The RI Republican party has a communications director?
What does he do all day?
Sit by the phone waiting for reporters to call him?
The Republican governor of this state routinely gets his brains beat in by Democratic party press releases and a hostile TV and print media yet has anyone in the state of Rhode Island seen a press release or heard from the RI Rep party's ditzy chairwoman in months?
DO THEY EVER STAND UP AND CHALLENGE ANYTHING?
DO THEY EVER STAND UP AND DEFEND THEIR OWN PEOPLE?
Got a governor under constant attack and noboby from the state party even whispers a defense of him?
Fortunately I do not belong to the RI Republican party and this is why.
Politically I'm with the Republican party but the pure incompetence of this party and how its' run internally is absolutely appalling.
What does Patricia Morgan do as Chair of this party besides go on the Glen Medeiros show and giggle like a smitten school girl?
What or when or where or how has Communications Director Chuck Nelson ever communicated anything to anyone on any topic?
I'd love some feedback from those
of you on this site who are members of the RI Rep party.
Forget whose camp you're in for a minute (Laffey vs Chafee etc) and just talk about the disaster that is this party.
What am I missing here?
How hard is it to respond when someone constantly throws sucker punches at your people?
WHY WHY WHY is there never a media response from the RI Republican party when the Democratic party throws their media bombs??
Why is this allowed to go on day after day after day and this party does NOTHING!
I've never seen anythinglike it and I've been following politics for 20 years.
Why is this group so pathetic and so incompetent?
We live in an information age.
HOW HARD IS IT TO ISSUE PRESS RELEASES?
I've never seen a bigger Mickey Mouse operation in my life.
I'm with you guys politically
but if your party doesn't get its' act together and quickly you're going to lose everything in November.
This is an honest inquiry and I'd love your feedback.
What is so wrong and dysfunctional with your party that they're incapable of even basic PR initiatives IN AN ELECTION YEAR no less?
Love your thoughts and your solutions.

I think the Carcieri folks are just keeping low for now, at least until his expected announcement for re-election. I think the hope is that the more that Fogarty talks, the more he will come off looking like an a** ... which he's making a lot of progress at already.

I also expect that the Carcieri campaign operation will respond more rapidly, once the campaign actually gets going, than typically has the RIGOP. As you may know, they have their work cut out with the US Senate race. I would caution them against putting too many eggs in the Chafee basket, at the possible expense of the rest of the state party. I certainly hope that doesn't suck the life out of what contribution of time and effort they are able to make on Carcieri's behalf. Regardless of that, I believe Carcieri will win decisively.

Despite what Charlie may be crowing, the Governor has a great record to run on, and he's not going to run away from it one bit. His only obstacle to getting everything that he would like accomplished for RI, are Charlie's pals in the General Assembly.

What's Charlie's "plan" to balance the budget? It's kind of hard to do when you're not willing to cut any spending!

Will,

Thanks for the response. A couple of observations.

1) I believe the governor is going to have a much tougher time winning re-election than you seem to think and not because of Charlie Fogarty.
The governors' enemies (casinos, unions, insurance comp's etc) are large in number and well financed.
Also doesn't help when Steve Laffey minions within the Republican party like David Quiroa publicly play the race card and knife the governor in the back. How many other Laffey supportes will be voting for Fogarty besides Quiroa?
I think you're greatly underestimating the forces working against this governor. My hope is that HE is not underestimating what he's up against in this election.
Charlie Fogarty is the least of his worries.

2) You never really addressed the real question of my original post. Why is the RI Republican party so pathetic and incompetent in matters of public relations?
They don't do PR. WHY?
There is more time and energy and passion expressed by posters on this blog than what comes from the party itself.
It is pathetic!
My question is why doesn't the Rhode Island Republican party GET IT?
The way you neutralize the constant attacks on people within your own party is to ATTACK BACK and respond to the attacks THE SAME DAY!
Guess what happens when you do that?
The media can't run with the Democrats side of the issue. They have to present both sides because they have an official RI Republican party in your face response in their hands.
When is the last time you saw Patricia Morgan respond to Bill Lynch and his daily attacks on the governor?
What does the party "Communications Director" do all day?
Sit by the phone WAITING for others to call him?
Been following politics for 20+ years and I've never seen a bigger joke in the world than this party Chair Patricia Morgan and her PR division of the RI Rep party.
The level of imcompetence is amazing.
We'll see if it cost the party this November.
I'd be worried if I were you.

From what I can see on TV and in the newspapers, the RIGOP leadership appears unwilling to engage in public relations battles. As political observers such as Baskt has stated, Ms. Morgan,the chairwoman, is not adept at handling the media. Therefore, the RIGOP leadership is leary of being active in public relations battles either on the offense or even on the defense.

Furthermore, dealing with the media requires speed and quickness, the RIGOP leadership is beaucratic and is afraid of saying or doing anything without checking with all "the Powers that be". Thus, they say nothing hoping not to say the wrong thing,and when they are ready to say something, it is old news.

Carcieri has nobody to blame but himself for the inept party leadership. Carcieri appointed Pat Morgan initially. That was mistake number 1. He was presented with far more competent people (who wanted the job) yet he passed on them. About a year or so ago, he had the opportunity to again appoint someone competent; again, he passed. This is, unfortunately, typical of Carcieri - he surrounds himself with incompetent people. You reap what you sow.

One would think that Carcieri would realize that he, himself, is far better served with a competent, respectable person in that position. I mean, say what you will about Billy Lynch, he does his job well. When you see Billy Lynch next to Pat Morgan, don't tell me you don't just cringe at the sight and sound of Morgan.

Carcieri's loyalty to Pat Morgan is hurting him, and the party. Pat Morgan should have the decency to step down. Until she does, or the Carcieri smartens up, the Republican party in RI will remain a joke.

The major problem with the RI GOP right now is lack of effective leadership from so-called Senator Chafee. He is such a whirling dervish when it comes to stances on things! My man Laffey is ideologically consistent and highly-principled. We need him as a leader both here and in Washington. His business acumen and Wall Street background will create a strong pro-business climate here in RI over time.

With Laffey anything is possible. With him as our leader we can dare to dream. He is a winner and I like to hang with the winners. Go Laffey!

You got it Lizzie! And you to Fred! The insiders are destroying the party and the only growth is in ....you got it Cranston!! And after Laffey get's elected lots of people will join the Republican party in RI just like they did in Cranston. He is the leader for all of us.!!!!

Dear Jimbo,

The only reason there was any growth in Cranston was due to union memebers temporarily jumping ship. That's the Don's advisors fault, nobody elses.

Down ticket, this could be a very ugly year for the GOP. At the top, 1 out of 2, don't care which one, works great for me.

Every so often, when I have a DINO I can't dislodge in a primary (why don't these people stick R's in front of their names and end the suspense) I wish your team could tie it's shoelaces together. However, I am always dissapointed.