Marc Comtois

Recapping Chafee/Laffey 2006

By Marc Comtois | September 7, 2006 |

A long time ago (November of 2004, or so), we at Anchor Rising started talking about whether or not Senator Chafee would be facing any real opposition in 2006. Part of this was out of a desire to see another Republican who, as Justin Katz wrote, didn’t hem and haw so much. I wanted someone…

Sheldon Whitehouse Changes his Mind on Iraq Deadline for Fear of Potential “Reporter Questions”

By Marc Comtois | September 7, 2006 |

Apparently, Sheldon Whitehouse doesn’t want to be bothered by the press questioning him too closely on such substantive issues as the War in Iraq. So much so, that he’s decided to drop his call for a deadline to withdraw the troops “because a reporter would question him about it if such a date passed without…

Fogarty leads Carcieri? What am I missing?

By Marc Comtois | September 5, 2006 |

According to a post on ProJo’s 7to7 blog, the Lt. Governor Charles “Mr. Insider” Fogarty is leading Governor Carcieri in a recent poll. Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty is leading Governor Carcieri in the battle for the state’s top elected office, according to a poll released today by the independent pollster Rasmussen Reports. Forty-six percent…

Ideological Amplification

By Marc Comtois | September 1, 2006 |

The New Republic’s Open University is a new blog with the goal of providing a place for “the magazine’s contributors and friends in the professoriate comment on current events, bring their expertise to bear on Topic A, and discuss the academic issues of the day.” As one with a bit of “policy wonkishness”, my interest…

GOP Closing the Gap Because of Security and ….Pork?

By Marc Comtois | August 30, 2006 |

A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that the gap between support for a generic Democrat and generic Republicans had narrowed to 2% (47%-45%, respectively). As the related USA Today story pithily explained: The arrest of terror suspects in London has helped buoy President Bush to his highest approval rating in six months and dampen Democratic…

The 4 Things I Took Away from Laffey/Chafee 3

By Marc Comtois | August 24, 2006 |

After the third Laffey/Chafee debate, I went “black” and avoided all punditry. Thus, here are the four (uninfluenced) items that stuck with me after the debate last night. First: Chafee’s labeling of Federal tax dollars to local/state government–what Laffey calls “pork”–as “property tax relief” was pretty clever. Never heard that one before. And though Laffey…

Dole Giving up on Chafee?

By Marc Comtois | August 23, 2006 |

According to the Winston-Salem Journal: [Senator Elizabeth] Dole won’t be campaigning any more for Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who is considered the most vulnerable incumbent Republican. Chafee, a moderate Republican who publicly announced that he would not vote for Bush’s re-election – he instead wrote in Bush’s father’s name – is facing a…

Who Really Could Be RI’s Lamont?

By Marc Comtois | August 23, 2006 |

2nd Congressional District Democrat challenger Jennifer Lawless has recently taken to likening herself to fellow New England Dem upstart Ned Lamont (as Andrew wrote about earlier this month). However, Time magazine’s Joel Klein (via Patrick Casey) wonders if it may be Steve Laffey that most resembles Lamont. Laffey is all adrenaline, the metabolic opposite of…

Internal Polls Show Laffey Over Chafee

By Marc Comtois | August 22, 2006 |

Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island is trailing Cranston, R.I., Mayor Stephen Laffey in a bitterly divisive primary contest that offers Democrats their best shot at picking up a seat in one of the nation’s bluest states. Internal campaign polls show the conservative mayor’s campaign attacks on Mr. Chafee’s liberal voting record — including…

Warwick Teachers Approve Contract

By Marc Comtois | August 18, 2006 |

Last night, the Warwick Teacher’s Union overwhelmingly approved the contract that had been tentatively agreed upon by their negotiators and the Warwick School Committee. The School Committee will meet today at 4:15 PM to vote on final approval, which is fully expected. Because the teachers had been working without a contract for 3 years, this…