Just to add insult to injury, actually, Allan Fung was never at the Ruth's Chris event, since he was at the Shriner's in Cranston. However, I was there. :)

It was actually a pretty well attended event, although it probably would have been a good idea to better accommodate the media who wanted to cover it, so that they wouldn't draw their own conclusions -- not that it would have mattered much on a night like that. For people on the receiving end of bad news pretty much all night long, we actually had a fun time.

Arrogant decision keeping the press out. Arrogance is not a luxury you can afford when trying to rebuild a party (and it also turns off prospective candidates, too).

Will,

Nice to see folks like yourself were having a nice time! What was it that Nero was doing while Rome burned? Oh yeah, eating a steak.

Rhody,

Good point. What a great idea. Let's insult the people we rely on to get our message out!

Does anyone think it's possible for the Republican Party to actually get ANYTHING right?

Will,

Nice to see folks like yourself were having a nice time! What was it that Nero was doing while Rome burned? Oh yeah, eating a steak.

Rhody,

Good point. What a great idea. Let's insult the people we rely on to get our message out!

Does anyone think it's possible for the Republican Party to actually get ANYTHING right?

There was no active "decision" to keep the media out. I certainly don't think it was arrogant, just not fully thought out. All were invited. However, the simple fact that the event was held at Ruth's Chris prevented live television coverage, because there was nowhere available to park the satellite trucks. In addition, the cost to the TV stations to lay cable if they were to park further away was apparently cost prohibitive enough to make them balk. Sure, if we wanted to be more accommodating, we should have picked a better location. Anyway, given the results of the evening, it was probably just as well in hindsight.

By the way, if Rome is burning -- with apologies to Rome for the comparison -- I suggest that the blame be put squarely on the feet of those who actually hold the power, not those who would like a little slice of it themselves. I suspect they party will learn from it's mistakes over time.

PS I never did find the time to have any steak.

Will,

1)I agree that the state's fiscal, cultural, and social problems are the faults of the Democrats. But I also hold Republicans to blame for not capitalizing on the weaknesses of the Democrats and running better candidates and campaigns.

2)As you point out, the leadership of the state GOP is nothing but a bunch of lousy amateurs. Again, more poor planning by that sorry bunch of losers.

3)Again, this latest gaffe just reinforces my belief that the people who run this Party care nothing about conservative beleifs or values, but instead treat the thing as their own little social club. They care more about making friends than making a difference.

4) You folks ought to sell the thing to Pat Crowley for 10K if he'll still buy it. It ain't worth that much.

Last Tuesday's results are the byproduct of party officials, hangers-on and a governor that didn't lift a finger to help some worthy Assembly candidates running against Dems who need to go, and instead spent the campaign pointing fingers at alleged RINOs.
And would Montalbano have gone down if he hadn't been running against an opponent who both ran a strong campaign AND had $30,000 of his own money to pump into it?