Gallup says Obama has tightened the gap separating himself from Hillary:

The latest Democratic numbers show Hillary Clinton with a 43% to 39% advantage over Barack Obama among Democratic voters nationwide. That four-point lead is the narrowest since early January, and it is a continuation of gains by Obama. The impact of John Edwards' exit from the Democratic race is less clear. Wednesday night's numbers (the first with Edwards excluded from the ballot) show no clear indication that either candidate is benefiting disproportionately. Clinton and Obama will debate in California tonight, which could affect Democrats' support for the two candidates going into the weekend before Super Tuesday's primaries and caucuses.

The Page:

*Matches his previous three-month record.*

The most ever raised by a Democrat in the January of an election year.

Campaign manager Plouffe on media call says they also added 170,000 new donors. Strongest money-raising day was after losing New Hampshire primary. Listen to audio here.

Launching TV, radio spots to markets in six states and Washington, DC that have post-Super Tuesday contests.

A sign of the times, via Romenesko:

The Charlotte Observer said Wednesday it will cut 25 of 41 jobs in its ad design group as it sends the work abroad, joining other large companies using foreign outsourcing to trim costs.

The newspaper has been testing outsourcing options for the work since last summer and chose Affinity Express, an Illinois company with facilities in the Philippines and India.

Employees, who have known layoffs were coming, received official notice Wednesday. They can apply for the 16 remaining jobs as artists, designers and "traffic coordinators" working with their overseas counterparts to complete ads, said Observer Publisher Ann Caulkins. Some people also may take positions elsewhere at the paper, which has about 1,000 workers.

Meanwhile, writing in the Phoenix, Tim Lehnert wants to outsource the economists:

The new arrangement would provide local universities with increased flexibility and lower payroll costs, and the money saved could be used for marketing, branding, and whatever else is needed to make Rhode Island's universities more competitive.
 
Tenured professors whose positions have been eliminated would find themselves freed up to labor in new ways. Perhaps they would return to their former full-time university employer on a limited basis, supplementing this with similar work for other schools, or with corporate or government gigs. Off-shoring would also provide opportunity for Indian economists who would see their incomes rise as they took on US work.
 
Where might one expect opposition to this plan? Oh, from the usual sources: hidebound unions, and poor sports unwilling to transition to a more dynamic economic model.

Eric Fehrnstrom, the traveling press secretary for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, is best known for his recent verbal tussle with AP reporter Glen Johnson, which erupted after Johnson challenged Romney's statement that lobbyists weren't running his campaign.

As it happens, Fehrnstrom, who is profiled this week by my Boston Phoenix colleague Adam Reilly, graduated ahead of me from BU, and we crossed paths a few times back when he was reporting for the Boston Herald. In particular, I remember giving him a ride to work one day after he had returned from a reporting trip to Haiti, and we talked about the dramatic case of Ted Jeffrey Otsuki, who became the subject of a manhunt after opening fire with a 9mm pistol on a Boston police officer in a Back Bay alley.

Anyway, Reilly makes some interesting points on the relationship between Romney and Fehrnstrom, who could be expected to play a high-level role -- and to be even more aggresive with the press -- if the former Bay State governor wins the presidency:

A controversy toward the close of Romney’s gubernatorial term made much the same point. In November 2006, the Globe reported that Romney had appointed Fehrnstrom to the Brookline Housing Authority. The posting itself wasn’t lucrative (it paid only $5000 annually), but it would have made Fehrnstrom eligible for a state pension when he reached retirement age. And given his salary history — at the time, Fehrnstrom reportedly was making $160,000 — that pension would have been a whopper. (In Massachusetts, pensions are set by the recipients’ three highest earning years.)

Given Romney’s carefully cultivated image as a Beacon Hill reformer, the story was catnip to the press. Romney defended the appointment, saying that Fehrnstrom’s future pension gains were a nonissue. But Fehrnstrom gave it up two days later, saying he wanted to protect Romney from “unwarranted political attacks.” Still, the fact remains: by giving Fehrnstrom such a high-profile role in his presidential campaign, Romney is practically goading his rivals — and the press — to subject his “reformer” persona to further scrutiny.

Over at Anchor, Marc seems to have been first with the news that Forbes is calling Providence the 10th most miserable city in the United States.

Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s.

There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of corporate, personal, employer and sales taxes in different countries. France took the top spot (or perhaps bottom is more appropriate) with a score of 166.8, thanks to a top rate of 51% on personal incomes and 45% for employer Social Security.

Back to Marc's post:

Here is the top Ten:

1. Detroit, MI
2. Stockton, CA
3. Flint, MI
4. New York, NY
5. Philadelphia, PA
6. Chicago, IL
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. Modesto, CA
9. Charlotte, NC
10. Providence, RI

This Forbes' compilation is utterly stupid. Yes, Rhode Island has dire challenges, and Providence suffers from terrible poverty, among other problems. Yet to call Providence, as well as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Charlotte, among America's most miserable cities is ridiculous.

We took a look yesterday at how Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch is virtually alone among high-profile Rhode Island Democrats in remaining neutral in the presidential race.

The other high-profile neutral is US Senator Jack Reed, who faces reelection this year. Chip Unruh, the senator's press secretary, got back to me after the close of business yesterday with a response, via e-mail, to my question about why Reed remains neutral. Here is the answer in its entirety:

Senator Reed is focused on Rhode Island, the economy, and his own race for 2008.

 

He has not made an endorsement in the Democratic presidential primary. Senator Reed works closely with both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama; all three of them serve together on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and they continue to work together to try and expand health care coverage for working families and reform our schools. 

Ah, the things that I do for my readers. As part of research into a forthcoming story on beer, N4N has ascertained that there will be a free winter beer tasting tonight, from 5-8, at the estimable Nikki's Liquors in North Providence.

Writing in the Phoenix, Sharon Steel describes how, in a time of global upheaval, many Americans are turning to Hello Kitty, Lolcats, and Juno, among other elements of what she dubs the cuteness surge. 

“We’ve had manifestations of this cute business, through good times and bad, militaristically,” says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and pop-culture at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. “We’re living in dangerous times. There’s a fear of terrorism and a war we have no idea how to manage. That’s going to bleed over into lots of different things.” These “cycles of cute,” as Thompson calls them, might transcend the news, though they tend to hint at the gloominess that’s ever-present, regardless of what’s on Page One. 

If there is anything cuter than a photo of a snuggly kitten, it is a photo of a snuggly kitten festooned with intentionally misspelled cutesy text. After sparking an Interweb sensation in early 2007, icanhascheezburger.com has continued to prove its lasting value in Internet meme paydirt. The site began with the posting of a photo, a single pudgy, glassy-eyed, smirking gray feline with the words “I Can Has Cheezburger?” written above the kitty. It may have been accidental, it may have been part of a grand scheme, but either way it was the loudest salvo yet in the recent cuteness surge.

It also birthed the term “lolcat,” a coinage referring specifically to the combination of kitty photos and the intentionally misspelled baby-talk captions that accompanied them. It hasn’t hit Webster’s yet, but urbandictionary.com has five different entries for “lolcat.” (And 37 entries for “lolz.”) No matter which one you trust most, the “lol” root, clearly, comes from Internet abbreviation-speak for “LOL,” meaning “Laugh Out Loud.” OMG!!! Teh kitteh fren-zee iz makin us lolz!

As professor Thompson indicates, there's nothing new about elements of mass distraction. The late Neil Postman described this, pre-Internet era, in Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Now, even sober news organizations like the Associated Press are prioritizing Britney.

And while I enjoy a good goof as much as the next person, when it comes to time-wasting, feline-related stuff on the Internet, give me some micro-kitties, set up on a pool table, playing the Vines.

This just in: in advance of Super Tuesday, when Massachusetts' voters go to the polls, the Phoenix is endorsing Obama:

The 2008 election is guaranteed to enjoy a special place in history. For the first time since 1825, when James Monroe left office after succeeding James Madison, the nation will have seen two presidents, William Clinton and George W. Bush, each complete eight consecutive years in office. Granted, Clinton had to endure impeachment, and Bush botched the challenge of Hurricane Katrina, bollixed the economy, subverted the constitution, and embroiled America in Iraq. Nevertheless, their contiguous tenures mark an unusual period of executive stability.

Throughout most of our history, assassination, scandal, and political upheavals have conspired to keep the occupancy of the Oval Office churning. Given this precedent, it is remarkable that this nation — the world’s oldest constitutional republic — has been so comparatively secure. Clearly, as the venerable saying goes, Providence looks after orphans, drunks, and the United States.

Also worth noting: for the first time since 1928, neither a sitting president nor his vice-president are seeking election. In other words, it has been 80 years since voters have made their choices on a relatively clean slate. Given the sinister influence of Vice-President Cheney, that is indeed providential.

The most historic developments of 2008, of course, are the candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. One way or another, the Democrats are poised to nominate either the first woman or the first African-American as a candidate for president.

As for the Republicans, their roster is not nearly so promising. John McCain’s plain talk is certainly a welcome relief from the Rovian lies and calculations of Bush-speak. But McCain’s gruff charm aside, his world view is as bellicose as Bush’s. As his recent comments have made frighteningly clear, McCain views the future as a series of inevitable wars for unstated ends. Mitt Romney is an empty suit and a shamelessly dishonest opportunist. Mike Huckabee is a Darwin-denying Bible thumper with a winning smile. Ron Paul has a disturbing racist past. And, by the time you read this, Rudy Giuliani will have exited the race and endorsed McCain.

There is no doubt that either Clinton or Obama would be superior to any of the Republicans. Elections, however, are about making a choice. When Democrats and Independents go to the polls next Tuesday in the so-called Super Tuesday contest, which is the closest approximation of a national primary our system has ever seen, the Phoenix urges a vote for Barack Obama.

Obama’s candidacy is not only about hope, not only about change. Most important of all, it is about the future.

Almost four years ago in Boston, Obama, then an Illinois state senator, electrified and inspired the Democratic convention as no national newcomer had done since 1948, when Hubert Humphrey championed the cause of civil rights.

Obama’s clarion call has been to reject the politics of confrontation and division as practiced by Bush, right-wingers, and talk-radio motor mouths.

His vision is of comity and common purpose. Eloquence is his calling card. It is penetrating, transcending verbal facility — the hallmark of someone at peace with himself, someone who is confident rather than cocksure.

Obama is also a maverick. There is no doubt that his promise outstrips his experience. That was also true of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. Vision was their strength; rhetoric was their means to an end.

Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Wilson so successfully captured the spirit of their times — synthesizing the best, marginalizing the worst — that history remembers them as representative leaders: presidents who made a difference.

The Phoenix believes that Obama has the capacity to do so, too, in a way that Clinton — for all that is admirable about her — does not.

Obama comes to the political marketplace unencumbered by the bonds of dynasty. By voting for him on Tuesday, citizens are maximizing the opportunity to put the recent past behind them and to start anew.

There is a degree of uncertainty in all of this. Promise and progress are never risk free. But in matters of policy and program, the disparities between Obama and Clinton are so minimal as to be all but meaningless. The horse trading and compromise with Congress that would be necessary to enact either of their agendas further level the playing field.

For those still uncertain as to whether they will choose Obama or Clinton on Tuesday, consider this: when it came to the defining issue of the past several years, Iraq, Obama was right and Clinton was wrong. Clinton’s vision was clouded. Obama’s vision was clear.

If ever there were a need for clarity — of purpose and resolve — it is now. Society is atomized. The economy is shaky. And our international standing is compromised.

Together, Obama and Clinton — each in their own way, each according to their own talents and nature — have restored a sense of hope and promise to the progressively minded electorate. Women, African-Americans, Latinos, and people under 40 (especially younger voters) have been energized.

We believe that, come the final election in November, Barack Obama has the talent and temperament to consolidate this refreshing enthusiasm and energy, and to put the sorry Bush years behind us.

Vote for Obama as if history depends on it. America’s future certainly does.

Halperin has the story on how an element of Citizens United, the group that made Hillary The Movie, has a new attack ad going after John McCain, for supposedly being too liberal.

Darrell West sends this along:

National Public Radio’s JUAN WILLIAMS will speak about “Election 2008” in the next Religion and Politics Lecture held at Central Congregational Church at 7 p.m., Thursday, January 31, 2008. The church is located at 296 Angell Street in Providence, Rhode Island, at the corner of Cooke and Angell Streets. The lecture is free and open to the community.

 

Mr. Williams is senior correspondent for NPR’s “Morning Edition: and the host of “America’s Black Forum,” a nationally syndicated weekly news program. He also is a featured political commentator for Fox News. He is widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading political writers. For many years, he was an award-winning columnist for the Washington Post, and he also served as host for National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation.” 

 

He is the author of six books, including Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary; This Far by Faith: Stories from the African-American Religious Experience; My Soul Looks Back in Wonder; A Tribute to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. His most recent book, published by Crown Publishers in 2006, is entitled “Enough–The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America– and What We Can Do About It.”

Back in 2001, I reported on how the Belo Corporation, owner of the ProJo, was among the corporate entities convinced they had the next big thing:

Belo, which bills itself as the nation's ninth largest media corporation, was far from alone in its grand expectations for Digital:Convergence's signature product, the :CueCat -- a bar code scanner that attaches to computers -- and related software that can link televised "cues" with particular destinations on the World Wide Web. Belo plans to sink $37.5 million into the venture, and other backers include such heavyweights as Coca-Cola, Forbes, NBC, Parade, Wired, Young & Rubicam, and RadioShack.

But since being unveiled, the :CueCat has become one of the most ridiculed products of the Internet era. From wired.com to salon.com, technology writers have slammed the device, describing it as an ill-conceived white elephant that speaks more to the commercial aspirations of marketing types than the practical concerns of media consumers. Because each :CueCat has a unique identifying number, it raised the hackles of privacy advocates. And the Providence Journal received unwanted national exposure last fall when it delayed publication of a column in which Walter S. Mossberg, a Warwick native and respected technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal, concluded, "For now, the :CueCat isn't worth installing and using, even though it's available free of charge" (see "Disappearing ink," News, November 23, 2000).

Flash forward, seven years and some people can't leave well enough alone. Sheila Lennon reports today on how Google, incipient master of the universe, has reinvented the :CueCat barcode concept:

Silicon Alley Insider reports, with a straight face,

Google's efforts to get into the newspaper ad business have yet to yield much. One tool it hopes will eventually change that: Small, square barcodes, like the one at the right, at the bottom of print ads. When a person scans the barcode with a compatible camera phone, it takes their phone's browser to a mobile Web address encrypted in the graphic.

What's the point? This has three benefits: First, it saves the reader the trouble of typing in a Web address into their phone -- an annoying process for the majority of wireless subscribers that don't have phones with QWERTY keypads. Second, it can take the reader to a very specific page, based on an individual ad -- like a coupon or a map to the advertiser's store. And third, it ties into Google's analytics tools, so advertisers can get a very specific sense of which ads work and which don't, when people are viewing them, where they're standing (GPS), etc.

People, if you're looking at a newspaper, do you want to go online to print out a coupon? Why isn't the coupon in the newspaper you already have in your hands?

The technology aims to take readers to a specific page, overcoming the hurdle of long URLs. It's a marketing grail. They just haven't figured out a reason for readers to want to use it yet.

Speaking of endorsements, the ProJo's Scott MacKay noted the different dynamic between Rhode Island and Massachusetts when, on Monday, he previewed the Kennedys' backing of Obama.

While many top Massachusetts Democrats, including Governor Patrick, Sen. John F. Kerry and U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, are backing Obama, Patrick Kennedy becomes the first major Rhode Island Democrat to back the Illinois senator.

All of the other top statewide elected Democrats and party officials are with Clinton. Sen. Jack Reed, who is up for reelection this year, is neutral but Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, General Treasurer Frank Caprio, Democratic State Chairman William Lynch and House Speaker William Murphy are all behind Clinton.

In fact, as the ProJo noted with a correction yesterday, Patrick Lynch remains neutral in the presidential race. N4N was curious about this, so I asked spokesman Mike Healey for an explanation. Here's what he had to say, via e-mail:

As a super delegate, and particularly in a year when the votes of super delegates could be decisive, Attorney General Lynch feels obliged to remain open-minded as long as possible. He thinks that the nomination process is working to narrow the field, as it should, and that the best candidate will be left standing at the end. He might endorse somebody before too long -- and he's certainly getting his arm twisted about whom he should endorse -- but, right now, he thinks he serving Rhode Island Democrats better by remaining neutral.

Meanwhile, Senator Reed's neutrality remains interesting. Back in November, during an appearance on 10 News Conference, Reed made a favorable reference while mentioning a few of the then-candidates by name (Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton) and not mentioning another (Obama).

Reed is on record in having ruled out his interest in becoming secretary of defense in a Democratic administration.

I left a message this morning for the senator's press secretary, asking for an explanation of Reed's neutrality, and will post an update when I hear back.

While a lot of political endorsements don't mean much, there are some -- as with the Kennedys's backing for Obama earlier this week -- that carry considerable weight.

With the the Latino vote being an important part of Super Tuesday particularly in the Western states, Bill Richardson has yet to weigh in. The Washington Post, via Kos, has a good piece on this:

As the highest-ranking Hispanic in the Democratic Party, Richardson's endorsement is being aggressively sought by the Clinton and Obama campaigns. California, Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are among the 22 states voting next week, and each have sizable Hispanic electorates. Richardson, who cruised to re-election as New Mexico governor in 2006, is a popular figure in the Hispanic community.

Richardson's torn. He served in the Clinton White House, first as ambassador to the United Nations, then as Clinton's Secretary of Energy. "I have a history with the Clintons," Richardson said. "And I've always liked her. She always seems very genuine." But Richardson considers Kennedy, who's long been respected by Hispanics, as "a mentor." In 1982, when Richardson ran for Congress for the second time -- he lost two years before -- Kennedy flew to Santa Fe and campaigned for him. "That might have been the reason I was elected," Richardson said. And he said he likes Obama, telling a story about how Obama saved him during one of last year's Democratic debates:

"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"

I was pleasantly surprised to learn, via the sports section of today's ProJo, that Johan Santana is being dealt to the Mets. Sure, he's a great pitcher, but this is the best of both worlds: we kept him away from the Yankees, and we keep such exciting young ballplayers as Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, and Clay Buchholz, as well as Lowrie and Masterson.

In other Sox news, Tina Cervasio is leaving NESN to land a job closer to her husband in New Jersey. Cervasio proved to be a good sideline reporter, and we'll miss her.

With John Edwards dropping out, next Tuesday seems like make or break time for Obama. Reports are that Edwards is not about to endorse either of his former rivals, yet his departure may stiffen the challenge for the Illinois senator.

I've been predicting for a while that John McCain will be the Republican presidential nominee, and while Mitt Romney very much remains in the hunt, yesterday's Florida win solidifies the Arizona senator's frontrunner status. And the two candidates' remarks last night seemed very telling.

Romney gave a very cynical speech, couched in faux-populism, offering an obligatory jab at "Hillarycare," and asserting, "I think it's time for the politicians to leave Washington and the citizens to take over." Like that's going to happen.

McCain, by contrast, was more dignified and less stridently partisan. IMHO, he's the far more formidable GOP candidate this fall, because of his appeal to independents.

Matt sends along word of this timely event tomorrow:

The Challenges of Immigration Reform in Rhode Island

 

Wednesday, January 30th

12:30pm - 2:00pm

Room 30 in Roger Williams University School of Law

 

Speakers:

 

*Sen. Juan Pichardo - Rhode Island State Senator (D-2)

 

*Col. Ramon Martinez - President & CEO of Progreso Latino

 

*Alison Foley, Esq. - Prominent Immigration Attorney

 

*Roberto Gonzalez, Esq. - Prominent Immigration Attorney

 

* Ivette Luna - Community Organizer at Ocean State Action

 

Sponsored by the American Constitution Society, the ACLU, the International Law Society, APIL, the Latino Law Student Association, the Multi-Cultural Law Students Association, the Women's Law Society and the Feinstein Institute for Legal Service.

Operating on the premise "We love making beer; We stink making ties," Providence-based Narragansett Beer is seeking designers to create the company's 2008 Father's Day necktie.

In recent years, Narragansett has offered a handsome rep pattern neck tie with the company logo as a promotion and with a certain amount of purchases over the Father's Day weekend.

Now it's your turn. Narragansett asks would-be designers to e-mail a low-resolution jpeg to brewmaster@NarragansettBeer.com by February 15. Winners will be announced at AS220, 115 Empire St., Providence, on Friday, February 22.

Good luck, neighbor!

Matt Bai has an astute read on the once-unimaginable way in which race has upended the Democratic presidential competition. Read the whole thing, but here's the nut:

Mr. Obama has always seen himself, near as we can tell, as a man who transcends ordinary conventions about race, who isn’t really a “black politician.” And yet here he is being compared to Jesse Jackson and depending heavily on his connection with black voters to forge the kind of coalition he needs. Now race is his firewall, not Mrs. Clinton’s — the main thing that makes him, at this late date, such a formidable insurgent. One can imagine that it’s not easy for Mr. Obama to get his head around that.

The post-South Carolina reality has to be even more disconcerting, though, for Senator Clinton. This is a woman, don’t forget, who came into politics during the civil rights era and who has, at every opportunity in her public life, dedicated herself, along with her husband, to the idea of racial equality. And now she wakes up to find—in fact, she probably understood it weeks ago, when she decided to go hard at Mr. Obama—that not only have those black voters deserted her, but that her campaign now hinges, to a large extent, on racial polarization. This is unpleasant but undeniable: the more white and Latino voters perceive Mr. Obama to be the candidate of black America, the more likely Mrs. Clinton is to win. Strategically, the Clintons have adapted to this reality. Personally, however, it is a direct contradiction to everything they have tried to embody for decades, and it has to hurt.

UPDATE: Here's the missing link. Thanks to Chris from Advocacy Solutions for tracking this down.

---

Speaking of the budget, it's not uncommon to hear criticism of Rhode Island's economic-development efforts. While there are some bright spots, like the emerging geek-sector, we can all agree that the state remains seriously in need of more and better jobs.

On Sunday, the ProJo's John Kostrezewa talked up the need to look past the state's budget woes, focusing on a long-term economy to expand the economy and to create jobs. The piece doesn't seem to be online, but I'll highlight his suggested focal points. With the possible exception of the port, about which I don't know enough to offer an informed view, these seem like good ideas:

-- Make Providence the hub of a cluster of collaborations among the state's universities, hospitals and innovative companies to research developing technologies that will create start-up companies and jobs.

-- Focus on life sciences, the industry that is expanding with new products, drugs, and services to sell to an aging US population.

-- Expand T.F. Green Airport, the state's gateway to international trade and travel for commerce and tourism.

-- Develop and promote Quonset . . . There is still a chance for a smaller port in the Davisville area for so-called short sea shipping that will attract some of the excess capacity from Boston and New York.

-- Promote Rhode Island as a model for renewable energy research by creating a climate for wind and wave projects that will make the Ocean State a magnet for investment.

Governor Carcieri continues a media offensive related to the budget, having appeared on John DePetro's show this morning. Meanwhile, the liberal Campaign for Rhode Island's Priorities plans today to unveil its Economic Growth & Fairness Act, "a comprehensive plan to provide property tax rebates while raising needed revenue for shared priorities."

The event will be at 3:30 pm, in Room 313 at the State House.

Karen Malcolm, Executive Director of Ocean State Action and the campaign's coordinator states:

 

"The Campaign will outline its comprehensive stimulus plan to get Rhode Island back on track. Long-term, economically viable solutions are possible that would reduce our over-reliance on the property tax without sacrificing voter's top priorities of health care, education, and jobs. Economists agree that the best way to stimulate the economy is to put money in the pockets of middle-income earners and into the pockets of those striving to become middle-income earners. This plan does just that."

 

Representative Art Handy (Cranston) and Senator Paul Moura (E. Providence), sponsors of the act in the General Assembly, will be hand to answer questions.

With Florida voters taking part in a GOP primary today, N4N will not be surprised in the least if Rudy Giuliani soon folds his presidential campaign. His strategy marginalized him, with voters becoming increasingly concerned about electability, and his effort never really caught fire.

It's a narrow lead for Mitt Romney, but one, I assume, that Democrats hope he can maintain, because he would surely be the weaker candidate against a Democrat in November.

More young people voted in 2004, and the youth vote could be huge in 2008 if Obama is the Democratic nominee. On a related note, Jessica Kerry writes in the Phoenix about efforts to push pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds in Rhode Island:

Last year, a teen pre-registration bill sponsored by state Representative Ed Pacheco (D-Burrillville) passed overwhelmingly in the Senate and the House before Governor Donald Carcieri vetoed it in July, citing a need to clean up the voter rolls first (Savitsky calls this a “red herring response.”)

On January 10, Pacheco reintroduced the bill in the House with four co-signers, including Republican John Savage. State Senator Rhoda Perry will introduce the bill in the Senate.

Pre-registration for teens is part of a national FairVote campaign, [Ari] Savitsky says, because it would promote a “culture of participation” among younger citizens. Registering 16- and 17-year olds before they are eligible to vote would significantly increase their likelihood of voting later, he says, asserting that more than 80 percent of registered young people voted in the 2004 presidential election. He attributes opposition to the measure to “this obnoxious myth about young people being apathetic.”

Savitsky, who graduated from Brown in 2006, argues that Rhode Island’s new high school civics curriculum and the Division of Motor Vehicles provide the “civic infrastructure … already in place” to bring teenagers into the democratic process by registering them to vote.

Pacheco says Savitsky and FairVote are major assets in the pre-registration battle, doing crucial legwork and reaching out to local media. “Having FairVote brings a new energy to the effort to get this bill through,” he says. “Some of these issues can’t come to fruition until the organized effort is behind them.”

Last month, FairVote Rhode Island published a policy briefing detailing the rationale for its proposal and suggested implementation for the bill, which is supported by almost 20 local organizations, from the Rhode Island AFL-CIO to the Brown College Republicans.

For those considering a General Assembly run or some other bid for office, Operation Clean Government is holding its next Candidates School on April 12.

The Candidates School is a non-partisan educational seminar held every election year in Rhode Island since 2002. It is designed to broaden citizen involvement in state and local government by empowering citizens with the knowledge they need to get involved in the political process.

 

Whether its for the school committee, city or town council, state legislature, general office or federal office, if you are running for office or considering a run for office, or planning to work on any campaign, get the information you need to make a difference!

 

Date:  Saturday, April 12, 2008

Time:  7:30 AM - 5 PM (Breakfast at 8 AM)

Location:  Quonset 'O' Club, North Kingstown, RI

 

Seating is limited - Enroll early

Registration Fee: $95 (includes meals)

John Nichols, writing in the Nation, has harsh words for Hillary Clinton's aggressive pursuit of votes in Florida.

Hillary Clinton has decided to rewrite the rules of the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

 

Like other candidates, she pledged not to campaign in Florida after the state jumped ahead on the schedule of caucuses and primaries set by the Democratic National Committee. She had to make that pledge if she hoped to compete in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, as Iowa and New Hampshire zealously guard their starting status on the political calendar.

 

But Iowa and New Hampshire are history and, after a landslide loss in South Carolina on Saturday, Clinton needs a win.

 

So she has begun appearing in Florida in anticipation of Tuesday's Democratic primary there.

 

Clinton's move insults not just the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire who trusted her pledge but also the voters of all the states that respected the DNC's outline for the nominating process. Effectively, she is saying to Democrats in states that will participate in February 5th's "Super Tuesday" primaries and caucuses and in the two dozen states that have scheduled later votes: You may follow the rules if you please, but I write the rules as I please.

 

That's the raw political reality of Clinton's move, even if she is spinning it as an embrace of participatory democracy.

 

"Hundreds of thousands of people have already voted in Florida and I want them to know I will be there to be part of what they have tried to do to make sure their voices are heard," said Clinton before jetting to Sarasota and Miami for events on Sunday.

 

The Clinton campaign claims that the senator from New York is abiding by the no-campaigning pledge because Sunday's two Florida events were technically closed to the public. But the stops were treated as major news events in a state where many Democrats have expressed anger over the absence of the party's presidential candidates during a period when Florida is overrun by Republican contenders.

 

The truth of the Clinton strategy was writ large in a memo from top strategist Howard Wolfson, who announced on the day of the campaign's dismal showing in South Carolina that, "Regardless of today's outcome, the race quickly shifts to Florida, where hundreds of thousands of Democrats will turn out to vote on Tuesday. Despite efforts by the Obama campaign to ignore Floridians, their voices will be heard loud and clear across the country, as the last state to vote before Super Tuesday on February 5."

 

"Efforts by the Obama campaign to ignore Floridians"? Obama is abiding by the pledge. Admittedly, it's a foolish pledge. None of the campaigns should have taken it, and they all should have agreed to drop it. But in the absence of such an agreement, Obama is not ignoring Floridians. He is remaining true to his word.

By his own admission, energetic labor activist Pat Crowley, a bete noire for conservative Rhode Islanders, had a little time on his hands recently, so he catalogued the number of blog mentions devoted to him on Anchor and the Ocean State Republican. The answer: 47.

Pat, who clearly wears the other side's opprobrium as a badge of honor, asks whether he should at least get a prize. 

In an reverse image kind of way, I was reminded of how a critic of John Conte, the tightlipped former district attorney of Worcester, Massachusetts, once created a Web site documenting Conte's habitual lack of comment.

The Rhode Island Young Democrats, Rhode Island's Future, and Providence Daily Dose are sponsoring an event at Local 121 tonight to view President Bush's much-anticipated last State of the Union address.

This from the Young Dems:

Come join us to celebrate TONIGHT, Monday, January 28th at Local 121 in Providence, located at 121 Washington Street. The Address is scheuled to begin at 9:00PM, but all are welcome to come early at 8:30PM.

 

This event is Free of Charge, no cost at all!  The night will include exciting games such as "State of the Union" Bingo.  Finally, we will also be holding another Strawpoll Fundraiser to help determine who will be giving the State of the Union next year.  That's right, come down and throw down a dollar or two on your favorite Democratic Presidential candidate!

Not the greatest timing for Obama, but this is a blip compared with today's endorsements from the Kennedys.

Via The Page:

Rezko, who is scheduled to stand trial on corruption charges in less than a month, was in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, his trial judge, at 8:35 a.m. He could be seen at a defense table going over papers with his lawyer, Joseph Duffy. A jury is to be selected at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to hear his case beginning Feb. 25. ...

Rezko also has become an issue in the presidential campaign because of his long association with Democratic candidate U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. More than $80,000 in campaign contributions linked to Rezko and given to Obama have now been donated to charity.

Last week an undated photo appeared of Rezko standing between Obama's leading opponent for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, and former President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton denied knowing Rezko and said she did not recall the photo being taken.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The woman who famously labeled Bill Clinton as the "first black president" is backing Barack Obama to be the second.

Author Toni Morrison said her endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate has little to do with Obama's race — he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas — but rather his personal gifts.

Writing with the touch of a poet in a letter to the Illinois senator, Morrison explained why she chose Obama over Hillary Rodham Clinton for her first public presidential endorsement.

Morrison, whose acclaimed novels usually concentrate of the lives of black women, said she has admired Clinton for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but then dismissed that experience in favor of Obama's vision.

"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates," Morrison wrote. "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it.

"Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace — that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom," Morrison wrote.

Following the widespread view that Bill Clinton's anti-Obama efforts backfired in South Carolina, the New York Times reports, in a story tucked on A19 today, that the former president will play a "gentler role" going forward.

Obama, meanwhile, has scored the Kennedy hat-trick with the addition of RI's own US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign team, seeking to readjust after her lopsided defeat in South Carolina and amid a sense among many Democrats that Mr. Clinton had injected himself clumsily into the race, will try to shift the former president back into the sunnier, supportive-spouse role that he played before Mrs. Clinton’s loss in the Iowa caucuses, Clinton advisers said.

But Democrats said it was not clear whether the effects of Mr. Clinton’s high profile could be brushed away by having him modulate his campaign style. They said Mr. Clinton had upset some of the central themes of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, including her appeal to women and her assertions that her time in the White House during the 1990s amounted to vital experience rather than a link to a presidency defined as much by scandal and partisan divisions as by its successes on fronts like the economy.

Despite Mrs. Clinton’s months-long efforts to build a base of support among women, Clinton advisers said they were concerned that her husband’s recent prominence may have dampened her appeal as a strong female leader. Some advisers said they feared as much after Mr. Obama won 54 percent of the vote from women in South Carolina, including 22 percent of white women and 78 percent of black women, according to polls.

Echoing private remarks by some Clinton advisers, Linda L. Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, said in an interview that she believed Mr. Clinton’s attacks on Mr. Obama had hurt Mrs. Clinton.

(AP photo)

Via Politico:

Rejecting a personal entreaty from President Bill Clinton, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president in a joint appearance on Monday, Democratic sources said.

The embrace provides a dramatic rocket for Obama to ride into the frantic, nationwide campaigning ahead of the spate of Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5, the biggest day for nominating contests in U.S. history. Caroline Kennedy, the senator's niece and the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, will also appear at the rally, the sources said.

Democrats said the endorsement will help Obama with traditional Democratic groups where Clinton has been strong — union households, Hispanics and downscale workers.

Also, the nod by the most experienced member of the Senate adds significant standing to Obama, who is working to prove he has the experience necessary to be president.

The announcement stunned Senate colleagues, who had expected Kennedy to remain neutral until the increasingly vitriolic nominating contest with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) settled out.

“This is the biggest Democratic endorsement Obama could possibly get short of Bill Clinton,” said a high-level Democrat.

The Clinton campaign launched a last-ditch effort over the last few days to stop Kennedy's move, orchestrating a flood of phone calls to Kennedy from sources ranging from union chiefs to his Massachusetts constituents.

From the Time scribe:

While endorsements don’t usually matter much, Edward Kennedy’s does because:

1. He has a huge following with Hispanics, a big deal in California and other Super Tuesday states, and one of Obama’s weaknesses.

2. The symbolic Kennedy family thing — the ultimate message of change, viability, Democratic legitimacy, and youthful excitement.

3. The national press will be obsessed with the story for days and days to come, with no downside for Obama; the local press coverage when Kennedy travels for Obama will be ginormous.

4. It sends a message to other senators and superdelegates that it is OK to be for Obama — they don’t have to be afraid of the Clintons.

5. He has a huge following among working-class, traditional Democrats, one of Obama’s weaknesses.

6. He has a huge following among union households, another of Obama’s weaknesses.