Russell Moore: Elorza, Smiley Cut an Insider’s Deal
Monday, August 25, 2014
It’s the irony of ironies.
Brett Smiley and Jorge Elorza, the two Providence Mayoral candidates who have been disingenuously railing against “insider” and “old” politics, got together late last week and cut an insider's deal that would make Boss Tweed blush.
Thus, all that large talk about moving Providence “forward”, whatever that means, was just as meaningless as an NFL preseason game. That’s not surprising to the people who follow Rhode Island politics closely.
It’s become clear as a beautiful azure sky during a Rhode Island summer afternoon that the politicians and their operatives we've got running around calling themselves “progressives” in this state value concrete power above all else, not some abstract ideals like fairness and justice that we hear them drone on about.
Progressive for power
Over course of the last six months, former Providence Mayoral Candidate Brett Smiley has touted himself as the “most progressive” candidate in the race and fashioned himself as the best equipped to beat back former Providence Mayor Vincent Buddy Cianci in this year’s election.
With Smiley’s campaign unable to gain any traction outside of the city’s East Side latte drinking, Prius driving, tweed jacket wearing liberals, he saw himself in a position where his power in the capital city stood to significantly decrease. So Smiley did what old school politicians do—he cut himself the best deal possible.
Deal or no deal?
The two men are selling their deal as some noble move to try and stop Michael Solomon, the perceived front-runner in the Democratic Primary, and Cianci from taking back the city's top job. But the truth is that Smiley and Elorza want their friends, not Cianci or Solomon's, working in the city's well-compensated and cushy jobs.
Speaking of which, it remains to be seen just what powerful position Smiley will be handed assuming Elorza pulls off an improbably victory, but rest assured, folks like these never do anything for free. Who could forget that the Providence taxpayers were forced to pay him $3,000 a month to lobby state legislators--some of which claimed to have not known who he was before he began running for mayor? Only in Providence could we have a candidate criticizing others for being insiders when he was paid city tax dollars to lobby the General Assembly under the last two mayoral administrations.
Where'd our money go?
With respect to money, one cannot help but wonder how Smiley's generous campaign donors feel now that he's thrown up the white flag. It begs the question as to whether or not Smiley's whole campaign was one big effort to leverage himself into a stronger position to make a lucrative deal later on.
There was one prominent Smiley supporter, who, according to reports, wasn't happy. Representative Ray Hull, who recently became one of Smiley's campaign co-chairman, told reporters he feels “betrayed” by Smiley’s decision. Hull’s feelings are certainly justified. Here’s hoping the Hull learns his lesson and chooses his friends more wisely in the future.
Credibility
But Smiley isn't the only candidate whose credibility has gone bankrupt. Elorza, for his part, has done his reputation no favors by cutting a deal with an undisclosed benefit to Smiley. (Elorza was evasive, according to reports, when asked what position Smiley would be offered in a potential future Elorza administration.) Were he being honest, the answer would've been "anything he wants".
It's not easy to make the case that you're running against the old politics of the past, when your whole campaign is fueled by a deal cut with one of your main rivals.
The big?
But Smiley and Elorza shouldn't be surprised if they're rebuked by voters on September 9th. Solomon easily has more experience, both as an elected official and in management--not to mention more name recognition. And now Smiley and Elorza cannot even paint him as an old school politician any more since they've cut a backroom deal. That's ironic indeed!
Russ Moore is a former journalist and now is a leading opinion-maker in Rhode Island.
Related Slideshow: Questions Buddy Cianci Must Answer to be Providence’s Next Mayor
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