Don’t look now, but primaries elections are just ahead in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Thanks for stopping by. As always, I welcome your tips and comments, and you can follow me through the week on the twitters.
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1) With the DNC and RNC in the books, one of the few things about which partisans agree is how America will be changed by the results of the November election. Back in 2004, up-and-comer Barack Obama memorably emphasized “the United States of America.” But the country’s fault lines have become only sharper since then, with broad swaths of the U.S. favoring either President Trump or Joe Biden. In other words, the 10 percent or so of undecided voters across the land could decide the outcome in November. Even the reliably blue state of Rhode Island has pockets of support for the president, as evidenced by the crowd that turned out for a rally last weekend in and around Colt State Park in Bristol. And Trump decisively beat Hillary Clinton in the traditionally Democratic town of Johnston in 2016, illustrating not just shortcomings with her campaign, but also the work that Democrats need to do in winning over socially conservative leaning voters and those who credit Trump on the economy, Of course, Trump has his own liabilities, helping to gin up enthusiasm among Democrats. And the pandemic and his response to it have complicated the incumbent’s re-election prospects. Looking ahead, the presidential contest will grow more intense, with the two campaigns debating which is worst for the country. Biden’s supporters believe he will heal the country’s divisions, while Trump’s backers see him as the safeguard against a socialist dystopia. The distance between these two clashing views tells us a lot about America’s collective psyche in 2020. It underscores the difficulty of building broad support for tackling the nation’s most dire problems. And come November, we’re all going to be on standby watching for the possibility of a contested vote and an ensuing constitutional crisis.
2) Seven takeaways from the RNC.
3) While incumbency brings advantages, the pandemic means that Rhode Island’s September 8 primary will be unlike any in recent history. Add to that how various progressive groups — Working Families RI, the RI Political Cooperative, and Sunrise – are pressing their respective efforts. As TGIF reported on August 14, SEIU1199 NE is waging an aggressive independent expenditure campaign, in an attempt to get state reps with primary challenges to state their stance on a ‘safe staffing’ bill backed by the union for nursing homes. SEIU has endorsed Brandon Potter, the challenger to Rep. Chris Millea (D-Cranston), as well as Leonela Felix and Rep. Dan McKiernan (D-Providence). Adanjesus Marin, lead organizer for SEIU1199NE’s lifelong care team in Providence, said the push includes a 10-person daily phone bank, mailers, and full-page ads in the Cranston Herald and Warwick Beacon.
4) Legislative shorts ahead of the primary: The League of Women Voters has posted video of a forum featuring Sen. William Conley (D-East Providence) and progressive challenger Cynthia Mendes …. Julia Rock takes an in-depth look at the three-way primary between Rep. McKiernan, David Morales and Angel Subervi …. Rep. Pat Serpa (D-West Warwick) fired back quickly after primary rival Nicholas Delmenico targeted her in a mailer.
5) Opponents of Encompass Health’s plan for a 50-bed rehabilitation facility in Johnston – approved this week by RI Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott – are considering whether to go to Superior Court to appeal the decision. While Johnston officials like Mayor Joseph Polisena call the project a win-win, lobbying groups representing hospitals and nursing homes fear it will cut revenue and divert patients seeking services for hip fractures, strokes and similar ailments. The founder of what became the publicly traded Alabama company behind the project has quite a checkered past. But unlike how subsidies fuel most of the things that get built in Providence, Encompass Health has said it will pay itself to build its $42 million rehab center.
6A) Antipathy toward President Trump is fueling Democratic fundraising, if Rhode Island is any indication. RI’s Democratic National Committeeman, Joseph R. Paolino Jr. reports that a virtual fundraiser this week with Democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris brought in more than $1 million. “It was incredible,” Paolino said, adding that when the late Mark Weiner and he once staged a fundraiser with Michelle Obama at his East Side home, “I don’t think we hit half a million.” The former mayor said he expects the final haul from the event to hit $1.25 million. Paolino’s son, Joey, who works at the Democratic National Committee, was involved with helping to stage this week’s event.
6B) Former ProJo political columnist M. Charles Bakst was among those taking part in the virtual fundraiser. He offers this report on what it was like:
“A pleasure of retirement from journalism is the freedom to contribute to political candidates — ideally at fundraisers where you can schmooze with the candidates or at least hear them first-hand, take pictures, mingle with the crowd, and, yes, eat — all of which I did, for instance, at a Biden event in Providence last fall.
“Wednesday’s Biden Victory Fund Zoom call for Rhode Islanders with Kamala Harris was a LOT different. Welcome to politics amid the pandemic of 2020. I appreciated the opportunity to see the VP candidate, who was animated, full of energy, and stumble-free. Her lines are polished but come across as spontaneous. On the other hand — well, you undoubtedly have experienced the frustrations of Zoom sessions. For example, Governor Raimondo was tapped to introduce the candidate, but didn’t appear, and later, when it was announced that a-ha, now we have the gov, she wasn’t there again. I assume she had technical difficulties.
“As closely as I listened to Senator Harris, I also found myself frequently scanning the Zoom panels to see who was there — look, there’s Senator Reed and Congressman Langevin, and Secretary of State Gorbea, and my pals Susan and Saul Kaplan, and Art Solomon & Sally Lapides, who hosted the Biden event last fall. (Attorney General Neronha told me he also was in on the Harris call.) As you know, the boxes showing the participants move around, and at one point my image was right next to Harris’s — so I guess I could say I was close enough to shake hands, but of course I was in Providence and she was – where? — that wasn’t clear, I’m guessing Washington, but of course, amid the pandemic, even if I did meet her, we wouldn’t be shaking hands.
Harris fielded questions — Solomon asked one, and so did Paul Choquette, the Brown football hero who went on to lead Gilbane Building Co. — and it was fascinating to watch, although, again, Zoom can be clunky — someone may be called on and there’s a pause and you hear, ‘Am I on?’ Etc…
“My takeaway from Harris is that besides being personable she is one determined nominee and that she and Biden are not going to stand by, relax, and let Trump and the Republicans define them and villainize them the way the GOP did to Mike Dukakis in 1988.”
7) Gov. Gina Raimondo has unveiled a new task force meant to help cities and towns to be more economically resilient. The panel includes Central Fall Mayor James Diossa; Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza; Warren Town Manager Kate Michaud; East Greenwich Town Manager Andy Nota; RIPEC CEO Michael DiBiase; Joe Codega, chief economic policy analyst, RI Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Steve Coleman, chief, Division of Municipal Finance, Department of Revenue (DOR); and finance consultant Michael D’Amico.
8) The number of publicly anti-Trump Republicans in Rhode Island is surprisingly small, even given the tradition of GOP moderates like John Chafee (who campaigned with Richard Nixon in 1972) and former U.S. Rep. Claudine Schneider (who this week backed Joe Biden.) FWIW, Lee Drutman, author of “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multi-Party Democracy in America,” isn’t optimistic that we’ll see the GOP move back toward the middle. Via 538: “The bottom line: American political parties are not top-down entities, capable of turning on a dime. They are loose networks and coalitions of many actors and groups. And because the Republican Party has been pulling in a more extreme direction for decades now, most Republican moderates have either quit the team or reoriented themselves in a more combative, Trumpian direction to stay alive. And these forces will most likely continue to tug at the party, leaving would-be moderates with the same choice they’ve faced for decades: Quit, or get on board.”
9) As fallout continues from the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, questions continue: why was Blake shot seven times in the back, while a 17-year-old charged in two fatal shootings was peacefully apprehended after walking aorund with a long gun? And more broadly, will grievances about America’s unfinished racial reckoning fuel support for Joe Biden? Or will more voters respond to President Trump’s dark statements about crime and riots?
10) Did you hear about the brash upstart challenging a longtime Democratic member of Congress from Massachusetts? You might think we mean Joe Kennedy’s bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in the Bay State’s September 1 primary. We’re actually referring to the challenge by Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse against longtime U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The race has included a series of bonkers twists and turns, including a plot to derail Morse’s campaign. And of course, there’s a Rhode Island connection, since Morse went to Brown and interned at City Hall during U.S. Rep. David Cicilline’s time as mayor of Providence.
11) Press critic Jack Shafer says Democrats’ warnings about political interference with the Post Office are overheated: “It’s true that the USPS has sent letters to 46 states expressing its doubts about delivering all the ballots in time to be counted. But, as the Washington Post also mentioned in its story, those letters were in the works before Trump’s new postmaster general took office. It’s also true the USPS needs billions of dollars from Congress, which Trump made noise about vetoing. But that has little to do with delivering ballots for the election, as he implied on Fox. It’s Trump’s particular genius for pulling together unrelated things that has liberals and election wonks in a tizzy.”
12) The ProJo’s recent analysis of the racial composition of its newsroom, part of a broader approach by Gannett, marks a sharp departure from the newspaper’s traditional aversion to self-scrutiny. For example, back around 2003, the Journal didn’t even report on a labor demonstration that featured union members parading around its newsroom on Fountain Street. But that was a long time ago, under different ownership, and things are very different now.
13) Precisely when a budget will emerge for the budget year that began July 1 remains unclear. Andy Boardman recently parsed Bryant University polling data to offer his view, in a piece for Uprise RI, on Rhode Islanders’ budget priorities. Excerpt: “Seven in ten voters — 71 percent — say the growing gap in income between the rich and poor is a problem in Rhode Island. Four in ten — 40 percent — say it is a big problem. Among all voters, those worried by income inequality outnumber unworried voters more than three to one. There is majority agreement in all age groups and in nearly every income bracket, and concern is highest among Democrats, older voters, moderate-income voters and members of labor unions.”
14) People on the Move: Mike Raia, a former comms director for Gov. Raimondo, has a new gig at Johnson & Wales University, as a VP of strategic communications, starting in late September. Via news release: “In this role, he will be responsible for aligning JWU’s admission, marketing and communication strategies with the university’s academic and institutional priorities as Johnson & Wales positions itself to become a more comprehensive university.” Raia is currently at NAIL [PR] …. Jennifer Lawless, who ran a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin back in 2006, is now chair of the politics department at the University of Virginia …. Devin “Short Pants” Driscoll, a PC alum who led President Obama’s RI campaign in 2012, started this past week as the regional voter protection director for Virginia Democrats, working virtually from his base in Minnesota.
15) Does a $120 million loan from Fortress Investment Group – whose affiliate manages and advises Gannett, the parent of ProJo and other local papers — figure in a mystery involving President Trump and a development project in Chicago?
16) The RI ACLU this week said Attorney General Peter Neronha is making it harder for citizens to get information about police misconduct. Neronha’s office says the AG is relying on the ‘balancing test’ included in the most recent revision to the state’s open records law, and he also called on Narragansett PD to revisit its refusal to release any records in response to a citizen’s inquiry.
17) While the pandemic has stalled a lot of economic activity, Buff Chace’s Cornish Associates (with Nordblom Company) is touting the opening of the Nightingale, a 143-unit luxury apartment complex, which it bills as the first new construction apartment to open downtown in more than a generation. The $54 million project at 100 Mathewson St. was built on what used to be a surface parking lot.
