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The two Ginas

By Christopher Curran
Posted 5/5/16

Gina Marie Raimondo is increasingly becoming a conundrum. Nationally, she is viewed as a wonder-woman. In article after article, national periodicals hold Gina in glowing regard as a magician of a …

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The two Ginas

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Gina Marie Raimondo is increasingly becoming a conundrum. Nationally, she is viewed as a wonder-woman. In article after article, national periodicals hold Gina in glowing regard as a magician of a governor.

On the contrary, here at home, polling data depicts our governor as an executive who is losing ground. Our citizens believe she has mishandled virtually every issue. She seems diffident, an elitist, reckless in the grandiose spending of our hard-earned tax dollars, and myopic in her view of administrative talent.

Simply, she is perceived as discounting the value of homegrown input regarding formulating the remedies to our state’s ills. Her penchant for hiring non-Rhode Islanders in favor of upper-crust alumni from other states like Maryland and New Jersey has alienated Ocean Staters.

Furthermore, her preference toward incepting questionably “innovative” costly programs instead of addressing the fundamentals of good government lead many to believe her priority is building a political resume rather than actually correcting our difficulties.

One thing is certain – the governor’s public perception is diametrically different within the borders of our state and without. This begs the question, why is Gina so highly regarded elsewhere and so poorly perceived in the state she governs? Is the prism through which she is viewed outside Rhode Island a result of successful marketing? Or is the prism through which she is viewed within the state a result of an unfair, sullied, and impatient view of a beleaguered public who have endured generations of bloated and inefficient governments? Or do recent downward polling results accurately depict the citizens’ exasperation with yet another ineffective and self-consumed chief executive?

With undeniable glowing regard, Raimondo is the darling of the national press. Publications such as the Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, Glamour Magazine, and the New York Times have all sung the praises of our governor as an intrepid and impressive political leader.

In fact, Fortune Magazine determined that Gina rated 38th in their ranking of the World’s Greatest Leaders. Fortune wrote her inclusion in the Most Powerful Women’s Summit signifies her growing importance in the realm of leading our nation. They expressed some generous accolades about her abilities and accomplishments: “That’s when Gina Raimondo, then state treasurer, engineered an overhaul that slashed cost-of-living increases and pointed the system toward solvency. Public-sector unions fulminated and sued, but votes rewarded Raimondo by electing her governor.” They continued: “In 2015, she negotiated legal settlements that preserved her pension reforms, inspiring hope in cash-strapped state houses everywhere.”

Similarly, in Glamour Magazine, an article titled “The First Gentlemen’s Club; Meet One Half of Your New Favorite Power Couple,” Glamour interviewed Raimondo’s husband Andrew Moffit about being a second banana to an elected official/spouse. However, essentially the piece was about a glorified account of her record. The article asserted that Gina had added 6,000 jobs to the Rhode Island economy, raised the minimum wage, and mandated businesses must provide nursing rooms for new mothers.

In a response from Moffit, he exclaimed that the governor’s overwhelming push is in regard to jobs, and that Gina’s mantra is “Family, Faith, and Food.”

Also, the New York Times in an article called “A Democrat to Watch in 2015” spoke of her acumen and knowledge of the financial world. They related how in her repair of the pension system she suspended cost-of-living increases and raised the retirement age by five years, which they depicted as brave.

The governor was quoted as stating the following: “I fall into the camp that income inequality is the biggest problem we face.” While addressing Wall Street titans, she made some assertions that are telling in how she perceives the possible benevolence of the investment class toward the common citizen and their inferred superiority to us: “I need you to double down on America. We need you. We need your brains, we need your money, we need your engagement – not because it’s Wall Street versus Main Street, but because you’re some of the smartest, richest people in the world and you need to be part of fixing America, because you want to live in an America that’s the best country in the world.”

Additionally, the Washington Post in several articles has touted Gina’s praises. Writer Fred Hiatt glowingly stated that she is “one governor bucking the bipartisan tradition of passing the buck.” Raimondo’s operating philosophy is stated as follows: “Don’t ignore big problems and don’t try to pretend that problems are smaller than they are.”

Indeed, in the national press Raimondo is portrayed as a savior, an achiever, an intrepid and determined leader who has accomplished great things in a short time in office. Simply, she is on the radar of Washington insiders for future positions of national power. Perhaps a cabinet post in a Hillary Clinton White House might be a realistic possibility because of the way she is viewed outside our state.

Within the state of Rhode Island, another set of opinions is pervasive.

A recent Brown University poll shows a rather bleak opinion of Raimondo’s productiveness thus far. The results are that 31 percent of citizens think the governor is doing a good or excellent job, 30 percent believe she is doing a fair job, and 33 percent feel she is doing a poor job. Considering that the governor won the election with a slight 40 percent plurality, this crest fall in her perceived competency is significant. Some found her response to the poll results unfeeling and indifferent: “I’m a year into the job and the clear takeaway is: People are waiting for results. They are saying we have to deliver … It’s about what I thought.”

Therein lay the greatest problem with Gina that she does not seem to realize. During her campaigns for both general treasurer and governor, she characterized herself as a local girl who made good. Her commercials depicted a family centered person whose dad worked in a local watch factory. The spots showcased her very cute children riding bicycles around Providence. Further, they showed family dinners akin to a Norman Rockwell illustration.

Contrarily, after Oxford, Yale, Wall Street, and the world of finance, new attitudes were honed within our governor that obviously value the Ivy League mentality of implied supremacy.

Case and point – the tourism and marketing campaign debacle, which allocated $5 million, of which $3 million has already been spend with absolutely no positive gains reaped. It is a sad example of not trusting local talent. So impressed was the Commerce Department with the creator of the long ago New York campaign “I Love New York” that it hired 86-year-old Milton Glaser to come up with the universally deplored “Cooler and Warmer” as part of a simplistic logo that cost the taxpayer an unbelievable $550,000. Adding insult to this particular injury is the awareness that perhaps the best design school in the nation, the Rhode Island School of Design, is right here at home. Of course, Glaser attended the very posh and exclusive Cooper Union.

Speaking of that Commerce Department, Commerce Secretary Stephan Pryor was the former Connecticut education commissioner, the former deputy mayor for economic development in Newark, N.J., specializing in housing, and was director of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, also specializing in housing starts. What that has to do with attracting new business to our state, no one is sure. Of course, Pryor did attend Yale University and Yale Law School.

Even Raimondo’s chief of staff, Stephen Neuman, has worked for governors in Missouri, North Carolina, and most recently in Maryland. Neuman unquestionably has the experience, but does he have the familiarity with the nuances of Rhode Island’s unique personality? In other words, what has worked elsewhere in methodology may not work here in Little Rhody. Neuman is a graduate of the prestigious Washington School of Law.

So far, all this imported expertise has not worked all too well for the governor. The RhodeWorks announcement in the spring of 2015 was a colossal blunder where the presentation given under the rotting 6/10 Connector had not even sorted out the classification of trucks they sought to be tolled. The eventual plan, which involves relying on GARVEE bonds and tolling and the rerouting of funds through the general fund, is a disaster waiting to happen. Not to mention, there is a lawsuit from the trucking association that can send the entire project on its ear.

Of course, the aforementioned marketing campaign is a national joke. And the $50 reduction in the minimum corporate tax makes a nice sound bite, but in the grand scheme of business operation means little.

Additionally, bumping the salary minimum in the administration to $135,000 when the median family income is stagnant is abhorrent and an insult to those of us paying ever-increasing taxes.

The two Ginas are hard to reconcile. The national Gina is well praised and well poised to jump the rungs of the political ladder toward the sky. Whereas, the Gina we know here at home seems to be an out-of-touch elitist that does trust her neighbors that she serves to contribute to the plans for our collective and corrective future. I think we would all like to see the old Gina from Smithfield back again! Remember, you were one of us once.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    Why is Gina admired in the rest of the country and not in Rhode Island?

    Why is RI last in every good metric and first in every bad metric?

    The people of RI are morons compared to the rest of the Murika.

    If God were running for the highest office here, he would be voted down by everyone voting for their Cousin Vinny from North Providence.

    Thursday, May 5, 2016 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Just don't try to attend CCRI and try to get ahead and count on day care there.

    Friday, May 6, 2016 Report this

  • georgecarver

    A good article. It raises many questions about the future effectiveness of our Governor.

    How is it that we cannot market our State nearly as well as our governor gets marketed? A proof statement of priorities and perhaps sugar daddies.

    Friday, May 6, 2016 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    "The pragmatist Gina Raimondo will undoubtedly draw upon her professionalism as an investment expert and her administrative experience as General Treasurer to address all issues as a factualist. Being endowed with the unique blend of diverse education and analytical skills, there is little doubt the Governor-Elect is much more qualified to be the Chief Executive than her horseshoeing predecessor. Yet, no matter how innovative the new governor may be she will still be hamstrung by the constitutional weakness of the governor’s chair. That is why it is absolutely essential from day one to coordinate all grand endeavors with Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Theresa Paiva-Weed. If she can work in tandem with these legislative leaders from the onset, we Rhode Islanders may have finally found a leader capable of effecting positive change. With a victory in the governor’s race of a slight 40 percent plurality, Raimondo holds no mandate. Also, considering Moderate Party Candidate Bob Healey garnered 22 percent of the vote with no campaign infrastructure, no money, and a just a few weeks campaigning, undoubtedly there are a great many disenchanted Rhode Islanders who are searching for real leadership. The governor-elect will also have to use the “Bully Pulpit” to curry favor with those who have lost their faith that Little Rhody can be ever be vibrant economically again. Replacing Chafee with Raimondo opens a long closed door of opportunity for renewal."

    Sounds like the wonder woman the national pundits give us, but this was written by CC in the Beacon on Dec 20, 2014. She works great with Matiello and the crew of crooks so how come CC didn't see this coming?

    Saturday, May 7, 2016 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    And as for her using the "Bully Pulpit", does anyone in the State want to hear that crow scold us again or tell us that she is making us "safe" as she did after the Davos episode? How come CC didn't see this?

    Saturday, May 7, 2016 Report this

  • CarmenKore

    As a friend said..."Even prophets goes unrecognized at home", or “You have to get close up and personal to see the warts and wrinkles.”

    She, too, will pass...Greater or more important terrors will replace her in the public since people have short memories...

    Sunday, July 3, 2016 Report this