Our political reporter Ian Donnis sat down with two local observers to discuss that question: state Representative Jon Brien, a conservative Democrat-turned-independent from Woonsocket; and Lauren Niedel, a progressive Democratic State Committee member from Glocester.
TRANSCRIPT
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Donnis: Jon, Lauren. Thank you for joining me.
Jon Brien: It’s my pleasure to be here, Ian.
Lauren Niedel: Thank you very much. I’m glad to be here.
Donnis: Donald Trump had a decisive win last week, and he improved on his past performance both nationally and in Rhode Island. Jon Brien, was this just mostly about the economy and how voters remain concerned about inflation and about how they’re paying more for groceries than during the previous Trump administration.
Jon Brien: I mean, I think economic issues definitely had a great deal to, you know, to do with it, Ian. I think there’s obviously a familiarity with someone who’s been president and has continued to run a presidential campaign. I think it was hard for Vice President Harris to connect with voters, particularly running a campaign that says, I’ll turn the page and I’ll change everything once I get elected, even though I’ve been there for four years. But I will say that if you ask the question, are you better off today than you were four years ago? It’s hard to say, yes, I am better off. And I think that, you know, my constituents definitely couldn’t say that. I can’t say that.
Donnis: Let me hold you there. Lauren Niedel, what do you think? Was inflation the top factor for why voters backed Trump this time?
Lauren Niedel: I think it was more of, why didn’t people, voters, back Harris? So I think, because about the same amount of people backed Trump this time around as they did in 2020. So the disconnect was that there was a few million that didn’t vote for Harris and that was because of her messaging.
Donnis: Well to dig down on that a little farther, we’ve seen how in previous election cycles Donald Trump won the previously Democratic Town of Johnston. This time around, Trump won Representative Brien’s hometown of Woonsocket. Lauren Niedell, what do you think Democrats need to do differently to win back those traditionally Democratic communities?
Lauren Niedel: Well, it’s more of the messaging as far as they can’t be the party of the elite. When saying they’re the party of the common person, their outreach in Northwestern Rhode Island, the Democratic party in Rhode Island was awful. And you can look at the map of the country and see that interior U.S. as well as rural U.S. got all the support by Trump. And they were not, that area was not supported at all by Harris. There was just this big gap of where Harris got her votes.
Donnis: Jon, It was a narrow victory for Trump in Woonsocket, but he did win that community. How come?
Jon Brien: I think again, it was economic issues, but I agree with Lauren. I think that when you become a party of identity politics and telling you that if you don’t agree with us, we know better for you than you know, better for yourself. And if you disagree with you, we’re going to tell you why you’re wrong. We’ll label you. We’ll cancel you. That’s a problem. And I think ultimately people don’t dig down on that stuff. I think what people say is, look, my basket is half of what it used to be. And it’s costing me twice as much more. My electricity bill, my oil bill for my house to fill my gas tank. What is going on? Why is this happening? And then you see, the idea of the Democrats getting so engaged on these social issues and social initiatives rather than focusing on issues that everyday people. You know, I’m an elected official. So I watched the news all the time. I kind of know what’s going on, or at least I try to know what’s going on. A lot of people don’t bother with that. They just want to work, go home, see their family, have dinner, relax, and it comes down to why is everything more expensive? What is going on? And who’s doing this? And when the messaging is, well, we need a new direction, we’re going to turn the page. But you’ve been there, so why haven’t you done it?
Donnis: Lauren, how about that point? There was polling that showed that a lot of voters thought Kamala Harris was more concerned about cultural issues, transgender rights, for example, than helping the middle class. How do Democrats come back from that?
Lauren Niedel: They need to take a Bernie Sanders approach, if I may add that in, where you talk about the common issues with the common person. What is really on their mind? How are they really impacted? Are they impacted by transgender issues or by LGBTQ issues in general? Or are they impacted by my insurance just went up $500. I lost my insurance company. My area is in a flood zone now. It never was. Talking about climate change, talking about things that are now reflection of the United States that may not have been the case 10, 20 years ago, but are a reflection now. I agree, there needed to be more focus on economic policies, on day to day policies, and not on identity politics. I am not big on identity politics myself.
Donnis: Let’s stay here with Lauren for a second. You are critical of how the state Democratic Party didn’t spend any money despite being asked to do so to help motivate voters in the northwest corner of Rhode Island. What is your explanation for that?
Lauren Niedel: I have none. I have been on the state committee since 2014. I represent District 40, which obviously is very rural. Foster, Glocester and Greene in Coventry. We made, not only myself, but other members of the Northwestern Rhode Island area who are part of the state, the town committees, made many efforts to say, hey, we need organization in Northwestern Rhode Island. We need to see that we are not isolated as individuals. It’s very, very challenging to be a staunch Democrat in a Republican area. We specifically asked for a regional event. We were told, yes, that’s a great idea. We’ll make it happen. It never happened.
Donnis: Jon, you are one of 75 state representatives. Democrats hold a super majority on Smith Hill and Republicans are basically treading water. Do you think there’s complacency on the part of Democrats here in Rhode Island because they’re so successful at winning elections?
Jon Brien: There’s no question. And I want to agree with Lauren. I think it’s hubris. I think it’s well, We’re going to win the state anyway. So why bother? Why go out of our way to do anything that we need to do? We’re a blue state. We’re going to stay a blue state. You’re going to start to see creeping gains Ian. Look, 42 percent for Donald Trump. And if you look at New Hampshire, you look at Vermont, you look at New England, they may be blue now. They may not remain so.
Donnis: And we see some change has taken place in Rhode Island. Communities like Barrington and East Greenwich used to be more Republican. They’re more Democratic now. Communities like Burrillville near Woonsocket is now more Republican and inland communities are more Republican. Why is that?
Jon Brien: I can speak to that because in Woonsocket, your grocery bill, your fuel bill, your gas bill, it’s going to impact you a lot more than it is if you’re living a good life in Barrington and you’re not so much concerned about grocery bill and fuel bill. It’s easy to be a liberal and think about identity politics and social issues when economics don’t hit you hard, but when they do hit you hard, you don’t care about that. Look, in Rhode Island, we’ve said we’re not, after 2030, we’re not going to sell anything but electric cars. In my district, which is very, very urban, where are people in triple deckers with no parking going to plug in cars that they can’t afford with chargers that aren’t going to be there?
Donnis: Quick final word here from Lauren on why more coastal communities go blue in Rhode Island and more inland communities go red.
Lauren Niedel: It’s money. It really is. It’s all about the money. They have the money. They are being courted by the Democratic Party. You can see where the fundraisers were this past year and the past couple years, where the Democrats want their base to be. It’s basically a sacrificial zone. All of Northwestern Rhode Island.
Donnis: We’ve got to leave it there. Our time is up. Thank you so much for joining me, Democratic State Committeewoman from Glocester, Lauren Niedel, and State Representative Jon Brien, an Independent from Woonsocket.
Jon Brien: Thank you very much, Ian.
Lauren Niedel: Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity.
