Charles Bakst presents a question that he thinks the governor ought to ask himself, and although my way of answering it mightn’t be what Bakst expects, I think it’s a worthy consideration:

I said Carcieri would say he wasn’t calling them bad people, only that they’d made bad decisions. [URI Feinstein hunger center director Kathleen Gorman] said, “Point to me the first person who never made a bad decision in their life. I think he is calling them bad people.” She termed him “very mean spirited.”
I prefer not to think of Carcieri that way. He certainly doesn’t think of himself that way. But if I were he, I’d ask myself: “What am I saying that’s coming across wrong? How can I demonstrate I really do care?”

Bakst’s first question is both silly and a bit of a trap. It’s not Carcieri’s presentation so much as his conclusions and beliefs that are branding him. My suggestion is that he could both prove his sincerity and highlight the inadequacy of the expected “I really do care” answer from the usual suspects by making room in his schedule for explaining his beliefs directly to the kids and adults most dramatically affected by his conclusions.
How does he demonstrate that he really cares? By speaking truth to powerless, thereby giving them more power — in the form of confidence — to make better decisions.