Northeastern Republicanism

Two Candidates by the Issues

By Justin Katz | July 25, 2011 |

I’ve been approaching with similar skepticism the two new faces to the RIGOP, both running for high-profile national offices based mainly on various news reports. A look at their campaign “issues” pages, however, does point to some distinctions — not necessarily huge distinctions on the stances that they take, but certainly in the extent to…

The Latest Wave of RI Republicans

By Justin Katz | July 19, 2011 |

Somehow I don’t find this surprising: He is running as a Republican, but most of former State Police Colonel Brendan Doherty’s biggest supporters are major Democratic donors, according to a GoLocalProv review of his first campaign finance report, filed last week. … * Nearly two thirds of the donors did not donate to a single…

Not a Very Republican Thing to Say

By Justin Katz | June 24, 2011 |

Ed Fitzpatrick quotes Brendan Doherty as follows, from the Congressional candidate’s initial fundraiser: Doherty said his campaign theme will be “America First” (which is going out on a limb given the strength of the “Liechtenstein First” lobby). In emphasizing that theme, he said, “We need to reassess the billions we are spending on other countries…

Chafee and His Supporters Get National Play

By Marc Comtois | July 8, 2010 |

The national press loves the independent candidate and USA Today (h/t Ian Donnis) is the latest to report about them in this year of the disgruntled voter. RI’s own Lincoln Chafee plays prominently in the story and all of the classic Chafee themes are there. First, there’s the typical RI attitude towards “name candidates” like…

Democrats “Gingrich-Bush” Shield No Longer A Factor In Northeast

By Marc Comtois | January 19, 2010 |

Ross Douthat comments on Steve Kornacki’s contention that: … the rise of southern/religious-based conservatism in 1994 — when Newt Gingrich and the GOP won control of Congress — triggered an immediate and enduring cultural backlash among swing voters in places like Massachusetts. Before ‘94, they still saw the GOP (generally) as a big tent party…

RE: Frumians

By Marc Comtois | January 16, 2010 |

Apparently, my earlier post came off as me being quite a bit more amenable to the “Frumians” than intended. To clarify, when I wrote that Frum made some “good points”, I was referring to his description of Brown and his positions. I most certainly don’t agree with Frum’s sullivanesque paranoia with the “right wing.” Despite…

Re Lessons Learned: If They Can Win, Let Them Win

By Justin Katz | January 16, 2010 |

Marc cedes too much to the Frumians, if you ask me. It isn’t just that Scott Brown is more conservative than Linc Chafee, or Arlen Specter, or whomever. It’s also that, in the brightest issue on the field, healthcare, he appears to be a reliable Republican. By contrast, the RINOs give the impression that they’ll…

Learning Lessons from Brown

By Marc Comtois | January 15, 2010 |

Win or Lose, the Scott Brown candidacy in Massachusetts has shown that there is a motivated bunch of people looking to upset establishment apple carts, mostly those being pushed around by the in-power Democrats. Brown has struck a chord with these folks based on his common-sense, man-of-the-people approach. Yet, as both Erick Erickson and David…

Keeping Republicans Republican

By Justin Katz | December 10, 2009 |

Hooray to Raymond McKay, president of the Rhode Island Republican Assembly, and the other members of the State Central Committee who insisted that conservatives should still be able to call the RIGOP their political home: Most glaring to some was a final paragraph that says the party, in “the long-standing tradition of New England Republicans,”…

Will the Real Christine Ferguson Please Stand Up

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 24, 2009 |

Over at RI Future, they have a post up advertising a fundraiser for Rhode Island First District Congressman Patrick Kennedy. In the middle of the list of hosts, an interesting name appears……Maria Montanaro, Dianne Harrington, Tim DelGiudice, Jim Harrington, Christine Ferguson, Gregory Mercurio, Bill Fischer, Frank McMahon, Terry Fracassa…Christine Ferguson, you may recall, was also…