The Rhode Island Republican Party, locked in a nasty fight about whether to move right or strike a moderate tone in its bid to return to relevance, has a question to answer: what is the lesson of Republican Scott Brown's surprise victory in the US Senate race in Massachusetts yesterday?
Party chairman Giovanni Cicione, who has pushed for a more moderate, inclusive approach and is the target of a conservative effort to oust him, is clearly seeing vindication for his position in Brown's victory.