Last night we got our first taste of the political dynamics of this year’s races. We were introduced to Rhode Island’s two centrist candidates who would both likely represent their state’s liberal-to-moderate voters, but who are too centrist for the political tastes of our blogger guests.
The similarities between Chafee and Whitehouse remind me of the oft-cited truism of elections past: both parties are so closely aligned that it’s hard to distinguish the political views of one from the other. Maybe this is less true generally this election season, with so much at stake, but still true in Rhode Island. My sense now is that Rhode Island’s blue-state, blue-collar demographics, and the spirit of the Independent Man, push everything towards the center.
We’d like to think of last night’s show as a model for our future election shows: smart local bloggers, good vox pop and blog-driven sound, input from the wiki, and a cracker-jack main guest who oozes local color and knowledge about the state.
We had a head start with Rhode Island; Greta and I are both unofficial Rhode Islanders who used to live there and are very familiar with the biggest little state in the union and all its lovely eccentricities. Now the task is to crank it up for the Arizona 8th, and Ohio, and all the other contested races we’ll be covering.
As a native Rhode Islander, I like to think of Rhode Island as Texas, without the Bull s**t. Three years ago, I was working second shift 50 miles from home. Rhode Islanders will appreciate that drive. The way I kept mysef awake on the ride home was to listen to AM talk radio. The rabid republicians would get me so angry there was no way I could fall asleep at the wheel. The one topic that really got me both angry and afraid was replacing Senator Chaffee with a rubber stamp republician. The reason This affects me is because the people who were saying it were NOT Rhode Islanders. I really want the rest of the nation to stay the heck out of our senatorial race. We get two senators, just like Alaska, just like California and New York. We get an equal voice in the senate. It’s OK for you guys to watch, but please spread the word to STAY OUT OF MY STATE!!
Nice stuff.