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September 21, 2010
Unnecessary Division
I suspect that those who orchestrated Heidi Rogers' move of withdrawing from the race for lieutenant governor in order to ensure an easier path for independent candidate Robert Healey did not anticipate such controversy:
Kara D. Russo, who lost the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, filed a legal complaint with the state Board of Elections Monday that seeks to reverse the decision by GOP primary winner Heidi Rogers to drop out of the race to improve the election chances for Robert J. Healey, head of the Cool Moose party. ...Russo, accompanied by her fiancé, Christopher F. Young, and lawyer, Keven A. McKenna, who is also an independent candidate for attorney general, presented their legal complaint to Robert Kando, executive director of the state Board of Elections.
Upon request, the campaign of John Robitaille for governor sent me this carefully worded statement:
I am disappointed Heidi Rogers has withdrawn from the race, but I respect her decision to do so. After speaking with Heidi I am convinced that she gave this careful thought and consideration.
And in a casual email that I requested permission to post, in part, former Cranston mayor Stephen Laffey comments as follows:
Imagine running for statewide office and seeing this happen ... hurts everyone all the way down the ticket. People in Afghanistan just went out and voted again ... some died ... some will die soon ... and in RI they make a mockery of it.
Perhaps the intra-Republican heat is a surprise (although players in politics ought to have known that the risk was there), but that the Democrats would try to damage the Republican brand on the basis of Rogers' decision should have been entirely predictable. Moreover, even were the local mainstream media not so sympathetic to the Democrats, the maneuver was sure to be one of the most interesting (read: "newsworthy") events in the post-primary lull. This controversy — which runs contrary to the message that the GOP is trying to promote for this election cycle — was completely unnecessary.
Of course, the silver lining for the cynic is that so few Rhode Islanders actually pay attention that a majority of voters will probably go to the polls with a paraphrased version of the national storyline foremost in their minds.
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Justin I don't know what's more troubling, you receiving emails from Steve Laffey or your decision to share them with us. lol
Posted by: Tim at September 21, 2010 7:20 AMGot any other emails from non-residents wanting to weigh in on this issue??
Is Chris Young still Russo's fiance, because the proposal and engagement was contingent upon him winning the Providence mayor's seat. He lost, so is the engagement off?
That being said, it's ugly the way Rogers and Healey and Cicione pulled this off, but there really wasn't a better way. Who cares if the best person for the job doesn't have a "Republican" label on him.
This really is a slap to the voters, but one that is deserved. Many voters are really too stupid to sort all of this out. The Republican party couldn't come right out and say "Don't vote for us, vote for Bob Healey." and they couldn't *not* put up a candidate because Russo would have stepped in. Just having a Republican candidate on the ticket pulls votes away from Healey.
So if Russo really cares about the state and really cares about what's best for RI, then she'll drop it. Everything she's doing is really just an attempt to get the seat back for Liz Roberts. Clearly, Russo/Young have no clue what it takes to actually win an election, just based on their history.
And if she really wants to go forward with this line of Rogers making a mockery of the election process, just exactly who was running for Lt. Governor and Congress on the same ballot? If that isn't a mockery of the election process, I'm not sure what is.
Posted by: Patrick at September 21, 2010 9:11 AMFormer GOP Mayor Steve Laffey
In one column, Laffey said he has never seen a happy homosexual.
"This is not to say there aren't any; I simply haven't seen one in my lifetime. Maybe they are all in the closet," he wrote. "All the homosexuals I've seen are sickly and decrepit, their eyes devoid of life."
In another column he wrote that pop music was turning the children of America into sissies, and criticized the singer Boy George, referring to him as "it."
"It wears girl's clothes and puts on makeup," he wrote. "When I hear it sing, 'Do you really want to hurt me, do you really want to make me cry,' I say to myself, YES, I want to punch your lights out, pal, and break your ribs."
Posted by: Sammy at September 21, 2010 9:54 AMAnd they wonder why there was such a dismal turnout in the Republican primary just held. Do we need any more evidence of a dysfunctional bunch of clowns at the hierarchy of the RIGOP?
Posted by: Mike Cappelli at September 21, 2010 9:54 AMStarting with Carcieri who was blasting Chafee on the radio last week. Does he think we all forgot that he was Chafee's biggest supporter against Laffey, the real Republican and real reformer, a few years ago? I mean really, what can these guys be thinking?
Now this. Would any sane individual trust what this bunch of clowns offers up?
There is a very good reason that Republicans in this state are so pathetic. Even in this massive anti-Democrat environment, I am betting Republcians in RI don't make a dent in the massive Democratic majority in November. It's pretty obvious.
Imagine if they had embraced Laffey, the choices voters would have for Governor, in November. And look at what we have. How pathetic!
Does anybody doubt Laffey made the right decision to forget this bunch and get out. You know he is laughing his @$$ off!
Awww, Sammy....you still having trouble dealing with your sexuality???
Posted by: Mike Cappelli at September 21, 2010 10:10 AMGet help!
Kara, you had your chance (well, two of them). It would benefit you greatly to get out from under your fiance's thumb sometime.
Posted by: rhody at September 21, 2010 11:08 AMThe Cool Moose has a very real shot at winning this now. The AFL-CIO didn't even discuss lieutenant governor last night, thanks to Liz' ill-advised appearance at a Gablinske fundraiser two weeks ago. If Healey can pull enough disaffected labor votes, he can score the upset.