GOP’s National Tsunami Ran Out of Power in RI
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
The Tea Party was a factor in Florida and Kentucky, and the GOP won the United States House of Representatives big, but in Rhode Island the Republicans fell flat yet again.
In a year in which Republicans were poised to pick up a range of offices ranging from Governor to Congress to Secretary of State, the news is sad.
John Robitaille ran a spirited campaign for Governor, John Loughlin nearly pulled a “Scott Brown” in running for Patrick Kennedy’s seat, but at the end of the day not one Republican won a statewide office or a seat in Congress.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"In a year when a lot of people were talking about how there was going to be a Republican tsunami ... we drew a line in the sand," said state Democratic Chairman Ed Pacheco. "I think the message was there, that the people of Rhode Island support Democrats."
The reality is that despite nearly 12% unemployment and national momentum to displace Democrats across the country, Rhode Islanders failed to embrace the GOP message and went progressive. Progressive candidates like Democrat David Cicilline and Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee ran on the left-of-center message.
Despite a string of local losses, Travis Rowley, chairman of the Young Republicans, said the party was excited over the national results. "Nationally, it was a big, huge win," he said.
While Republicans won offices across the country, the best they could collect in RI was a close Secretary of State campaign (Mollis leads by 3,000 votes) and a pick up of a few General Assembly seats.
Where do the GOP go next?
What better conditions could the Republicans ever hope for?
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