July 02, 2009
Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts was making headlines even before her announcement yesterday that she would not run for governor. There was a high-profile push to hold down health insurance rates and a spat with the governor over a controversial state contract.
Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, gearing up for a gubernatorial run, has also stayed in the news, of late - taking shots at the health insurance commissioner in the midst of the health insurance rate hike debate and suggesting that his brother might not run for AG when he leaves the post, which did not sit well with his brother's camp.
But the other Democrat widely expected to run for governor, Treasurer Frank T. Caprio, has remained decidedly low key. There is some political logic to the move. While the gubernatorial race is widely considered a toss-up, Caprio can claim an early lead in the polls and in the money game - his campaign says he had about $1.4 million on hand to Lynch's roughly $550,000 at the end of second quarter. Caprio, in short, has more to lose by becoming embroiled in this or that controversy.
But the approach is also a reflection of Caprio's temperament. The treasurer is a steady character. Reserved. Businesslike. Lynch, by contrast, is a fiery figure. And the personality clash should be one of the most inriguing elements of what has become a two-man Democratic tiff.
Will voters want a calming presence in the face of economic crisis, or a battler who can embody the outrage swelling in a state that has lost its moorings? Will economic improvements, in the next year, change the calculus? And which personality would be better suited to take on the mild-mannered Lincoln Chafee, widely expected to run for governor as an independent, in the general election?
Stay tuned.
July 02, 2009
Further evidence that Rhode Island's governor's race is attracting national attention - a blurb in The Fix, the Washington Post's well-regarded political blog, on Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts' decision to skip the race and focus on re-election.
The all-but-certain candidacy of Lincoln Chafee, a former US Senator, is responsible for much of the national buzz around the race. He's a known quantity in Washington and political junkies are curious about whether his independent run will succeed.
But the robust race on the Democratic side - now diminished with Roberts' decision - is also a curiosity. And national observers are always curious about the party balance among governors - a balance Rhode Island is almost certain to upend with a Republican governor on the way out and the GOPer who would replace him, State Rep. Joe Trillo, considered a long shot.
July 01, 2009
Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts has announced that she will not run for governor next year and will, instead, seek re-election as lieutenant governor.
Political insiders had long considered her the most likely of the three Democrats gearing up for a run - Roberts, Treasurer Frank T. Caprio and Attorney General Patrick Lynch - to pull out of the race. She trailed in fundraising and was struggling to get a foothold in the polls.
Her announcement, a couple of months back, that she had hired a fundraising and consulting team quieted some of the chatter. But she apparently decided she could not get enough traction in what is expected to be a bruising, expensive race.
Roberts' decision could be a plus for Lynch, who was considered a rival for progressive votes in the Democratic primary. The move also opens the question of who is best positioned to pick up women voters.
Some observers thought Roberts, if she managed to win the Democratic primary, would be a tough opponent for independent and probable gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee, since he, too, is making a bid for progressive voters.
Also curious to see who now runs for lieutenant governor, now.
Here's Roberts' release:
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts announced today that she will seek re-election, pledging to use her position to make health care affordable for every Rhode Islander.
“National health care reform is happening now and will not wait for Rhode Island to be ready to respond. As President Obama and Congress develop national health care reform, I will work all day, every day, to ensure that federal policies reflect the reality of the struggles of everyday Rhode Islanders,” Roberts said. “Given the urgency of the national health care reforms coming to Rhode Island at a time when our economy is so seriously distressed, Rhode Islanders need leadership on this issue now.”
“As Lieutenant Governor, I have visited every Rhode Island city and town,” Roberts continued. “What I have heard time and again from small businesses, working families and seniors is the desperate need for high quality, affordable health care that is accessible to everyone. My career, both in private life and as a public servant, has been focused on improving health care. It is clear that this fight must continue, and I am committed as Lieutenant Governor to making affordable health care a reality for all Rhode Islanders.”
From 1997 to 2007, Roberts served as a State Senator, where she worked to reform Blue Cross and create the Office of Health Insurance Commissioner. Most recently, Lieutenant Governor Roberts’ leadership was crucial to saving the Health Insurance Commissioner’s position and the critical protections for affordability and fairness that the office provides. The Commissioner is credited with saving over $150 million dollars in health insurance premiums for Rhode Islanders, but was slated for elimination in the General Assembly’s budget. Her leadership also proved pivotal in stopping the state’s health insurers’ request for double-digit rate increases last month.
“These rate increases would have come at a time when Rhode Island’s small businesses and families simply could not afford them,” Roberts explained. “They had to be stopped.”
“I’ve spent the past few months exploring a run for governor, and I want to thank all of my supporters and let them know that I will continue to work to turn the page on politics as usual in Rhode Island,” Roberts said. “I will continue to fight for quality health care for all; a stronger, more diverse Rhode Island economy; and honest, open and effective government. These have been, and will continue to be, the focus of my public service.”
June 30, 2009
More evidence, in recent days, of a restive right in lil' Rhody.
Last week the RI Tea Party folks - you know, the gang behind the tax day protests against government spending - got supporters to nag the local ABC affiliate about the network's decision to air an hour-long town hall meeting featuring President Obama and his plans for health care reform. And Colleen Conley - the chief organizer of the group - even landed a spot on the ABC6 "Raw" segment, on the local news, raising concerns.
Right-wing types around the country had railed against the forum, in the run-up to the event, as little more than an infomercial - though, in the end, it included plenty of pointed questions for the prez and did not fare all that well in the ratings.
And today, at the urging of the Tea Party group, conservatives heckled Congressman Jim Langevin - in the state for a few public events - about the climate change bill and other matters.
Remains to be seen if the hecklers will be able to mobilize voters next year. But it's clear that a conservative grassroots is mobilizing.
June 30, 2009
Rhode Island is in the national eye this morning, with - count 'em - two stories deemed worthy of national exposure.
There is a New York Times story on the debate over shortening the state's official name from "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" to simply "Rhode Island."
The term "plantation" has been strongly associated with slavery for the last couple of centuries and black activists and politicians have worked for years, often in obscurity, to strip the word from the official name.
Amazon's decision to cut ties with Rhode Island web sites in the face of a new Internet sales tax is also going national. There was a Wall Street Journal report on the paper's web site yesterday. And an Associated Press story pops up in the Los Angeles Times, here.
The Internet tax story reinforces a national narrative around Rhode Island as a state in economic distress and a less-than-friendly venue for business. But the name change push harkens back to an earlier image of Rhody as place of tolerance. We'll see how it plays out if and when the proposal goes before voters.
June 29, 2009
Plan on seeing a lot of Rhode Island's junior senator this week. Sheldon Whitehouse has launched a media blitz focused on health care.
You'll see Sheldon at "health care community dinners" in Cumberland and Newport, Sheldon in roundtable discussions with doctors in Wakefield, Sheldon talking about health care with small businessowners in East Greenwich. Sheldon may be taking your son's temperature at Rhode Island Hospital.
All part of his effort to build a higher profile on health care and terror - which can be the same thing, on occassion.
June 29, 2009
Among the many bills that will apparently fizzle as the General Assembly stumbles to its chaotic conclusion: a push to legalize same-sex marriage.
Legislators had predicted, for months, that the bill would sputter. House Speaker William J. Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed are opposed, as is Governor Carcieri.
But the high profile rush of events in recent months - state legislatures in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire approved same-sex marriage bills and the Iowa high court backed gay nuptials - created a sense of momentum that, some hoped, would defy Rhode Island's peculiar political logic.
The concern, now, is that the energy around this issue will fade by the time the legislature convenes again. And Rhode Island will, for some time, remain the only state in New England that does not allow gay marriage.
June 26, 2009
...take a look, here.
June 26, 2009
The Los Angeles Times has an interesting piece today on celebrity gossip web site TMZ's blockbuster scoop yesterday on Michael Jackson's untimely demise (moment of silence, here, at the Phoenix) and the mainstream media's hesitation around crediting TMZ for breaking the news. Here's Harvey Levin, managing editor of the site:
"That's typical," Levin said during a phone interview when asked about rivals' hesitation to credit the site. "No matter what they say, people know we broke the story. That's how competitors handle it. There's no issue about our credibility.
"Today I made 100 phone calls, and everyone else made 100 calls," Levin said of his staff. "Everyone blanketed the city. . . . We were getting calls from everyone under the sun, established news operations, asking, 'Are you sure?' That's such an odd question. We would not have published it if it were not true."
Fascinating study on the growing heft of the blogosphere - and our ambivalence about the same.
June 25, 2009
Rhody's Americana rockers Deer Tick and Low Anthem have both done nifty sessions, of late, with music site daytrotter.com. The Deer Tick sit-down includes a cover of the Boss' "Nebraska." Low Anthem plays four songs from its well-received Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.
Phoenix managing editor Lou Papineau, who may know more about music than anyone in lil' Rhody, says Deer Tick will also be performing live at 3 p.m. today on Seattle's KEXP. You may hear the performance through the magic of the Interzone.
June 25, 2009
I've got a cover piece in today's Phoenix on the state of the local television newscast. Layoffs, plummeting advertising revenue and an increasingly segmented audience have meant tough times for newsrooms here and around the country.
The blow to the local stations has not garnered as much attention as the decline of the ProJo. That's due, in part, to the paper's position as agenda-setter here.
But WPRI reporter Sean Daly, in an observation that didn't make it into the piece, points to another factor: the ProJo's woes fit into a broader, national narrative over the decline of the American newspaper.
Good stuff in today's Phoenix, too, from clomunists Phillipe and Jorge and our intrepid intern Chris Collins, who chronicles the fall of the Looking Glass Theatre, which entertained school children in this state for some 50 years.
June 24, 2009
Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has just announced that he will not appeal a federal court ruling that delivered a partial ballot-access victory to the fledgling Moderate Party.
A second party in the case, Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, had already indicated that he would not appeal. And the third and final defendant, the state's Board of Elections, will not appeal either, it appears. Robert Kando, executive director of the board, noted that the agency's executive body - a board of commissioners - does not have a scheduled meeting before the deadline to appeal at the end of this week.
Lynch's press release, which explains the basics of the ruling, below:
Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch today announced that he will not seek appellate review of the federal court’s ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Moderate Party of Rhode Island against the Secretary of State and the Board of Elections. In a May 29 decision, U. S. District Court Judge William Smith upheld Rhode Island’s requirement that a new party seeking placement on a statewide ballot must collect signatures equal in number to five percent of the votes cast in the previous election. Judge Smith did, however, declare a sentence in the same statute that prohibited collecting the signatures before January 1 of an election year to be invalid.
“Judge Smith’s decision provides both the state and new political parties with guidelines to obtain access to Rhode Island ballots,” Lynch said. “While it upholds the state’s right to require a minimum number of signatures to ensure the legitimacy of a new party, it eases the rules for a party to comply with the requirement to place individuals on a statewide ballot.”
Any remaining uncertainty as to the time period in which a new party can obtain the required number of signatures can be addressed by the legislature by amending the invalid portion of the statute.
June 24, 2009
Providence City Councilman and probable mayoral candidate John J. Lombardi's web site is up and running this afternoon and looks awfully Obama-like - in colors, tone, even logo.
The prez's campaign signature, a red-white-&-blue sunrise image, has been superimposed on a star in Lombardi's hands. Pretty nifty.
Now, we'll see if he can emulate the president where it really counts - in fundraising and vote-gathering.
Lombardi, who briefly served as mayor in 2002 after Buddy Cianci's resignation, would take on incumbent Mayor David N. Cicilline if he hops in the race, as expected.
June 24, 2009
Liberal legislators are pushing to eliminate the state's flat tax, which benefits Rhode Island's wealthiest residents, and to funnel the enhanced tax revenue to cities and towns. Municipalities, after all, are slated to lose some $55 million in state funding under the 2009-2010 budget plan now before legislators.
Just months after an emerging progressive bloc flexed its muscle in a mid-year budget fight, it is tempting to see the flat tax push as a test of the group's newfound political strength. And if the liberals triumph this afternoon, as the legislature debates plans to kill the flat tax or at least freeze the flat tax rate in place, one could only conclude that they have, indeed, arrived.
But defeat will not necessarily be cause for an obituary. As State Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, points out in an interview with N4N, progressives can already claim some victories in this budget - most prominently, a reversal on a capital gains tax break that also benefits the well-to-do. "It's not just one bill that's going to be a lithmus test for us," he said.
Indeed, it will be interesting to see if rank-and-file members, beyond the most committed lefties, will be willing to cross legislative leaders on the flat tax and risk their other legislative priorities down the line. For most progressives, after all, this budget is not half-bad, all things considered.
June 23, 2009
Providence City Councilman John J. Lombardi, in another sign of his probable mayoral candidacy, is launching a campaign web site, www.lombardiforprovidence.com, tomorrow at noon.
From a press release:
“With the launch of the new site, my ongoing dialogue with the people of Providence concerning the most pressing social, economic, cultural, and political issues of the day will be significantly enhanced,” said Councilman Lombardi. “Ideas will interactively flow freely in both directions, and our individual perceptions of the city we love will culminate in a shared vision of Providence – one of renewal, hope, and a new dawn of honorable, effective leadership.”
Sounds like an announcement to me. Lombardi, who briefly served as mayor after Buddy Cianci's resignation, has been itching to return to the job ever since.
Perennial candidate Chris Young has already announced that he will challenge Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, who is running for re-election after weighing a race for governor.
