It was an eventful week — in Rhode Island and in Washington — so there’s lots of grist for the mill. Thanks for stopping by for my column. As usual, your tips and comments are welcome, and you can follow me through the week on the twitters. Here we go.
1. Situated between independent Joe Trillo and Republican Allan Fung on a stage at Roger Williams University, Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo‘s expression told part of the story during their Thursday night debate. She smiled more than a few times, seemingly enjoying the cross-fire between her two top rivals. Trillo is less well-known than Fung or Raimondo, so he got a built-in benefit just from appearing on the same stage with them during the WPRI-TV debate. And while the former 16-year GOP state rep acknowledged his unabashedly loud persona, Trillo could prove alluring to many of the same Rhode Island voters who perceive President Trump as a necesssary shock to the system. The other two candidates generally stuck to their narratives, with Raimondo touting improvements in the state’s economy and Fung pressing his critique of the incumbent on UHIP and other issues. (If you missed the debate, you can watch it here; Tim White and Ted Nesi did a characteristically strong job of keeping the candidates focused on a range of questions, and moving things along.) Fung and Raimondo lobbed a few attacks at one another, but the November 6 election is fast approaching and voters’ views of the two candidates seem largely fixed (unlike, say, 2010 when Republican John Robitaille gained momentum in the closing weeks, narrowly losing to then-independent Lincoln Chafee). Raimondo had the edge in the most recent WPRI poll, and her big primary win over Matt Brown illustrated the strength of her ground game. Moving ahead, the key questions are whether Fung can raise his standing — and how Trillo affects that.
2. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, during which Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh expressed 100 percent certitude in their beliefs, is likely to have lasting political fallout. Even before this, womem activists in Rhode Island were energized by how some key priorities (including a wage equity bill and anti-harrassment legislation) didn’t move ahead earlier this year. (During the WPRI debate, Trillo, Fung and Raimondo each said there should be an FBI investigation and a delay in considering the Supreme Court nomination.) Earlier in the week, Raimondo used a fundraising letter — subject line: “I believe Dr. Blasey Ford” — to highlight the issue. Meanwhile, it’s also worth reading What Happened With Merrick Garland in 2016 And Why It Matters Now.
3. The split reactions to U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse‘s participation in the Judiciary Committee hearing offer a window on the partisan divide in this country. Conservatives and GOP opponent Robert Flanders pan Whitehouse’s questioning of Brett Kavanaugh. “Thursday’s hearing was the epitome of what is wrong with Washington today,” Flanders said in a statement. “Rather than engage in a genuine hunt for the truth, senators from both parties used their time in the limelight to grandstand and play blatant partisan politics. No one displayed that more clearly than Rhode Island’s junior senator, Sheldon Whitehouse. While the nation was watching, Sheldon Whitehouse once again showed that he is a hyper-partisan attack dog rather than a serious lawmaker. His juvenile questioning about high school yearbooks and flatulation were a new low in our nation’s judicial nomination process. (Flanders said he would vote in favor of Kavanaugh and calls him “superbly qualified” for the Supreme Court.) …. Yet Democrats and progressives see Whitehouse’s questioning of Kavanaugh as on-point. In an op-ed for NBC News, Whitehouse wrote that the details justify further inquiry. “Since Ford went public, at least two more women have come forward corroborating Kavanaugh’s hard-partying habits, both in high school and college, and alleging further sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh told us repeatedly during his first hearing that ‘process protects us.’ Witness testimony is at the core of any legitimate process. Kavanaugh is the one who should be calling for an FBI investigation, and for the alleged witness in the room to testify. Instead, he has been complicit in avoiding a full and fair investigation.”
4. Former VP Joe Biden, a potential presidential candidate in 2020, is due in Providence Sunday to rally support, at the Convention Center, for Gov. Raimondo. Biden last visited RI in 2016.
5. Coming in the week ahead: polling results from a new collaboration between Rhode Island Public Radio, The Providence Journal and ABC6. Topics will include the race for governor and U.S. Senate and other key RI issues. RIPR is also working with the ProJo to stage two debates, both at URI: a gubernatorial debate at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 15, and a U.S. Senate debate at 7 p,m. on Saturday, October 20. In other local media news, RIPR is slated to open a New Bedford bureau in January — a reflection of how our improved signal at 89.3 FM now covers most of Rhode Island and SouthCoast Massachusetts. Plans are also in the works for an investigative reporting unit. (If you’d like to help support your local public radio organization during our fall pledge drive, we’d love to hear from you; more than 93 percent of our funding comes from individuals and groups in RI and southeastern Massachusetts.)
6. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello sent a long letter to his constituents in Cranston this week, amid another challenge from Republican Steve Frias. In an unusual move, the Laborers International Union contacted Tasca Automotive Group in Cranston to detail plans for a picket outside the dealership on Monday, October 1. Mattiello canceled a related event as a result. Here’s more detail from a news release sent by Mattiello’s campaign: “According to Speaker Mattiello, owner Bob Tasca was contacted today by a representative of the Laborers International Union, calling on behalf of Armand Sabitoni (Laborers’ general secretary-treasurer and New England regional manager). Tasca was informed that a picket line would be formed outside the event and his business would be picketed throughout the day. Mattiello said David Chenevert, president of the RI Manufacturers Association, planned the event to recognize him for his support of small business and the manufacturing community. It was not a fund-raiser. ‘Out of respect for Bob Tasca and his fine business, I immediately cancelled the event,’ said Mattiello. ‘I have spoken with the Manufacturers Association and it will be rescheduled at a future date at a different location.’ Mattiello sent a letter to the constituents of his district earlier this week, stating that a ‘target was on his back’ from special interests. ‘Sadly, this is what I expected after I listened to the voice of the people of my district, and throughout the state, in protecting the taxpayers’ best interests regarding a Pawtucket stadium,’ said Mattiello. ‘These strong-arm tactics will not deter me from standing up for the people. This is an example of what elected officials have to face from outside interests who are doing a disservice to the people of my district and the state.’ Mattiello added, ‘This threat does not reflect the values and hard work of the men and women of the Laborers, but it is a reflection of the heavy-handed tactics of their leadership.’ “
6B. Mattiello’s campaign also publicized a new mailer touting his approach on the PawSox as a win for taxpayers. Frias offered this response: “This is pretty funny coming from the guy who was excited about taxpayers spending $120 million on a new stadium in Providence and whose junk bond plan to build a new stadium in Pawtucket would have cost taxpayers millions more than plan the Senate wanted. Another swing and a miss from Mattiello.”
7. U.S. Rep. David Cicilline hopes to become assistant Democratic leader in the next Congress.
8. Dianne “Dee Dee” Witman gained some instant cred in her independent run for mayor of Providence — thanks in large part to how she popped $500,000 into her campaign account. She has won the support of former primary candidates Robert DeRobbio and Kobi Dennis, as well as an endorsement from the Providence police union. Witman is best known as a fundraiser; she’s worked for Democrats like Richard Licht and Joseph R. Paolino Jr., led Buddy Cianci’s money effort in 2014, and raised money earlier this year for Allan Fung. Here are some highlights from Witman’s appearance on Rhode Island Public Radio’s Political Roundtable and Bonus Q&A: 1) Witman declined to specify her choice for governor, but she said, “I think Allan made a very poor decision to say what he did about immigration. And I don’t quite understand it, especially [with him] being the children of immigrant parents.” 2) Although Witman opposes Mayor Jorge Elorza‘s proposal to shore up the city pension system by monetizing the Providence water supply, she doesn’t have an alternative plan. She said “add ons” in municipal contracts and healthcare costs can potentially be negotiated down, adding, “I would do my best to honor” contractual obligations. 3) Witman calls the speed camera program a money grab. She said she would eliminate it and rotate police to discouraging speeding in school zones.
9. The gloves are off in the feud between the ougoing and former GOP leaders in the RI House, Patricia Morgan of West Warwick and Brian Newberry of North Smithfield. Meanwhile, in a strange confluence of political bedfellows, former RI Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch came to the defense of Morgan this week in her clash with Attrorney General Peter Kilmartin, calling on the AG to apologize and provide the public records sought by Morgan. “Representative Morgan has earned the right to be respected and treated as an equal to her male counterparts in elective office, regardless of party affiliation,” Lynch wrote in a news release, referring to how Kilmartin spokeswoman Amy Kempe referred to Morgan as “Patty” in a statement. “I have never heard Mr. Kilmartin refer to Representative Morgan’s fellow legislators as ‘Nicky’, ‘Donnie’, ‘Joey’ or ‘Mikey’ and his blatant misuse of his office to disparage and denigrate ‘Patricia’ Morgan in this instance is an insult to all Rhode Islanders — male and female alike.” Kempe responded with this: “Bill Lynch is speaking for himself and this is a personal, political attack not based on policy, facts, or the law.” (In a post-script, former AG Jeffrey Pine, a law partner of Lynch’s brother, former AG Patrick Lynch, said in a statement that Bill Lynch was speaking in his capacity as a senior adviser to the Democratic Party, after his comment about Kilmartin came from a Lynch & Pine email address.)
10. Two reads on media: 1) New York Magazine is bolstering a local news effort. “Journalism is a utility like water in a city — the place will fall apart without it,” said one of the people involved in the effort. 2) Jack Shafer calls distrust of the media “as much a feature as it is a bug.”
11. Via The Cape Cod Times: RI Democrats, including Gov. Raimondo and U.S. Rep. Cicilline are opposing a bill sponsored by Massachusetts Democrats that would end a legal challenge to the Mashpee Wampanoag’s reservation: “If the bill overcomes the hurdles it is facing, it would also enable the tribe to move forward with a planned $1 billion casino-resort on its reservation land in Taunton, a project that came to a grinding halt after neighbors of the gambling site sued the Department of the Interior, claiming the agency didn’t have the authority to take 321 acres of the tribe’s land into trust in 2015. The casino would compete with the just opened Tiverton Casino Hotel and the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.”
12. Rhode Island has moved out of the bottom 10 for corporate and personal taxes in the latest finding by the Tax Foundation.
13. Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt got only 21 more votes in the September 12 primary (1,891) than the combined total of her two opponents in the non-partisan election, Albert Brien (1,574) and Albert Beauparlant 296). “She may indeed survive Nov. 6 in the final non-partisan election against Al Brien (both are Democrats), but the bloom is clearly off the rose for her,” publisher Tom Ward writes in The Valley Breeze. [Ward’s figures are slightly different than mine since he was writing before the state Board of Elections updated the totals.] “She’ll likely have very few friends when the new City Council convenes. Baldelli-Hunt won by only 27 votes over the combined totals of Brien and Al Beauparlant, who dropped out a month ago but still received 293 votes. Yes, the general election will have many more voters, and I think Brien still faces an uphill battle. But her enemies list is large.” Baldelli-Hunt won election as mayor in 2013, after four terms as a state rep.
14. Bill Gilbert, the Moderate Party candidate for governor, points to the surprisingly strong showing in 2014 by the late Robert “Cool Moose” Healey as an example of how the Mods can make a difference. Then again, Healey was a cult figure who built his appeal through theatrics and by repeatedly running for office. This time around, Gilbert has put $100,000 into his campaign account and he vows to wage a long-term effort to give Rhode Islanders a choice beyond the two-party duopoly. You can listen to my Q&A with Gilbert here.
15. The Rhode Island Senate has issued a detailed (142 pages) report on its 2018 session.
16. “Deep fake videos” could become a problem in elections within a few years. “[T]is is a national security issue,” Hany Farid, a computer science professor at Dartmouth, tells NPR. “You can now create a video of the president of any country saying I’ve launched nuclear weapons against another country. That content can go viral online almost instantly, and you have a real threat to security. I think it’s also a threat to democratic elections when anybody can create video of politicians saying and doing just about anything.”
18. If you don’t think elections matter, consider how Moira Walsh beat Rep. Thomas Palangio (D-Providence) in a September 2016 primary by just 21 votes. Walsh is set to be a part of the new House session in January, after defeating primary challenger Michael Earnheart, while Palangio was among three people arrested and charged this week in a fraud case.
19. Congrats to Robin Amer (who did some freelancing for me back in the day at The Providence Phoenix) on the launch of a new podcast, The City, launched with support from USA Today. The first episode tells the story of a group of Chicago residents fighting a mountain of trash dumped near their homes.
20. Who among even the most rabid Red Sox fans could have suspected the team would establish a single-season record for victories this year? I certainly didn’t. But the regular season winds down this weekend, and the post-season looms. While the Sox are certainly a potent team, so are the Astros, Indians, A’s and Yankees. So can Boston extend its magical year deep into October. For now, FiveThirtyEight gives the Red Sox a 21 percent chance of winning the World Series — just a bit behind the Astros at 24 percent.
