's a lifelong Rhode Islander). She reviewed each candidate through video-taped speeches or commercials, then awarded each a grade 1 to 5, with 5 being the most Rhode Island.
Now, the AG candidates: Peter Kilmartin lead the group racking up 48.5 points - scoring so early and often it is questionable if he as ever shopped on Route 6 in Seekonk.
Bringing up the back of the pack is Joe Fernandez who scored so low that it looks like he only stopped for gas a few times on the way from New York to the Cape. Moderate candidate Chris Little and Republican Brian Wallin scored just a tad better - may be they got off at the Providence Amtrak station by accident. Watch Pamela Howell's assessment of each candidate.
Editors Note: With just a few weeks before the primaries and over two months to the General Election, GoLocal thought it might be valuable to look at the candidates in a Rhode Island -way. Let's hope the campaigns don't take this too seriously.