I listened to Jon Scott on Yorke the other day. Boy is he an empty suit. He's the middle school kid who claims he's a good enough quarterback to take on the varsity team.

But he's gonna help the 'down ticket' candidates...

Thanks for calling, Grover. The check is in the mail.

Yes Greg.
You are getting sleepy.
Very sleepy.
Good.
Now repeat everything that Dan Yorke tells you to.
Dan is your master.
Now quack like a duck.

Greg,

I saw Jon Scott speak at a Rhode Island Healthcare Association Forum in 2006, where all of RI's Senate and Congressional candidates were invited. In this heavily Democratic state RI's sitting Democratic Congressmen Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin, of course, got major applause both as they walked up to the podium to make their presentations and after they were done.

Jon Scott, as an unknown Republican, walked up to the podium in a room that was nearly silent, but got as loud an applause as the others when he was done, after giving a presentation that included some discussion of the importance market-based reforms in healthcare.

Does this translate into an easy win in a Congressional Race against American aristocracy? Obviously not, but it's not fair to call Jon Scott an empty suit, or think of him as someone who's expecting the party leadership to do all of the heavy lifting for him.

(And based on their radio conversations, I don't think that Dan Yorke thinks that Jon Scott is an empty suit either; Yorke is skeptical because he thinks that Scott has waited too long to build the organization and collect the money that is needed to leverage his retail politicking skills and networking efforts into [half-]statewide success.)

Missed closing a tag there, Andrew.

If you're going to go after political royalty you're going to need better ammo than Jon "I can't get 30% of the vote against a drugged up loser" Scott can offer. Period. And with daddy slated to croak as the October surprise (with his deathbed 'vote Obama' speech) it will be nigh impossible for Patrick to lose.

I don't think the Joe Trillo winning was as much as an "upset" as one might think, given several factors. First, Joe actually was the endorsed (by the nominating committee) candidate going into the convention. I think that's because he's a very hard worker (he's also very vocal, whereas Rob tends to be more reserved). Secondly, after the first round of voting last night showed essentially 1/3 of the votes going to each of the three National Committeeman candidates, Scott Avedesian made a strategic move to drop out and back Joe Trillo. I think Scott knew that if Joe was the one who volunteered to drop out, that Joe's vote would be totally up for grabs, and in a head to head race against the incumbent Rob Manning, Scott would lose. Rob is still the NCM for the upcoming Republican National Convention.

If anything, the major upset of the night was Rep. Carol Mumford's win over the two more established candidates, Norma Willis and Pat Morgan. Carol is a very smart woman who I know will make a great impression with those she works with and with the local media.

I know Joe and Carol have a good working relationship, so I think that bodes well for the party going forward.

What about that state rep from Little Compton - Laughlin, I though he was running against Kennedy?

Hi!
It is tough to run and loose. The meeting literally went on for hours! I got home after 1 P.M.,. Left with two others from Hopkinton when last vote was taken for National Committeewoman.
Patricia Morgan, I hope was humbled by her defeat. It is terrible thing to say but she has antagonized a number of people not only me.
Regards,
Scott

Hi!
It should be lose not loose and 1:00 A.M.! Tiring night, that's for sure! Dan Yorke was there but other than acknowleging him, we did not talk.
Regards,
Scott

Jon can run rings around Pat in the brains department. He's well spoken and has a good grasp of issues that face normal people ... because he is a normal person. If nothing else, Jon's race will require Pat to at least put in some effort to campaign, and will hopefully take away from any time he may use to help other candidates. Jon is a lot more organized than some may believe.

As for the national committee races, I think we finished just before 12:30 AM (I say think, because I was halfway delirious by the end). I was doing the voter check-in and also helped with the ballot counting. Again, it was highly competitive and well fought by all.

I got home about 1:00 AM too (I know it felt like 1:00 PM). For some reason, I didn't think Scott H. would be disappointed by the outcome. ;)

Oh please. Patrick won't even debate him. He'll hardly acknowledge that he even HAS an opponent and he'll still win with 75% of the vote. Who are you kidding?

Patches starts with 40 percent of the vote because he's a Kennedy, and Scott starts off with 40 because he's NOT a Kennedy.
I'm still not ready to forgive Patches the robocalls for Ralph Mollis.

And yet Rhody, with that reality Jon Scott only managed to eek out under 30% of the vote in the last election.

Hi!
Some thoughts about Thursday Night!
1. I spoke on behalf of Bob Tingle. I have known Bob for a number of years now. He is articulate and has the gumption to do what most others wouldn't.
2.The defeat of Patricia Morgan in the National Committeewoman's race. Needless to say I am GRATIFIED at her defeat and I hope she is somehow HUMBLED if she knows what the word means. Perhaps she will realize she is not the only person in the party. I wish Tina Harsch and Martha Stamp would have had a better showing but it was a tough field to be in. Norma Willia is a great lady who in the end lost to an active Republican State Rep. Carol Mumford.
3. Joe Trillo has done a lot for the party.He was greatly helped by the withdrawal of Scott Avedesian in the National Committeeman's race.While incumbent Robert Manning lost his seat he should be acknowledged for his work in the post.
4.The meeting should have been centrally located at least for something like this endorsement meeting.A weekend would have been prefereable especially in the afternoon.
5. Eileen Slocum who has resigned as National Committeewoman was not present and she will long be remembered by Rhode Island Republicans. Carol was elected for both Eileen's unexpired term and the new full term on the National Committee.
Regards,
Scott

Of the three candidates, Trillo was the most deserving.

The only thing Rob Manning achieved during his time was an unsuccessful attempt to help Steve Laffey prevent the party from getting a half-million dollars in the last Senate race.

Avedisian's chances were hurt by an impression that he doesn't really believe in GOP principles and that he was running out of self-interest to promote himself for a future congressional race--"Ask not I can do for the GOP, but what the GOP can do for me".

To his credit, Trillo has worked to help candidates and to promote Republican principles in the public domain.

The election came out the way it should have.

Trillo is deserving, but a little clarification....Manning was trying to tell the truth that the money was not going to help local candidates but merely to help Chafee...As for Avedisian, yes that is true about his principles as it was of Chafee. In a head to head between Avedisian and Manning, Manning would have won, which is why Avedisian dropped out and backed Trillo. Trillo is fine. Thankfully Morgan failed too, and we have Mumford.