EDITORIAL

An unexpected place in the national campaign

Posted 7/26/16

While summer's dog days are upon us, the presidential campaign is in full swing - and Rhode Island has been a notable part of the storyline on both sides of the aisle. The Republican National Convention was held last week in Cleveland, Ohio, with Donald

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EDITORIAL

An unexpected place in the national campaign

Posted

While summer’s dog days are upon us, the presidential campaign is in full swing – and Rhode Island has been a notable part of the storyline on both sides of the aisle.

The Republican National Convention was held last week in Cleveland, Ohio, with Donald Trump officially receiving and accepting his party’s nomination for the highest office in the land. Rhode Island Republicans, of course, gave Trump a resounding win in the state’s primary earlier this year.

Brandon Bell, chairman of the Rhode Island GOP, made waves with his televised remarks during the state-by-state roll call. While briefly referencing the Ocean State’s natural beauty, he spent most of his time blasting its leadership and political culture.

Rhode Island has been “run by a corrupt Democrat political machine for the last 80 years,” he said, also pointing to CNBC’s recent rankings that named the Ocean State the worst in the nation in which to do business.

Democrats, including party chairman Rep. Joe McNamara, fired back, criticizing Bell for taking “cheap political shots” and striking a negative tone rather than using the platform to extol Rhode Island’s virtues – as is typical of the approach taken during such roll calls. U.S. Rep. David Cicilline was especially active in his pushback on Twitter, listing a litany of positive local attributes and attractions that could have been referenced.

Vigorous debate is essential to our process, and we of course respect the right of Bell and the GOP delegation to use the platform provided by the convention to make the local party’s case. The tone of Bell’s remarks was certainly in keeping with the doom-and-gloom tone of much of the Republican convention, and the scandals surrounding multiple local lawmakers of late have rightfully left many Rhode Islanders feeling especially sour about their government.

We do, however, agree with Bell’s critics that the roll call remarks represent a missed opportunity to share with a national audience at least some of the positive characteristics of our state. In the weeks and months ahead, there will be plenty of time here at home to debate our woes and assign blame.

The Democratic convention was being held this week in Philadelphia, and while it remained to be seen at the time of this writing whether Rhode Island would have any standout moments in the hall or on the stage, it had already assumed a unique place in the campaign’s narrative.

On July 22, as Hillary Clinton prepared to announce her vice presidential selection, local media noted that Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine – widely thought to be the frontrunner – would be in Rhode Island that night at a Newport fundraiser for Sen. Jack Reed.

Then came word that Kaine would indeed be the pick – and that he was in the Ocean State when he got the call from the former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee. He was spirited away from the fundraiser, and made his way to Florida for a Saturday announcement.

Rhode Island has been the subject of unexpected attention during the presidential contest this year. During the primary season, it drew visits from each of the eventual major party nominees, several other candidates, and a number of high-ranking campaign surrogates. Now, our state has become part of the storyline during the conventions.

Stay tuned – perhaps there’s more to come in the months leading up to Nov. 8.

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