November 9, 2004

Rhode Island Politics

Opening Stages of the RIGOP Revolution

Justin Katz

A pre-election comment from the Edward Achorn piece linked in the previous post is worth a follow up:

Now, Mayor Laffey and GOP candidate Jim Davey are working to send another powerful statewide message. They hope to defeat state Rep. Frank A. Montanaro (D.-Cranston) -- Boss Montanaro's son -- on Nov. 2.

A quick look at the election results for the City of Cranston reveals that the hope was fulfilled. Not only did Mayor Laffey win his own race in a landslide, but Jim Davey added his R. to the General Assembly. The Democrats will work to firm up their seats around the rest of the state, lest Laffeyism spread, but they may be backing across a narrow beam. Note this all-too-revealing inside explanation of Montanaro's defeat:

"They didn't defeat Frank junior. They defeated Frank senior," Cranston Democratic City Chairman Michael J. Sepe said yesterday. "They weren't running against Representative Montanaro but they were running against the AFL-CIO president Frank Montanaro."

Exactly. And that's hardly an unfair strategy. The single greatest problem that Rhode Island has is the degree to which the various aspects of its governing class work together against the interests of the citizens. The more they link arms, the larger target they may present.

1:37 AM