Achorn: GOP Lost to Dems Get Out The (Straight-Party) Vote Effort

By Marc Comtois | November 28, 2006 |
| |

Edward Achorn backs up what many have already concluded: the Democrat margins of victory were attributable to straight-party (mostly Harrah’s “inspired”) voters:

On Nov. 7, the straight-party system worked its wonders for Rhode Island Democrats. Some 61,357 voters cast a straight-party ballot for the Democrats — a whopping increase of more than 23,000, or about two-thirds, over the last midterm election. Only 18,424 cast straight ballots for Republicans.
That obviously gave Mr. Whitehouse a dramatic boost, and quite possibly the winning edge. Subtract the straight-party ballots, and Mr. Chafee beat Mr. Whitehouse handily. It appears that Mr. Chafee was the preference of voters who actually took the time to mark their ballots for either candidate….
The people who really suffered, though, were down the ballot — the reformers trying to bring more balance to the General Assembly. They got swept away in the flood. Many of the casual voters who went straight-ticket — and thus returned the local incumbent to power — probably never heard of either candidate in those races.

[Open full post]

Brown University Let’s the Evangelicals Back In

By Marc Comtois | November 28, 2006 |
| | | |

After telling the Reformed University Fellowship that they wouldn’t be allowed on campus just, well, “because,” Brown University has had a change of heart. But they still haven’t been forthcoming as to why the RUF was banned in the first place.

Yesterday, Ethan Wingfield, president of the Reformed University Fellowship, said he was pleased at the Brown administration’s decision. “I think it is fantastic. It is an absolutely positive step. I’m glad we are back in contact and talking and working on a resolution.”
The campus religious group, which has about 100 members, is affiliated with Trinity Presbyterian Church, an evangelical congregation in Providence.
Restoration of the fellowship’s status as a campus group means that its members can hold meetings on campus, advertise meetings and use campus space for speakers.
While Wingfield said he was pleased with the university’s new tack, he said he is also disappointed because he believes the university wasn’t specific about why the group was suspended in the first place.
“We still haven’t been told why we were suspended,” said Wingfield.
Leaders of the group say they were given different reasons for the action. At first they were told that Trinity Presbyterian, the local sponsor, had withdrawn support, which it had not, according to the Rev. David Sherwood, Trinity pastor.
Then they were told that it was because the group’s former leader had been late in submitting the paperwork required to be established as a campus organization. The third reason given, according to fellowship leaders, was the most puzzling, they said. The Rev. Allen Callahan, Protestant chaplain, asserted they were “possessed of a leadership culture of contempt and dishonesty that has rendered all collegial relations with my office impossible.”
…The Rev. Ms. Cooper Nelson has laid out four steps that the fellowship must take to be reinstated, including filing forms on time and communicating with “full transparency” to the Rev. Mr. Callahan.
Wingfield said the standards set by the Rev. Ms. Cooper Nelson are not onerous and are pretty much what is expected of other campus organizations which seek university sanction and use of university facilities. “All we want to do is be on campus,” said Wingfield, who said the fellowship is looking forward to reinstatement, “as soon as we can get this resolved.”

Kudos to the RUF for sticking it out. If they hadn’t gone public, I think Brown would have been happy to have swept it under the rug. Of course, given this outcome, I now wonder whether it is the RUF or the University that was “possessed of a leadership culture of contempt and dishonesty.”

[Open full post]

Mayor Avedesian, the RI GOP and the “Drift to the Right” Bogeyman

By Marc Comtois | November 27, 2006 |
|

This past Friday, John Howell of the Warwick Beacon reported:

While Republican candidates across the state and the country were washed away, Warwick’s Mayor Scott Avedisian not only withstood the pull of the outgoing tide, but defied the odds by notching a nearly 68 percent win over challenger Donald Torres…
“He’s really studied government, so he does a good job,” [RI GOP Chair Patricia] Morgan said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Morgan said Avedisian takes his job seriously, doesn’t let his ego take control and works to solve problems. She called Avedisian a “rising star” and said he is “destined for statewide office,” whether in a run for a seat that would take him to Washington or the State House…
Avedisian gained a greater percentage of the Warwick vote than any other candidate, with the exception of Congressman James Langevin and Frank Caprio, candidate for general treasurer.
Such a showing would appear to give Avedisian not only a viable shot at a statewide office, but a commanding position in the party’s ranks.

Morgan continued on her recent “Perfect Storm” riff and blamed the Laffey candidacy for splintering the party. When asked, Avedesian said he wasn’t seeking a leadership role within the GOP. But then he had to go and say “it.”

Avedisian holds out great hope for the party, observing it was “on the verge of extinction in 1974” and has held the governor’s job for the last 16 years. But he says, “It is increasingly difficult when the party drifts to the right.”
He doesn’t agree with efforts to take the party to the right.
“I think that’s the wrong way to go,” he said, “we need to come to the middle and the principles the party was founded on.” {emphasis added}

Governing a city is an entirely different animal than legislting or operating on the state-level. It demands much more pragmatism than ideology and Mayor Avedesian has been an effective leader in Warwick. Yet, before he sets his sights on higher office, I hope he reconsiders his apparent distaste with what I believe is an over-generalized caraciture of “the right.”
For every time I’ve heard Morgan talk about welcoming those from across the ideological spectrum into the RI GOP, I’ve also heard fearmongering about how a conservative turn or a “drift to the right” (usually with an overt linking of Steve Laffey to a grassroots conservative movement within the RI GOP ranks) is bad for the Party. I urge Avedesian, Morgan and others within the RI GOP hierarchy not to fall prey to over simplifications: disapproval of Senator Chafee doesn’t make one “un-moderate” nor does being conservative automatically equate to being a Laffey supporter.
I suppose that my first question is: what exactly are these “principles the party was founded on” I keep hearing about that “the right”, apparently, won’t seek to uphold? Perhaps they are the principles that Senator Chafee listed after his Senate loss: “fiscal responsibility, environmental stewardship, aversion to foreign entanglements, personal liberties.” If so, I think that Mayor Avedesian’s fear that a “drift to the right” will endanger them is misplaced. For the most part those on the “right” may disagree with “moderates” on the best way to maintain–and implement policy reflective of–those principles, but not the principles themselves.
If the RI GOP seeks to be a big tent as it claims, shouldn’t it consider actually listening to traditional conservatives who are often the most committed individuals within the GOP ranks (hint: grassroots)? Then again, too many in the old-guard RI GOP don’t really seem to care. No, I fear that a “drift to the right” is a not-too-subtle warning that anti-abortion, traditional marriage suppportin’ (“redneck”) theocons need not apply. Apparently, you can’t be anti-abortion and pro-environment or fiscally responsible at the same time. Who’s applying the litmus test now?
If such a message continues to be sent, the current RI GOP will get their wish. Instead of a RI GOP that could be revitalized with an infusion of new blood and ideas from the heretofore ignored “right,” the party will continue to be nothing more than the “yeah, but…”, Democrat-lite party it is now. All that Rhode Island conservatives ask is that they get a seat at the table to take part in the discussion about the future direction of the Party. Given that nothing else seems to be working, the RI GOP would be fools to pull a Heisman on them now.
But need I say more?

[Open full post]

Healey: Question 1 Results Prove Viability of Voter Initiative

By Marc Comtois | November 25, 2006 |
| | |

Robert Healey, Cool Moose Party Lt. Governor candidate, writes in a letter-to-the-editor that appeared in Friday’s Warwick Beacon (and probably in other local papers):

In the aftermath of Question 1 there is an interesting point for those who support Voter Initiative.
Too often labor and others with vested interests in maintaining the status quo of legislative access via lobbyists have indicated that the initiative process would be too easily manipulated by those special interests with money.
These opponents of initiative have already purchased their protection and see initiative as an assault on their stronghold. Thus, they argue that anyone with tons of money could use the initiative system to circumvent the process.
The vote on Question 1 is a direct confirmation that such an argument is specious. The amount of money spent in support of Question 1 dwarfed the money spent in opposition.
If, as initiative opponents state, money can buy a vote, then why was it that such did not happen?
Buying elections is still in the purview of political parties, but the reality is that because someone with money wants something it still can be voted down by an electorate after an open and public debate on the issue.
Sure, there was effort to influence opinion. Sure, there were mindless voters in the process. But, through it all, the public was heard on the issue.
So, now, just what is the argument against voter initiative? The ability to buy influence is still concentrated in the lobbying process and away from the voters, but the argument that the voters can be swayed by a corporate interest with deep pockets is no longer a realistic argument.

[Open full post]

Walking the Walk

By Justin Katz | November 24, 2006 |
|

I don’t want the previous post to remain long untempered by a statement of my substantial admiration for Rocco, particularly now that he’s come out as Rhode Island’s blogger in Baghdad, D. Alighieri. I do not stand where he stands, nor would I declare myself in possession of the courage that he has shown.

Still, it may be the case that wise advice will come from those not in the kiln of intensity, but with eyes daily on that which can be lost.

[Open full post]

I, So-Called Conservative

By Justin Katz | November 24, 2006 |
|

Over on Autonomist, my friend Rocco DiPippo — to whom I am tremendously indebted for non-blog-related reasons — writes:

…politically speaking it was idiotic for Republicans to showboat over the Foley matter. And incredibly, after the Foley revelations, Republican pundits lined up to publish a self-flagellating stream of articles saying how it might be “good” to lose the Congress, since that would teach Republicans how to be Republicans again.
Well that might be a reasonable strategy in peacetime, but it is madness during war, especially when you are willing to risk having people with a demonstrable, 40-year- long track record of appeasement coupled with an aversion to things military, attain power. So, in essence, though the Republicans rightly stressed that America’s first order of business is successfully waging war against a particularly virulent, widespread enemy, some of those same Republicans were willing to jeopardize this country’s safety by handing power over to a group of people who, in their adolescent haze, do not think we are actually involved in a war. These so-called conservatives and so-called Republicans are plain stupid, or utterly hypocritical. …
Now, there’s a good chance that the War on Islamist Terror will be lost, a million Iraqis will die and endless investigations aimed at impeaching Bush and Cheney will soon commence. Aren’t you glad you stayed home instead of voting?

Although my motivation had nothing whatsoever to do with the Foley matter — to which I paid almost no attention — I am not timid in the least to admit that, not only did I not stay home, I voted for Sheldon Whitehouse. If that makes me a “so called” whatever, so be it.
Here’s my bottom line: As soon as the national GOP began acting under the rationale of “what are they going to do, vote for Democrats?” — which they’ve been doing for longer than most of us would like to admit — the party became a detriment to the war on terror and, perhaps even more importantly, to everything that makes this country worth defending against terrorists. They became a detriment even to those social causes that they sought to leverage (e.g., same-sex marriage and abortion), and they became a detriment to the economic causes that are supposed to be the sine qua non of Republicanism.
If conservatives intended to assert themselves on this broad, self-defining slate of issues, it had to be with this election. These are, all of them, long-term issues, and the rapid slip among the “right” party required equally rapid correction: proving the possibility of defeat to the Republicans and the reality of responsibility to the Democrats. Doing so was neither stupid nor hypocritical, but considered and consistent. As to whether it will prove correct and effective, we can only pray.

[Open full post]

Tradition

By Marc Comtois | November 24, 2006 |
|

Jonah Goldberg writes about the importance of tradition:

Traditional rules of conduct emerge over time through a process of trial and error. To pick an extreme example, the Shakers banned sex and – surprise! – America is not overrun with Shakers today. Successful societies learn from their mistakes in time to make adjustments. Those adjustments become best practices that in turn become customs, and eventually, those customs become traditions. Those traditions are passed along from generation to generation, usually without us knowing all the reasons why they became traditions in the first place.
Obviously, some of these traditions are outdated and silly. Others are vital. Even leftists and libertarians who display ritualized contempt for tradition understand that we do some things today because we’ve learned from the mistakes of our forefathers. If everything is open to revision, then slavery is still a viable option. Fundamentally, this isn’t a point about political conservatism so much as civilization itself. Cultures have roots – a point we’re learning the hard way in Iraq, where there is no liberal democratic tradition and we are trying to create one from scratch.

Goldberg continues by using Madonna–“a pioneer of slattern chic”–and showing how her apparent post-motherhood epiphany towards a more traditional morality does little good for the generation who grew up taking her message of “slattern chic” to heart.
Goldberg isn’t blaming Madonna personally for the decline and fall of Western Civilization. However, he is pointing out that she is but one of many who were pushed to the front of the cultural vanguard and–like it or not–served as an example of what it meant to be cool. Perhaps she wasn’t the first, but Madonna’s example provided the template for a generation of young female pop singers–Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera come to mind–who defined becoming “independent” as becoming slutty. Predictably, both Spears and Aguilera have toned it down as they’ve matured. They and we have learned–again–that hedonism doesn’t equal happiness: it’s just too bad that no one ever seems to listen the first time.
But I suppose that ignoring the moralizing of the older and wiser is human nature. Every generation goes through their “Rebel Without a Cause” phase, but most grow out of it–having kids and assuming adult responsibilities has a way of doing that. What doesn’t seem to change is that there are always those who will take advantage of the innate rebelliousness of youth in an attempt to push cultural change. They are locked in a cycle of change for it’s own sake–more libertine anarchy than liberal progressivism it often seems–whether it’s ultimately better for society or not.
Conservatives don’t believe that change is bad, but we do believe that it should be undertaken gradually. Most importantly, conservatives believe that if the results of “change” aren’t looking so hot, the solution isn’t to press for further change in the vain hope that we’ll somehow get it right this time, really, we promise. Instead, the smartest option is to go back to what worked before. Sometimes Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa really do know what they’re talking about, after all.

[Open full post]

It all started because Samoset wanted a beer…

By Marc Comtois | November 23, 2006 |
|

Friday, the 16th, a fair warm day towards; this morning we determined to conclude of the military orders, which we had begun to consider of before but were interrupted by the savages, as we mentioned formerly. And whilst we were busied hereabout, we were interrupted again, for there presented himself a savage, which caused an alarm. He very boldly came all alone and along the houses straight to the rendezvous, where we intercepted him, not suffering him to go in, as undoubtedly he would, out of his boldness. He saluted us in England [English], and bade us welcome, for he had learned some broken English among the Englishmen that came to fish at Monchiggon [Monhegan Island], and knew by name the most of the captains, commanders, and masters that usually came. He was a man free in speech, so far as he could express his mind, and of a seemly carriage. We questioned him of many things; he was the fist savage we could meet withal. He said he was not of these parts, but of Morattiggon [Monhegan Island or Pemaquid, Maine], and one of the sagamores or lords thereof, and had been eight months in these parts, it lying hence a day’s sail with a great wind, and five days by land. He discoursed of the whole country, and of every province, and of their sagamores, and their number of men, and strength. The wind being to rise a little, we cast a horseman’s coat about him, for he was stark naked, only a leather about his waist, with a fringe about a span long, or little more; he had a bow and two arrows, the one headed, and the other unheaded. He was a tall straight man, the hair of his head black, long behind, only short before, none on his face at all; he asked some beer, but we gave him strong water and biscuit, and butter, and cheese, and pudding, and a piece of mallard, all which he liked well, and had been acquainted with such amongst the English.
from Mourt’s Relations by Edward Winslow

The rest, as they say, is history.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[Open full post]

Some Pre-Turkey Day Blog Stuffing : Football Econ 101

By Marc Comtois | November 22, 2006 |
|

Heck, it’s late on getaway-day, so why not a bit of fluff before you hit the stuff…ing. In a rather un-PC titled article, “Patriots vs. Redskins“, Kevin Hassett of the new American.com On-line Magazine writes about how the Patriots are the NFL’s business model franchise. Hasset explains why economic theory supports that “the [NFL] draft is the only place to build a winning team” and that “economics would predict that teams would uniformly put an enormous effort into perfecting their drafts, and avoid sinking excessive dollars into costly free agents.” So who does this the best?

In fact, this model predicts very well the behavior of one team, the New England Patriots. Their head coach, Bill Belichick, who received his undergraduate degree in economics from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, has been an artist at squeezing value-added out of his draft picks, and has won three of the last five Super Bowls.
This economic brilliance was on display in September, when Belichick traded disgruntled receiver Deion Branch to the Seattle Seahawks for a first-round draft pick. The Seahawks gave Branch a $39 million contract, guaranteeing that they would achieve little value-added at that position. So Belichick burdened the salary cap of a rival with a fat obligation, and took home a valuable draft pick for his own team.
Belichick keeps winning because so many others in the league behave so strangely. Two economists, Cade Massey of Yale and Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, studied years of draft history and found that teams make systematic errors that reflect a serious economic illiteracy. Coaches and general managers place too high a value on the top few picks, and too low a value on picks a bit further down.

Just some food for thought for you as you half-nap, half-watch an uncompetitive football game, with a ball of stuffing and turkey floating in your stomach amidst a sea of gravy, and your mind encased in a post-feast, triptofan induced fog.
Next up: why baseball is proof that trickle-down economics works.
(Just kidding)

[Open full post]

Your Local “Good Guy” Dem Legislator Enables the Problem Pols

By Marc Comtois | November 22, 2006 |
|

It’s no big surprise that the R.I. Senate Democrats–33 out of the 38 State Senators–unaminously re-elected Joseph Montalbano (D-N. Providence) to be Senate President and M. Teresa Paiva-Weed (D-Newport) as Senate Majority Leader. This despite the fact that Montalbano may currently be the target of an FBI invesigation. (Something, by the way, that both Bill Rappleye of NBC10 and the ProJo’s Katherine Gregg brought up at the Dems celebration). From Gregg’s story:

In June, the citizens group Operation Clean Government filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission about Montalbano’s failure to mention on his annual financial disclosure statement the income his law firm had been getting since at least 2003 from the Town of West Warwick. Last month, the commission itself lodged a complaint against Montalbano for failing to disclose additional income derived in 2002.
Both stemmed from the disclosure by The Providence Journal on the day the Senate was poised to vote on placing the doomed West Warwick casino proposal on the ballot that Montalbano’s North Providence law firm had been paid $86,329 including expenses by the town since 2003 for legal work that included clearing the titles on two parcels of land near the proposed Harrah’s-Narragansett Indian casino.
By late last month, the FBI was involved.
The FBI subpoenaed records regarding his title work in West Warwick, a town councilwoman confirmed that she had been questioned by the FBI about how Montalbano came to be hired by the town, and Montalbano acknowledged the FBI “questioned several senators, members of my staff and they questioned me.”
Montalbano said he welcomed the investigation because he had nothing to hide and had been assured he was “not a target.”
Asked yesterday if he had taken any steps in advance of last night’s Senate Democratic caucus to assuage any concerns his colleagues might have about his predicament, Montalbano said he saw no need: “To a person in the Senate, no one has questioned my determination that I will protect my integrity to the bitter end.”

To be fair, there are no charges against Montalbano. But note the careful wording of his last statement: “no one has questioned my determination that I will protect my integrity…” I’m sure he’s determined to protect his integrity, but not questioning his determination to protect his integrity isn’t the same as not questioning his actual integrity. (Sure, I may be parsing a bit too closely, but Sen. Montalbano is a lawyer and has experience in the art of wordsmithing).
Yet, then again, even if they had such questions, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Montalbano’s re-election reveals questionable judgement on the part of the Democrat caucus who have decided that someone who is currently under a cloud of ethics charges is worthy of leading them. So much for the negative repercussions of the appearance of impropriety. Why didn’t they elevate Sen. Paiva-Weed instead? She’s proven to be an effective leader and there are no clouds threatening rain upon her parade. Instead, I’m left to believe that fear of political repercussions–or maybe just habit–has put Montalbano back on top.
Remember how the Democrats told us that a vote for Chafee would be a vote for Bush, because Chafee–though he may disagree with the President on almost everything–would ultimately help keep the President’s “corrupt” party in power? The same applies on the state level here in Rhode Island, folks. Your local legislator may be a good person–just like Senator Chafee–but the votes and support of these average, “good guy” Democrats serve to prop up the same political problem children with whom everyday Rhode Islanders are supposedly so disgusted.

[Open full post]