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

Friday, September 09, 2011

Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

Who’s Hot

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Sheldon Whitehouse -> Among the Congressional Delegation, Senator Whitehouse might be the biggest winner from the President’s job speech Thursday evening. The plan calls for a refundable tax credit to go to businesses that hire unemployed workers, an initiative the Senator has been pushing for over the past few months.

President Obama -> “Pass it right now” without even looking at the fine print might not be the ideal message, but the President sure knows how to deliver a speech. He laid out a plan that makes sense and also shouldn’t be too difficult to push through Congress. It has its flaws (cutting Medicare, for example) but almost everything about Thursday’s speech proved to be a win for the President.

John Carter and Sandy McCulloch -> Kudos to these deep-pocketed gentlemen for quietly making it clear to the Governor that a Mayoral Academy needed to remain on the table for Providence. Without their work behind the scenes, word is the plan would have completely died.

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Clay Pell -> Congrats to the grandson of the late Senator Pell on winning a White House Fellowship. It’s an incredible achievement for a guy with as impressive a resume as you’ll ever see. Here’s hoping he returns to Rhode Island and decides to run for office down the line.

Rhode Island Retirement Security Coalition -> The pension battle is on for the new union coalition, who is expected to release a YouTube commercial Friday. No one has more at stake in the reform battle than this group and no one is better at organizing. Expect RIRSC to play major role moving forward.

Meghan Grady -> How she doesn’t have a top spot on Mayor Taveras’ staff remains a surprise, but congratulations are in order for the former President of the Rhode Island Young Democrats, who recently was named Chief Operating Officer of the YWCA of Northern Rhode Island. Grady certainly has a bright future.

Subway -> It’s absurd that a rich corporation would be criticized for wanting to help the needy by accepting food stamps, but that’s exactly what happened in Rhode Island this week. You know, because poor people actually eating healthy food once in a while is such a sin, right?

RI Tea Party -> Another step in the right direction for the Tea Party this week. Despite ugly weather and a less-than stellar keynote speaker (Sharron Angle), the group was able to rally more than 200 people together on a rainy Wednesday morning, a sign their message continues to resonate with a lot of Rhode Islanders.

Mitt Romney -> The clear cut winner in Wednesday’s GOP Presidential debate, Governor Romney still looks like the favorite despite Rick Perry entering the race.

Who’s Not

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Dan Gordon -> It’s never a good sign when a group in desperate need of members decides to kick you out of the caucus. The details are still foggy, but it appears Rep. Gordon spent a little too much time on Facebook. If the GOP has its way, he’ll have plenty of spare time after the 2012 elections.

House GOP Caucus -> Still, it’s probably not the best idea to be getting rid of members when you barely have anyone in the first place. What message does it send to aspiring Republican candidates? Will they be expected to fall in line behind the Minority Leader on every issue just to remain part of the club?

Richard Tomlins -> As GoLocalProv first reported, Tomlins was the sleaze ball behind those robocalls in Cranston a few weeks ago. This week he took to the radio to essentially brag about his reckless call and was rightfully chewed out by WPRO’s Dan Yorke.

Nick Narducci -> It’s unfortunate to see anyone having financial problems so here’s hoping the Providence Councilman can figure things out and keep his home. At the same time, it’s not exactly the best message when you report over $3,000 in gambling losses when trying to make the case for bankruptcy.

Chris Young -> Attention all nonprofits in need of a volunteer: This former Mayoral/Senate/Class President candidate needs 25 hours of community service. His Virgin Mary statue got off easy. Apparently she only got 12.5 hours.

Michele Bachmann -> Once the toast of the GOP Presidential candidates, Rep. Bachmann appears to be fading fast. It will be interesting to see if she would have a chance at VP if a more moderate candidate were to win the nomination.

Have a suggestion? E-Mail Dan McGowan at [email protected]

 

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