Seeding the Grass Roots
Rhode Island Statewide Coalition Chairman Harry Staley opened the group’s 2010 winter meeting, described in my liveblog of the event, by noting their years of activity and the hope that this is the one that the effects are truly felt in Rhode Island. (More video in the extended entry.)
RISC’s winter meeting is as well attended as usual, with all the usual participants, with the addition, this year of Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo, who got a standing ovation upon introduction. The only media at the press table are me, a local paper publisher, and another blogger from Rhode Island, Michelle Girasole, who’s twittering…
So the Crystal Lake Country Club in Burrillville (Burrillville? Maplewood? I found at least four different addresses for this building) is kinda hard to find. The PA system guy was late, and moderator was late, so even though it’s already 7:06 p.m., somebody just announced that they’ll begin the RI Voter Coalition program in 15…
Tomorrow’s RI Voter Coalition event has turned out to have quite a line-up. I’ll be there watching, and silently heckling on the Internet. (That’s a figure of speech, of course.) Also this week, on Saturday, is the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition’s Winter Meeting, which is always worth a couple of hours on a Saturday morning.
I noticed some confusion surrounding my recent remarks pertaining to the distinctions between the RISC Business Network and the Tea Party. Unfortunately, communications in, and with, the media require a level of forced brevity at times. I appreciate the opportunity to provide some clarification on my statements. My point is this: The Tea Party has…
Because the inquiries started before I’d gotten to the door, here is as much video as I was able to get up before most of y’all are awake. I’ll add the presentations of Bill Felkner, Mark Zaccaria, and Sandra Thompson as soon as I’m able. Seven of ten segments are up (click on the extended…
Staying up a little later than usual tonight to process some video, I noticed this quotation from Steve Peoples’s report about the Tea Party meeting: The Statewide Coalition’s Business Network, which is trying to raise $500,000 to support pro-business candidates this fall, has no relationship with the Tea Party either, according to the head of…
Rather than traverse the state all night, I came straight to the RI Tea Party meeting in Quonset. People other than me have finally begun to arrive, which is good, because I was fearful that the channel 6 reporter would interview me simply out of boredom. 6:25 p.m. The cocktail hour has officially begun, and…
Among the more disconcerting inevitabilities of Rhode Island’s method of self-destruction is that the policies that are destroying the state drive away what I’ve called “the productive class,” so as the situation gets worse, the proportion of the electorate that would be inclined to change things for the better shrinks. By productive class, I mean…
I found this email, posted in the Corner, last night, to be very encouraging: I am a 28 year old WASPy Conservative. I never went through a liberal period. This race made me actually ask myself the question, “Could I run for our House seat and make a go of it?” I know the answer,…