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December 28, 2010
UPDATED: Trainor's Had That First Bitter Taste
Ian Donnis reports that the voice of Chafee, Michael Trainor, may not be on board for the job post-inauguration:
Michael Trainor, who managed Lincoln Chafee's winning gubernatorial campaign after the departure of J.R. Pagliarini — and who had been expected to serve as communications director in the Chafee administration — might not be staying with the Chafee team."I'm undecided right now as to to whether I'm going to stay in the administration," Trainor says. He handled campaign press for Chafee before stepping into the campaign manager's role.
Trainor cites, as one factor requiring thought, the difference between his experience in private-sector PR and the available role in the public sector. Under all but rare and extreme cases, one imagines the private sector is less contentious; with politics involved at the core of the job, every word is a potential controversy.
One also suspects that the spokesman for Governor Chafee will be treading particularly treacherous turf, given Linc's history in the public eye.
UPDATE 12/28/10 7:30 p.m.
Ted Nesi ends the questioning:
... in a brief phone interview following a meeting at Chafee HQ late this afternoon, Trainor told me he will be serving as Chafee's communications director."I'm delighted and honored to be asked to serve in the Chafee administration and look forward to helping him deliver his message over the next four years," Trainor told me. He managed Chafee's campaign after J.R. Pagliarini resigned in October and has served as the transition's spokesman since the election.
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Maybe he's spending his time looking for ways to pay back the $250,000 he took from the state's taxpayers.
In light of Chafee's criticism of the Schilling deal, you know, they wouldn't want to look like hypocrites or anything.
Posted by: Patrick Laverty at December 28, 2010 11:16 AMOr perhaps Trainor and Chafee have realized that if Trainor drops out of the public eye, the public will quickly forget that Trainor did not repay the $250,000 in borrowed taxpayer money and that Chafee did not appear to care whether Trainor paid it back.
I mean, what's $250,000 to Chafee anyway, a guy from inherited wealth who cheats on his sworn residency and car tax affidavits in order to save a few dollars at the public's expense.
Posted by: Bill at December 28, 2010 11:30 AMWatching how easily Chafee dumped his longtime "friend" JR Pagliarini (who did nothing wrong) does anyone honestly think Trainor has a future with Linky?? Chafee is a purely political empty suit. Trainor is history.
Posted by: Tim at December 28, 2010 6:53 PM...but then again would Chafee want to give Buddy Cianci the satisfaction of reacting to him by cutting Trainor loose?? Hmmm.....
Posted by: Tim at December 28, 2010 6:58 PMTim,
Posted by: Max Diesel at December 28, 2010 7:37 PMI agree but where was it written that 'JR' did nothing wrong. All I saw was Chafee saying it was a payroll glitch and everyone took him at his word. This guy is the most passive resistant politician I've ever seen. You shouldn't believe a word out of his mouth.
Max I seem to recall the payroll company itself explained how Pagliarini showed up on their payroll sheet earlier than he should have. We're talking 2 weeks. 2 weeks! To me it was simply no big deal and certainly did not warrant Chafee once again (ask John McCain) exposing his true disloyalty colors. The real crime in that whole fiasco was the leaking Pagliarini's DLT info. That was outrageous.
Posted by: Tim at December 29, 2010 8:18 AM