Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/load.php on line 651
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/theme.php on line 2241
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387 Anthony Gemma – Page 2 – RI Future Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Conservatives across Rhode Island are upset that a Warwick public works employee didn’t lose his job after being accused of stealing from the city. Accused, mind you, not convicted. Meanwhile, not a peep from the right about what WPRO should do with the state’s biggest blowhard John DePetro, who is accused of something far worse than property theft. He’s accused of sexual harassment, something that can cause serious emotional scars on another human being. But I suppose so long as it doesn’t cost them any money, conservatives just don’t care about who does what.
When we reported on Anthony Gemma’s suspicious social networking prowess way back in March, we just knew things didn’t seem right. WPRO actually put it to a test and found out as much as 79 percent of his Twitter followers might be fake. While having 80 percent of your followers might seem high, it actually might be low; if WPRO’s analysis is correct, he’d still have almost 200,000 real followers and I doubt he does.
GoLocal accuses Gina Raimondo of helping to funnel state work to a venture capitalist who donated to her campaign and helped launch her career in finance.
The Providence Journal editorial board seems to be the only ones in the nation who doubt Paul Ryan’s conservative credentials. They say not until Obama became president did “the deficit and Big Government suddenly became all-important to Mr. Ryan.”
And we meant to mention this one the other day … the Rhode Island Center for Freedom for the Prosperous got a half true from Politifact for its assertion that RI has the highest number of health insurance mandates in the country. It’s actually not true, but the Projo gave them half credit because they did read it somewhere.
On this day in history both Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth died. Conversely, Charles Bukowski and Madonna were born. By the way, Babe Ruth died when he was one year younger than Madonna is now. Elvis was only 42 when he left the building once and for all.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
In a world where self-described “leaders” show their “leadership” largely by describing it in press releases, and politicians routinely praise their own bold choices, it is refreshing to see one who actually lives up to his own billing.
Anthony Gemma, on the other hand, has a jobs plan that is indeed as “innovative, strategic, and transparent” as he says. Unfortunately it’s also silly, misguided, and occasionally bizarre. (And hard to find. Go look on his home page and wait until you see “Enough is enough” and click on that.)
The centerpiece of his plan is to nurture the growth of the “wellness” industry in Rhode Island. This includes businesses who produce dietary supplements and organic foods, as well as “wellness jobs that include personal trainers, aerobics and pilates instructors, managers, researchers, Web site designers, wellness and fitness writers, and dietitians.”
Well all right, then. Maybe it sounds goofy, but could it work?
Sadly, probably not. Here’s a little economics lesson for you. What Rhode Island sorely needs is not goods and services to sell to other Rhode Islanders, but things to sell to the rest of the nation or the rest of the world. Do we currently suffer from a shortage of Pilates instructors? Are there aerobics classes that can’t run because no instructor can be hired? If we had more personal trainers could we sell them to people in Kentucky or India? These are services that are not in short supply, and are really no good for export, either.
Ok, how about the nutritional supplement part of the mix? This would presumably trade on our lack of strength in this sector. So far as I can tell, as far as nutrition companies go, Rhode Island is home only to Edesia Global Nutrition Solutions, an international effort aimed at distributing nutritional supplements to starving kids. Edesia is a very cool organization, and sells teddy bears to support its mission. Though I can imagine it could be the seed for a thriving food industry here, it’s not exactly what Gemma was talking about. (Read about them here.)
So in other words, Gemma is proposing to grow an industry where what we have can’t be exported and what can be exported, we don’t have. Leveraging assets we don’t have seems an interesting approach to economic development. So you have to award points for originality, in exactly the same way you’d praise the architect who envisions a fountain in the desert before anyone has dug the first well. Exactly like that.
Bettering that, Gemma proposes that we encourage the Mayo Clinic or Tufts Medical to open wellness clinics here. This, of course, would be the opposite of exporting goods. Instead of bringing money into the state, we’d be sending it away, to Minnesota or Massachusetts to provide services that we can get in-state. This, again, is why success in business means little or nothing about success in making policy to benefit a whole state.
Too late, too little
There’s a section in this plan talking about how higher education should be demand-driven and responsive to the needs of businesses and students. That’s a great idea. So great, it was pretty much incorporated into the “CCRI 21st Century Workforce Commission” report from a couple of years ago. (Gemma also suggests asking the state’s 7 biggest employers for $250,000 apiece to shore up education at CCRI. Which is a funny thought: we can’t raise taxes on businesses, but we can demand contributions from them?)
Along the same lines, there’s a four item list on page 9, that describes what the state should do to encourage the growth of the wellness industry. What’s funny about the list is that the first three items on it — tax credits, loans, assistance finding federal money — are all things the state already does. So yes, these are good ideas. So good that someone already implemented them.
And then there’s this:
“It is incumbent upon us to eliminate the over-regulation of the small businesses which are the engines that drive the Rhode Island economy. I will create a workgroup to review all federal and state regulations that hinder wellness and health-oriented businesses…” [p.8]
This, presumably, would join the Secretary of State’s workgroup, and the legislative commissions and the Governor’s initiatives of years past. Courtesy of the Secretary of State’s office, this work is under way, and it’s hard to find anyone to disagree with the claim.
Honestly, you don’t have to find disagreement to understand why these things — streamlining, increased efficiencies, and so on — often don’t get done. People who crave simple answers will blame unions and fear of change, but it’s pretty easy to find deeper reasons.
In my experience, you can walk around any town hall or state building and find people who agree that there are efficiencies available, but don’t have the resources to re-tool their department’s operations. “Doing more with less” year after year leaves little room for designing new procedures or implenting new systems. When you walk into a tax assessor’s office and find the assessor trying to finish reports that her staff used to prepare, you’ve found someone who can’t afford to research or entertain new possibilities about the conduct of her department’s business. For better and worse, that’s how we run things these days. Studies and commissions are all well and good, but change requires resources, even when the change makes things more efficient. You’ve got to put something in to get more out.
So that’s what I learned by reading the Gemma Jobs plan: he suggests concentrating on a new industry that has approximately zero potential to bring new money into the state, and offers a bunch of other suggestions that are already in place. What’s more, almost all of his plan consists of state policy suggestions, while the last time I checked, he is running for federal office.
There’s plenty more, but I’ve piled on enough. Ok, sorry, one thing more. I have to share my favorite part. It’s a tax incentive on page 9, for people who get hired in the wellness industry. Seriously. Gemma would offer a tax credit to new employees. Really? Does he imagine that unemployed people need a tax incentive to help them find jobs? That would be the sound of the fountain designer who has finally been persuaded to help dig a well and shows up to work with a butterfly net.
So sure. Gemma is a smart energetic guy who has done good things in the past, and doubtless will again in the future. I just don’t want a congressman with judgment like this. His jobs plan is certainly “innovative, strategic, and transparent” as he says. But is there no place for “practical,” “sensible,” or “realistic?”
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
When the American autopsy is finalized, it could turn out that the little things finally nail our culture’s coffin shut. Mr. Coffee machines, ATM cards, electric can openers and plastic grocery bags are potentially far more nefarious than factory farming, too big too fail banks, food-borne illness and the mountains of non-biodegradable garbage we’ve created.
Probably not, but good for the Barrington Town Council in any case for taking on what in the future will seem like a real no-brainer: banning plastic grocery bags. The Council could vote on the proposal at a meeting tonight, according to ecoRI.
It was the invisible hand of the marketplace that gave us this non-biodegradable form of temporary storage and long-term pollution and it’s right that the public sector step in and help to encourage more wise use of our resources.
Though, as the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity humorously points out: “the American Progressive Bag Alliance spokeswoman argues, ‘Paper bags are worse for the earth.'” Who is the American Progressive Bag Alliance, you may ask (because the local right-wing propaganda machine sure didn’t tell you?) They represent the plastic bag industry, of course…
The Projo finally covers Anthony Gemma’s fake Twitter followers and Facebook friends in its print edition. We liked its web version better in which they credited RI Future with breaking this story way back in March. But then again, we didn’t mention that they actually took on the same issue in the last election … though they reported then there was no way to prove or disprove Gemma’s outlandish claims about his social networking prowess…
Also in the Projo’s Political Scene piece this week: they mention again about all the legislators who are declining raises. About Rep. Scott Guthrie, they write, “As recently reported here, Berman tells Political Scene that there is just one lawmaker, Rep. Scott Guthrie, D-Coventry, who accepts no legislative pay.” Interesting choice of words given that the Projo was beat on this story by at least two Rhode Island news organizations. Maybe it should read: as reported here more recently than elsewhere…
Speaking of the local daily being behind the curve … Ian Donnis reports that the Projo (which I should note I actually love dearly and is easily one of my all-time favorite newspaper) is now encouraging its reporters to take advantage of social media. I hear they are also suggesting reporters use laptops rather than tele-type machines and drive automobiles to assignments rather than traveling by horseback…
Ian’s right, there are no shortage of Projo reporters who are fun to follow on Twitter … one he left off, IMHO, is education reporter Jennifer Jordan. Personally, I’m looking forward to more of the paper’s staff to join the fun on Twitter (did anyone hear the rumor that Apple is considering buying Twitter, btw?) especially members of the editorially board – the state’s paper of record ought to have someone on the left who can to counterbalance conservative Ed Achorn. If its interest is in fostering a healthy marketplace of ideas that is…
Anyone notice that GoLocalProv seems to be making a big move into local sports coverage? say what you will about publisher Josh Fenton, and he and I have certainly had our disagreements (or, more accurately, he’s threatened to sue me!!) but he is a tremendously bright businessman and he seems to be the first to take advantage of the lack of local sports coverage. Nice work id’ing another info niche, Josh … and thanks GoLocal for naming my brother-in-law Steve King, a former Henricken, Brown U. and NHL hockey player as one of the best athletes in West Bay history.
Speaking of props for the Plain/King clan … thanks also to Ted Nesi for giving a nice shout-out to our daily Progress Report this weekend … Likewise, Ted’s Saturday Morning Post is a great place to gather what he calls scooplets. For example, this weekend he informed his readers that Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick could end up an Obama SCOTUS selection. Also interesting to note … both Ted and I use the “Speaking of…” lede to transition from item to item. Probably we both picked it up from Bill Reynolds’ “For What It’s Worth” column … Reynolds is the godfather of this genre of journalism in Rhode Island and his Saturday morning column gave birth to my love of the written word, reporting and being a local blowhard…
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
So, Politico’s Steve Friess published a story today about a phenomenon about the Gemma campaign I pointed out on March 20th. I’ve sworn off on saying anything more about Mr. Gemma, I’ll let other writers for RI Future and the rest of Rhode Island’s chattering class cover it
I also want to take the time to give credit elsewhere; I didn’t discover these social media oddities, a friend’s friend did, and I was alerted about it and went digging. Luckily RI Future’s editor, Bob Plain, had already been looking into it as well and provided me the screen shots and the other information he had. It’s a testament to him that he let me run with it.
That highlights that even our master strokes tend to come from elsewhere. Mr. Friess’ story is a brilliant piece of work, taking from my initial piece to picking up on WPRI’s Ted Nesi’s July 19th piece about the now-abandoned Twitter handle @gemma4congress. Mr. Friess has access to social media research that I simply didn’t on March 20th, and couldn’t access today. Now, as a result of the Politico piece, RIPR and even the The Providence Journal has covered the action (in fairness, their PoliFact RI arm had looked into issues about Mr. Gemma’s LinkedIn account last election cycle).
What bothers me is that it took so long for local media like The Journal to pick up on this story. We broke this in March, The Phoenix‘s Phillipe and Jorge mentioned it, WPRO’s Dan Yorke talked with Bob about it soon after, and then nothing until Mr. Nesi got tweeted at by whatever script was operating @gemma4congress (though Twitter was a bit more alive about it in March, if my recollections are correct). Perhaps it was the tone of my piece, or perhaps because Mr. Gemma had not made an official announcement at that point. Perhaps because I was willing to give Twitter the benefit of the doubt then.
Regardless, we broke this in March. It is July now. That’s the kind of news you can expect from RI Future. We cannot be everywhere. None of us get paid to do this. We’re the news that lives like you. Yet what we get is important, it matters. That same ability is going to be applied to the primaries and the general election. It’s going to be applied to races for the General Assembly. We face a lack of resources (I, for instance, commute to work by foot). Yet what we bring you will be strong.
I lacked the ability to take this story all the way; Mr. Nesi pushed it forward, and then Mr. Friess got it to where it is today (by not only providing social media research on Mr. Gemma alone, but doing the due diligence that an amateur like myself wouldn’t think of and looking into the surrounding organizations). It’s great when a small outfit like ours can toss the ball to a stronger outfit and then it gets passed to an even stronger one that can score big, like in a rugby game. Granted, I would’ve loved to have this all in March. But I also would’ve loved if this had happened sooner. It’s 4 months from March to July. RI media could’ve been on this without Politico showing us the way.
But perhaps the timing wasn’t right in March, coming as it did during a news lull; in contrast, shortly after Mr. Nesi mentioned his Twitter run-in with @gemma4congress, news broke about Mitt Romney having suspiciously inflated Twitter numbers. Perhaps that’s what finally made this matter. Oh well, next time, RI media, next time.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Despite Anthony Gemma’s hundreds of thousands of fake Facebook fans from India and Pakistan, he was only able to muster 700 signatures on his nomination papers. Not exactly a groundswell of support for Gemma. Perhaps after spending so much money buying fake Facebook fans (and fake Twitter followers), Gemma couldn’t afford to pay more than 700 people to sign his nomination papers?
Meanwhile, perennial nutcase Chris Young, who loves to sing and is best known for flipping tables, submitted 846 signatures!
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
I’m going to go out on a limb here and argue against our editor Bob Plain’s article that Anthony Gemma should drop out of the race for Democratic nominee for Congressional District 1. Now, obviously, it’s not because I have any particular love for Mr. Gemma. It’s because I’m a radical democrat.
I believe in the application of democracy, that our ideas and politicians have to be challenged in order to strengthen them. Representative David Cicilline shouldn’t get a free ride (though, obviously, no one can really accuse him of that since Providence Mayor Angel Taveras announced a “category 5 hurricane” about the city’s finances). I think that, regardless of how much I personally feel that between Mr. Cicilline and Mr. Gemma that Mr. Cicilline is clearly the better candidate, Mr. Gemma needs to stay in the race.
This should apply to everyone. In our democracy, it’s a shame that anyone ever stands in any election unchallenged. I’m not deaf to the idea that sometimes the best candidate is already in office, but I sincerely doubt it always applies. Everyone needs to be capable of defending their ideas; those who don’t tend to get sloppy. Even worse, they can get entitled. Mr. Cicilline clearly never got the chance to feel entitled to his seat; when Mr. Taveras made his now famous remarks as to the city’s financial condition, the uphill battle began. Everyday since then has been a justification of why Mr. Cicilline should remain in office. That‘s a good thing. These telephone town halls, while pretty ubiquitous, have been a departure from Patrick Kennedy’s tenure when the representative was… someplace, talking to some people.
Mr. Gemma serves a purpose; to ask the question “can Mr. Cicilline serve as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer for Representative in RI CD-1?” However terrible an instrument Mr. Gemma is for that purpose, we’ll know the answer on September 11th.
This principle should’ve extended to the Republican race as well. John Loughlin II dropping out was bad for Rhode Island. It denied Republicans the chance to vet their candidate. Hopefully, Michael Donahue can fill Mr. Loughlin’s shoes; although I sincerely doubt he will, with the twin issues of a dislike of lawyers & law enforcement and the Federal Reserve and a likely resources and media coverage deficit.
Today being filing day, it’s important that those who can go out and do as Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Narragansett, Peace Dale, Wakefield) told the audience to do at Netroots Nation: run for office. To make democracy work, we have to run, no matter how impossible the task seems.
That said, I want to lay out the problems to this. First, and foremost, it’s an incredible drain on resources; financial, physical, and emotional. People burn out, or they go bankrupt. Politics is exceedingly expensive. In a perfect world, we’d have public financing and everyone would work with similar resources. But the U.S. Supreme Court seems to be against that, so we have to deal with the fact that our elections are going to become more and more oligarchical. I don’t have the solution to that.
There’s also the grueling personal attacks. I’d love it if political campaigns were cordial affairs (what if candidates campaigned together?), but I recognize that they’re not. And the result is that they can be bitter, wounding attacks. This is because it’s far simpler to make personal attacks, because people connect more easily with emotional appeals, and because we have a news media which rewards the personal attack with coverage and a general blasé attitude. We shouldn’t deny it; the first hardcore “issues” article I read about the CD1 campaign was the Progressive Democrats presentations/questionnaires that both Mr. Cicilline and Mr. Gemma went through. And I’m jealous of our former editor Brian Hull (and the Progressive Dems) for getting it.
Furthermore, more and more candidates in a single race means our first-past-the-post system reveals its inherent flaw: it doesn’t take a majority to win. You only have the win the largest plurality. Which means elections can end with a candidate the majority of people actually don’t like winning. A simple reform would be to switch to instant runoff voting, but it’ll take a sustained campaign and a real threat that the RI Democratic Party might lose its grip for that switch to happen.
But even without changes in how we organize elections and how we cover them, we need candidates to be brave enough to stand up and speak out for what they believe in. We need them to argue with whatever assumptions currently stand; with the consensus. The consensus shouldn’t get to rest on its laurels, it should constantly have to strive to prove its worth. Ideally, Rhode Island should thrive on this sort of idea.
In some places, there’s an option for “none of the above”. Voters can reject all the candidates by selecting it; and it means that a new election is called with new candidates. Perhaps that’d be a more honest way of doing this; giving voters the chance to say “all of these options are unappealing to me.” But until that comes along, that’s what Anthony Gemma will be: an alternative to “none of the above”.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
The campaign to represent Rhode Island’s first congressional district in Washington DC will surely be the most interesting and scrutinized local race this year and, so far, there is only one thing that is certain: Anthony Gemma won’t win.
He could, however, potentially damage David Cicilline enough in an ugly primary to leave the incumbent vulnerable to the real challenger, Republican Brendan Doherty. But he won’t win. Not even the primary. No way. Not gonna happen. No chance.
First off, Gemma has absolutely no institutional support, which is crucial in a primary. At Friday’s annual local Democratic Convention, his nomination didn’t even garner a second, reports Will Collette in an excellent piece on the event in Progressive Charlestown. Collette writes:
When it came time for nominations, one delegate, who said she grew up as a friend of Gemma’s back in the day, stood to put his name in nomination. When Party Chair Ed Pachecho asked, not once but three times, if any delegate would second the nomination, not one delegate among the 200+ would do so.
That leaves me to wonder how Gemma can claim to be the only electable Democrat for the First Congressional District when he can’t organize up a second to his nomination among 200+ Democrats. His supporters yelled out “democracy, democracy” when his nomination failed for lack of a second, but minutes later, they all filed out of the room.
But it’s more than just Gemma’s lack of support that makes him a bad candidate; he’s also just a bad candidate.
Last election, as a rookie, he ran as a pro-business fiscal moderate and this time he is claiming to be more progressive than his very progressive opponent – it paints the picture of a flip-flopper politically and at best an unknown variable on policy given that he’s never held office before, or even shown much interest in the process until a few years ago.
He’s also a pretty poor public speaker, a disaster at dealing with the local press pool and far less than adroit at answering questions on his feet. His latest gaffe was not taking a hardline on Nazi Germany in a recent interview with the RI Progressive Democrats.
Note to all pols: when asked about Hitler or the Nazis, it’s totally okay – if not a necessity of political survival, to throw them under the bus.
For these reasons as well as many others, we implore Anthony Gemma to drop out of the race. He cannot win; he can only do damage to the party he says he supports and, truth be told, he’s kind of embarrassing himself.
Which is too bad, because Gemma is a smart, super hard worker who is genuine and good and who wants to do right by his community. Electoral politics just doesn’t seem to be his bag.
I expect he’ll find more far more success if and when he starts some sort of local liberal think tank or online media venture – either would suit his skill set better than running for office, probably would have a greater impact on Rhode Island and could be done for a fraction of the cost. And, he’d get to be a hero rather than a spoiler.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Recently, the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats interviewed both of the candidates running in the Congressional District 1 Democratic primary race, incumbent Rep. David Cicilline and challenger Anthony Gemma. Each candidate was asked the same questions and below are their video responses. When the endorsement vote was taken, David Cicilline received the unanimous endorsement of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats. As you watch the videos, and read the summaries, you’ll understand why.
Cicilline is a well-polished candidate, being in public service for roughly 15 years, first as a State Representative, then Mayor of Providence, and now as U.S. Congressman. Gemma is not as well-polished and at times seems uncomfortable with the questions being asked. While in some of the questions Gemma and Cicilline give similar and even identical responses. In virtually every set of questions Cicilline is the more progressive and forward-thinking candidate.
I commend the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats for the level of sophistication and detail embodied in these questions and for really pushing the candidates to give detailed answers. And with that….
Economy:
Cicilline:
Rep. Cicilline supports President Obama’s Jobs Act. He states that America needs to rebuild its infrastructure and asserts that such an effort will generate huge payoffs in the number of jobs due to the employment of construction workers and in the supply of goods and services that are required to rebuild America. He envisions a modern day version of the WPA. He has co-sponsored the National Infrastructure Bank legislation and feels there has never been a better time than now to borrow money and get this done due to historically low rates.
Secondly, the country needs to reinvigorate American manufacturing and expand on the great base that exists in the US by putting in place policies that actually support the manufacture of American-made goods rather than incentivizing the offshoring of American manufacturing overseas. In Congress he has introduced a set of bills to “Make it in America.” These include a national manufacturing strategy, legislation to address the manipulation of Chinese currency, and ending tax break to companies that ship jobs overseas. Cicilline voted against trade agreements because they lacked the protections for American jobs, and while some labor- intensive manufacturing will never come back to America, many other types will return if the incentives to ship jobs overseas are removed.
Finally, the country’s small businesses need access to capital and a skilled workforce which require investments in training programs and education from Head Start through to Pell grants for post-secondary education.
To pay for much of this, the country needs to end the war in Afghanistan and redirect those funds to do “nation building” in America. Business owners need customers with money to buy the goods and services that businesses produce, and the only way this will happen is with a strong and thriving middle class.
When asked about Stimulus Spending versus Deficit Reduction, Cicilline spoke to how austerity has severe consequences that are now playing themselves out everywhere. In the short term, we need to make investments now to create jobs, combined with a long-term strategy to reduce the deficit in a balanced way by cutting spending and increasing revenue. He also supports Quantitative Easing.
Gemma:
Gemma states that he is the only candidate who has created jobs in the private sector. His jobs plan rests on several “pillars” including:
“Health and Wellness” industry: A high growth area in RI that includes the manufacturing of equipment and supplements.
“Education” as a path to creating jobs by increasing enrollment at the universities although he is unclear as to how he would convince the respective colleges to take in more students, admitting that he has not approached any of the colleges to discuss this aspect of his plan. Students spend lots of money locally, so having more students enrolled should equal more money spent locally.
Alternative energy and green industry
Advanced manufacturing
Travel and tourism
Infrastructure
Gemma states that his plan will create at least 10,000 jobs in RI over five years at the low end, but he thinks it could be as high as 30-40,000 jobs. He also assumes that much of the funding will come from foundations and private money since Congress is resolute in not investing in job creation. Many of his proposals assume things that may not actually be possible however, such as increasing enrollment at Brown University by 10,000 students, and not contacting Brown University about this.
When asked about Stimulus Spending versus Deficit Reduction, Gemma’s #1 priority would be to reduce the deficit, using a balanced approach of tax increases and earned benefit cuts. When asked about Quantitative Easing, he said it is ok, although he is concerned about the inflationary effects of printing more money (although inflation is at super low rates).
Healthcare:
Cicilline:
Cicilline believes that everyone should have access to quality, affordable healthcare and references a public option and a single payer system as models that would ensure affordability and access. The healthcare reform legislation includes components of a good system: enabling children to stay on parents’ plan until 27, no denial of pre-existing condition or monetary caps, etc. The cost of healthcare, while important, is a systems question not a provision question. In order to lower costs, however, the system should be able to negotiate prices with drug companies like the VA system can, and there should be investments in wellness and technology. America cannot reduce the level of care and must ensure that everyone has access. We pay for universal care now due to emergency room visits, but there is a much less expensive way to handle this through universal coverage.
Gemma:
Everyone should have HC, but affordability is the biggest issue. As President of Gem Plumbing, insurance premium rates were growing rapidly, so he created a program call Benefits by Design that incentivized employees to be healthier and engage in preventative measures. The current HC system is lacking in preventative measures. We should incentivize people to be healthier and take responsibility for their own health. Gemma did not endorse a single payer system, although he states that he would have voted for healthcare reform and the public option had he been in Congress at the time.
Education:
Cicilline:
We need to be serious about investments in early childhood education as they are the best investments in children we can make in terms of educational outcomes. We expend a lot more later on for remediation because of our failure to spend enough on the early years. Invest early for every child in the country to maximize the return on investment for children’s learning.
Build a system that cares for children from when they wake up to when they go to sleep. They need a learning environment created to provide learning experiences outside of school. Look at AfterZone and the PASA. Kids need the support, especially those in households in which both parents are working, or parents are working multiple jobs, etc.
Charter schools have some great examples, but the innovative ideas are not being transplanted to the public school system, nor are charters held to the same standards. Different learning environments are great for children, but the majority of children will be taught in public schools. We cannot abdicate our public responsibility for teaching children.
Public money should never be spent on the private school system. Public school choice presumes that parents have the same capacity and information about their child’s education, so the system will likely not work as theorized. Rather, every public school should offer every child a high quality education.
The funding of school based on property taxes has created segregated school districts where the wealthiest areas have the greatest capacity to invest in their public schools compared to poor neighborhoods. Ed quality should not be based on zip code. A state funding system should help remove that inequality.
Gemma:
Every available dollar needs to be invested in public education. Certain cities have failed their students and multiple generations due to underperforming school system. Re-educate adults who cannot read and write and make them more productive members of society. He believes in school choice for both public and private schools, funded by public money, and is supportive of Head Start and charter schools, claiming there are models that work. He cites the Mayor of Cumberland as a person who has a vision of education with which he agrees, although he doesn’t explain exactly what that means. He is also supportive of equal funding.
Taxation Policy:
Cicilline:
Raise enough revenue to do the things we need to do and those who have benefitted the most from this country should pay a proportionally larger share than those who earn the least. He supports progressive taxation. Growing inequality is exacerbated by taxation policy that taxes the wealthy less than other workers. All income, however it is earned, should be treated equally rather than providing favoring tax rates for hedge fund managers and those who earn income by already having wealth, and taxing other workers at a higher rate.
Cicilline supports a financial transactions tax to limit the destabilizing speculation that occurs in financial markets and has cosponsored two bills to limit oil speculation. Supports new tax brackets for higher earners. Supports letting the “Bush Tax Cuts” now the Obama Tax Cuts expire for people earning over $250,000, although he feels there is some legitimate concern about those earning between $250,000 and $1 million that should be acknowledged.
Gemma:
Gemma believes that the tax cuts for those making above $100,000 should expire (this is roughly 20% of the CD1 population), while those making less than $100,000 should see their current tax rates maintained. Additionally, Gemma feels that those making less than $50,000 should see their taxes decrease. Capital gains should be divided into two “buckets.” Bucket 1 = zero cap gains taxes for new business creation that exist for more than 3 years and which create jobs. Bucket 2 = phased in capital gains taxes to higher pre-Bush tax cut level in order to limit disruption to stock market. Gemma feels that oil speculation is a major problem, but his response to having a financial transactions tax is unclear.
Foreign Policy:
Cicilline:
Cicilline only supports military actions in foreign nations when it is necessary to protect the national interests and security of the people of America. He is a strong advocate for ending the war in Afghanistan and did not support military action in Lybia. Syria is a challenging question due to the slaughter of innocent people and human rights abuses. America has some moral responsibility to take actions to protect human life, even though we cannot do it everywhere. Ideally, the US as part of a global coalition, can play a role in preventing these types of abuses. In the Sudan, the US should play a role, but we have not currently done so.
Drones change the way the military thinks about warfare. When people went onto the battlefield, limits were placed on interventions. The depersonalization of drone warfare impacts the frequency of it. The decision made about when, and against whom, to use drones are difficult to reconcile with basic constitutional tenets. There needs to be some oversight of President’s kill list so that the people who are targeted are actually intending to do harm to the US, although any system like this would be an imperfect system. Cicilline opposes indefinite detention and believes the defense budget should be cut.
Gemma:
Gemma does not support interventions in Iraq and Lybia but does support military action in Afghanistan. Syria is a deep concern, although he feels that we don’t know everything so much of this is speculation. Gemma feels that military action should be a last resort. He is opposed to indefinite detention.
Campaign Finance Reform:
Cicilline:
Rep. Cicilline is cosponsor of several bills aimed at reforming the way campaigns are financed. The Disclose Act requires the identity of donors to Super PACs to be made almost immediately so people know who is behind campaign ads. Cicilline cosponsored two constitutional amendments to overturn the Citizens United decision and does not believe that corporations are people. He proposed legislation, the Fair Elections Act, which would create public financing model for campaigns.
Cicilline believes the biggest challenge facing America right now is the funding of elections, and if we want to fix any of the other problems, we’re talking about we need to address how campaigns are funded and by whom. The influence of big money and secret money devastates our democracy.
Gemma:
Gemma supports an amendment to repeal Citizens United. Gemma does not accept PAC money and has self-funded much of his campaign. He believes there should be public funded campaigns so that more people can run.
Environment
Cicilline:
Rep. Cicilline believes that it is critical to protect the EPA so that it can enforce clean water and air regulations, make serious investments in clean renewable energy, and support local farmers. He is opposed to the Keystone Pipeline, stating the very serious environmental concerns attached to the project, maintains that the jobs numbers are inflated, and that it is unlikely to reduce energy costs. He points out that Republicans even defeated an amendment to ensure that the oil running through the pipeline would stay in the US.
Cicilline supports reinstating tax credits for renewable energy projects and extending them for longer periods of time so that there is more stability in the funding of long-term renewable energy projects. He suggests that we could eliminate the $40 billion in subsidies to oil companies and invest that money in renewable energy technology. Cicilline believes that over time it may be possible to phase out nuclear energy if sufficient investments are made in the development of renewable energy technology.
He is skeptical of ethanol subsidies and supports labeling of genetically-modified foods and milk derived from cows injected with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone.
Gemma:
Gem Plumbing has invested in sustainable energy and personally, Gemma is passionate about the environment and sustainability. Gemma believes the Keystone Pipeline project should move forward, as long as it has the correct environmental protections. To lessen burden on foreign oil overseas, he said, the US should import more oil from Canada. He believes the dirty tar oil may be able to be burned cleaner.
Gemma supports reinstating tax credits for renewable energy projects, ethanol subsidies, and the labeling of genetically modified foods and milk derived from cows injected with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone.
Progressive Caucus:
Cicilline:
Rep. Cicilline will remain a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Gemma:
Gemma would join the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Greetings! My name is Spamthony Gemma. I’m running for Governor Congress because I have a scheme plan to create 10,000 jobs in Rhode Island. Rhode Island needs more businessmen like me, Mitt Romney, and Don Carcieri to get this state back on track.
Let me take a moment to present you with a business opportunity.
Low risk – High return – Work your own hours!
Now’s your chance to get into the recession proof spamming industry! I’ve been having great success in the spamming industry and I want you to get in on a piece of the action. Here’s how it works!
First, I will stop buying my 500,000+ facebook fans from 3rd party vendors and will begin hiring Rhode Islanders to create fake facebook profiles. You can then use your fake facebook profile(s) to spam your friends about useful things such as plumbing services (hint: toss in a few hundred inspirational quotes and photos). You can even take it to the next level and start spamming blogs like this one!
This is just the ground floor – there’s plenty of room to move on to bigger and better opportunitie$$$. Anyone can take advantage of these emerging trends of the 21st century! I hope you’ll join me so that we can get our state back on track – together.
P.S. Vote for me, Spamthony Gemma!
This is a satirical parody posted by a member of the RI Future community.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Elections didn’t used to be this way in Rhode Island. If you ran for federal office and won, you were pretty much guaranteed an unassailable position from which to plot your next step in life; be that a higher federal office, a cabinet position, retirement, or death. In fact, for roughly three out of four of our federal officers, that’s still pretty much the case. But our newest addition to our federal delegation isn’t finding it so easy.
Yes, the latest news out of WPRI’s pollster Fleming & Associates is that incumbent U.S. Representative David Cicilline has a 4.3% lead among likely primary voters over challenger Anthony Gemma, with 19.9% of voters undecided. Rep. Cicilline triumphed with a 14.1% lead over Mr. Gemma and slightly larger leads over David Segal and Bill Lynch in 2010; a year that had older voters motivated in a right-wing backlash against Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.
The poll ultimately shows that Rep. Cicilline draws strong support from 18-39 year-olds, and has an advantage among female voters. It also shows that according to voters, his apology hasn’t had much impact or made them less likely to vote for him. However, the key issue that 45.7% of voters cared about was “Economy/Jobs”. “Providence Finances” came in fifth at 7.3%, behind “Best Chance to Win in November” (7.9%), “Experience” (11.3%) and “Character” (23.8%).
The good news for Rep. Cicilline is that his job approval ratings are higher among primary voters than the general electorate; in February, just 19.6% of registered voters said that Rep. Cicilline’s job performance was “Excellent” or “Good”. Among likely primary voters, that number is 32.1%. Not stunning, but not terrible either. And since 33.8% of voters rank his performance as “Fair” (whatever that means), there’s a cushion there.
The other good news, one that cuts both ways, is that Anthony Gemma remains an unknown quantity to most primary voters, 45.4% said they didn’t know enough to give him a favorability rating. Among those who did, 37.7% ranked him as “Very” or “Somewhat Favorable”. WPRI’s Joe Fleming points out that this allows Mr. Gemma to build himself up, or alternatively, allows Rep. Cicilline to tear him down.
Mr. Gemma Trying To Ride Two Horses At Once
Mr. Gemma has had some serious issues already. Beyond the initial SNAFU when his announcement devolved into him abandoning it in an attempt to avoid the press, Mr. Gemma has been embroiled in trouble over whether he’d be a sore loser if he fails to triumph in the primary in September; and lingering questions of just how committed he is to the Democratic Party. After a meeting with the Democratic City and Town Committee Chairs Association, Mr. Gemma was blasted by Tiverton Democratic Town Committee chair Mike Burk, who claimed that Mr. Gemma would mount an independent campaign if he lost. Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee chair says that Mr. Gemma said he’d merely write his own name in.
But beyond the he-said, he-said of that particular exchange, Mr. Burk also claimed that Mr. Gemma’s 2012 campaign was reminiscent of his 2010 campaign, which sounded more like he was running for governor than for U.S. representative. Indeed, he’s promised 10,000 jobs to Rhode Island, a claim which sounds far-fetched even if he was running for governor, much less a junior representative in a party likely to be in the minority in the 113th Congress.
Also undercutting him is a problem of insincerity. Having claimed to be the progressive in the race, Mr. Gemma comes from a strong business background, one that was cited for 32 labor violations. He did not vote in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary (one of the closest presidential primary races in recent history), and only affiliated as a Democrat prior to his first run in 2010. He also has said that he is anti-abortion, but would not vote against a woman’s right to choose. Which doesn’t signal strong convictions more than it signals a willingness to do what’s necessary to get elected; a criticism Mr. Gemma has lobbed against Rep. Cicilline on more than one occasion.
Brendan Doherty Lies Waiting in the General
Regardless of which Democrat wins, they’ll run up against Republican Brendan Doherty. Between a WPRI Newsmakers interview where he came out in favor of letting all of the Bush tax cuts expire and a recent statement that he favored the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall to separate commercial and investment banks, Mr. Doherty now has an economic policy far to the left of many Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. It should be noted he also has said he favors “right to work” legislation and that Rep. Cicilline has signed onto a bill to reinstate Glass-Steagall and supports ending the Bush tax cuts for those earning more thant $250,000 a year.
But Mr. Doherty’s statement on Glass-Steagall (repealed in the early 1990s under the neoliberal bonanza of the Clinton presidency) raises the specter of accusations during his primary campaign that he was merely a Republican-in-name-only, something which is not helped by Mr. Doherty also having a lead among unionized workers versus Rep. Cicilline in the last poll in which they were matched.
If the economy remains the number one issue for voters, Rhode Island’s Congressional District 1 may have a thunderous battle over economic policies that tilt towards the left if Mr. Cicilline makes it through. On the other hand, Democratic primary voters may face a more traditional interventionist vs. laissez-faire economic debate.
It used to be that federal office in Rhode Island was a secure perch. But even if Mr. Cicilline fails to survive this, his successor, imperfect as the leading two candidates for it are, may face a similar struggle in 2014.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Anthony Gemma says he running against Congressman David Cicilline to help keep the CD1 seat in the hands of the Democrats. But he also said that he wouldn’t vote for Cicilline in the general election if the incumbent beats him in the primary.
“I said in good consciousness I cannot support David Cicilline,” Gemma told me, recounting what he said Monday night at the endorsement meeting for the Rhode Island Association of Democratic City and Town Chairpersons.
After talking about it with me, Gemma softened his position, saying, “We’re in a political fight right now. On September 12, I will reassess my position.”
He added, My number one objective is to keep the seat Democratic. I will rally behind the Democratic party.”
But some at the Monday night meeting doubt that is really Gemma’s objective.
Leonard Katzman, the chairman of the Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee said Gemma told the group he would write in his own name rather than vote for Cicilline, a statement that made him question Gemma’s motives.
“His entire pitch is that he wants to ensure that the seat remains with the Democratic party,” Katzman said. “If he’s not willing to support the eventual nominee, that tells me he’s really not interested in keeping it with the Democrats.”
In an email sent out after the meeting, Mike Burk, chair of the Tiverton Democratic Town Committee, wrote that Gemma said he would run as an independent if he doesn’t win the primary, even if that helps the GOP retain control of the House of Representatives. Gemma refutes this allegation and says he has an audio recording of the meeting to prove it.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
The Democratic primary between Congressman David Cicilline and challenger Anthony Gemma will likely be decided by Providence voters and progressives. As such, it should come as no surprise that Gemma is claiming the mantle of being the more liberal candidate in the contest.
“I’m every bit as progressive and as liberal as David Cicilline,” Gemma told me on Friday. “If progressives would look under the hood, they would see I’m their guy.”
He said he supports the DREAM Act, marriage equality and even decriminalization for small amounts of marijuana. He says he’s personally opposed to abortion, but promises to never vote against a women’s right to choose. On tax policy he talks like a progressive, calling the GOP House budget “draconian” and saying he the supports the Buffett Rule, rolling back Bush era tax cuts and even keeping in place estate taxes, though all in the name of lowering the deficit rather than investing in society for its own sake.
But Gemma, a businessman who grew his family plumbing empire into a multi-million dollar a year business and also ran a marketing and communications firm, can be hard to believe at times.
He’s also promised to create 10,000 jobs for Rhode Island in five years by bringing together public and private sector leaders to build upon a business plan he drafted for the 2010 campaign and is retooling for this one – it’s long on platitudes and short on policy proposals. Almost no one thinks such a lofty goal is a realistic campaign promise coming from someone who would be a rookie congressman, but Gemma confidently asserts he can use his team-building skills to get it done.
“I gave him a donation because I was running a business and he was definitely the pro-business candidate,” he said of Carcieri, though he said he didn’t vote for him and has never voted for a Republican.
Gemma said he supports organized labor “when unions support Rhode Island,” but again, his track record is at best, tarnished. Gem Plumbing was cited for 32 labor violations, which was “later reduced to six over the objection of the chief inspector,” according to the Associated Press, for hiring non-union plumbers when he was president of the company.
“I don’t recall exactly what happened because it was such a long time ago,” he said. “Our company was growing so fast at the time we my have made some mistakes along the way.”
Even his social networking success is suspect, a case RI Future first made in this piece: Gemma’s Suspicious Facebook Followers. He’s got more than 900,000 followers on Twitter and more than 100,000 friends on Facebook. But ask him how he amassed such a following, and he’s not talking.
“Strategically, there are ways in which to deal with social networking that I would like to write a book about,” he said. But added, “I choose not to talk about strategy during the campaign.”
He did say that it’s “certainly possible” that some of his Facebook and Twitter followers are not real people but said he has “never done the research to know how many are real and how many are fake.” When I asked if he paid for automated follows and Facebook friends he said, “Again, I’m not going to about strategy.”
So we’ll have to wait for the book to find out how he got more than 40,000 Facebook likes in one day, or why he has so many followers from Germany, Spain, Indonesia, and Dubai.
It’s not unlike how he invited reporters to a Sunday evening availability then declined to answer questions from them. Gemma seems to enjoy controlling the message, and one has to wonder if he’s doing that with his new-found fervor for progressive policy positions as well.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
First Gary Sasse, former head of RIPEC, backed income tax increases on the wealthiest Rhode Islanders. Now he’s admitting that state aid cuts contributed to the financial struggle the poorest cities are experiencing. Is Sasse becoming a progressive, or are things just that bad in Rhode Island?
Why is Anthony Gemma afraid of the media? “I’d love for the media to be part of the solution but I feel like they are often part of the problem,” he told Dan McGowan of GoLocalProv last night. You gotta love it when they blame the messenger!
Add CVS CEO Larry Merlo to the long list of people smart enough to recognize that the United States desperately needs to fix its health care system. He’s also on the significantly-shorter list of people whose businesses would benefit from health care reform.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Having attended Anthony Gemma’s news statement in Providence’s Prospect Terrace Park, I’ll say this right off the bat: I went expecting a more polished candidate than appeared in 2010. I was disappointed.
Let’s get to the big part of it right away: fleeing the conference almost as soon as he was done. By 6:21 pm Mr. Gemma was gone from an event that had started at six o’clock. Many of his supporters had not even gotten to meet the man. He briefly took a photo with a small child, then shook hands with some of Providence’s local politicians before hopping into his SUV and driving off.
This accomplished one thing: it pissed off the media. One veteran reporter said she’d never seen never seen any politician behave that way at a campaign event in nearly two decades of reporting. The moment he stepped into that tinted-window truck, Mr. Gemma had given up two opportunities; winning over reporters and schmoozing with his own supporters. These were people who turned out at 6:00 pm on a Sunday for him; when most are eating with their families. The least he could’ve done was say hello to as many as he could. If that meant taking questions from reporters, well, so be it. That’s being a politician.
Mr. Gemma needs the press more than they need him. For instance, his primary opponent, sitting U.S. Congressman David Cicilline, has actually reached out to the press, inviting WPRI’s “Newsmakers” to enter his home to interview him. He also issues posts on this website.
In 2010, Mr. Gemma won only 23.1% of the vote in the Democratic primary, merely 3% over his nearest rival, David Segal, who had less money to spend. Now that Mr. Cicilline has begun apologizing very publicly for saying Providence was in “excellent fiscal condition” during his last campaign, it’s likely that Segal voters will be keener to jump to Mr. Cicilline’s defense, rather than staying home. Without press coverage, Mr. Gemma loses much of the ability to get out his message other than through advertising. And without making friends of the press, Mr. Gemma makes it that much more difficult to garner positive coverage.
Mr. Gemma was clearly attempting to set himself up as the frontrunner in this race on Sunday. He attacked Brendan Doherty by name, and never explicitly mentioned David Cicilline. I’d say it’s wise for Mr. Gemma not to attack Mr. Cicilline while he’s apologizing (it makes you look like a bully) but Mr. Gemma did make veiled reference to Mr. Cicilline’s apology by attacking it as something he wouldn’t do, completely negating that strategy.
What seems reasonably intelligent is the collection of Providence politicians Mr. Gemma’s gathered; John Lombardi, Davian Sanchez, Wilbur Jennings… though all are problematic. Providence will play a major part in this race. Last time, nearly a quarter of all of David Cicilline’s votes came from Providence. Mr. Gemma placed a distant third in the capital city. Both candidates have to walk a tight path here: Mr. Cicilline’s fate is tied to Providence’s, in many ways. But Mr. Gemma cannot blast the city without alienating its voters, many of whom proudly voted for David Cicilline, some of them twice.
Beyond that, the clear lack of specifics and the empty rhetoric in the speech betrayed a problematic candidate. Mr. Gemma was the “quirky” candidate in the race last time, sounding like he was running for Governor rather than U.S. Congressman. Let’s be clear: the “control of the House may come down to one seat” argument is unconvincing. It’s only happened once before: in the 72nd Congress when 19 representatives-elect died before taking office and 14 flipped to the Democrats, leaving a sole Farmer-Labor Party member as the deciding vote. This seems unlikely to happen again. However, Mr. Gemma immediately undercut the notion of being a strong Democrat by saying he was willing to buck his party on certain issues.
Mr. Gemma had some intelligent moments. He focused on jobs, though he just said he knew how to create them. But smartest of all, he avoided divisive social issues where he could easily lose support among Democratic partisans. However, since issues like reproductive rights are about to enter center stage in Rhode Island, he must find a way to prevent himself from being lumped into the same category as Brendan Doherty in Democratic minds.
Given both his inability to work the crowd and press, and his occasional stumbles during his speech, Mr. Gemma is clearly an imperfect candidate. Perhaps he has a touch of stage fright. He does not win the award for “most improved” since 2010. That doesn’t go to anyone. There were dark clouds hanging over the Park as Mr. Gemma made his announcement. There’s a dark cloud hanging over this whole race. Democrats should be very worried. Both their candidates are flawed, deeply, but in different ways. Republicans now have their greatest chance to take one of the most liberal districts in the country.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Mayors Don Grebien, of Pawtucket, and Leo Fontaine, of Woonsocket, write an op/ed together in today’s Projo about their lawsuit against the state that contends that RIDE should move quicker to bridge the giant funding gap that exists between the affluent suburbs and the poorer inner cities in Rhode Island. It’s an issue that we’ve covered at length (see here and here) and one that not only explains why RI public schools as a whole don’t perform better, but also why the state in general doesn’t as well.
In a smart move that plays to the state’s natural advantages, Rhode Island is using the arts as an economic engine.
“Let’s be clear: State socialism created the suburbs. That migration – of educated, middle class workers away from the cities and mill villages – limited tax revenues and job opportunities in city centers across the state.” – Daniel Lawlor.
Why is Gina Raimondo trying to undercut Gov. Chafee’s efforts to help out struggling cities and towns? Here’s why.
If Anthony Gemma took his candidacy for Congress more seriously so would the media. But, then again, if he wasn’t such a joke, neither would be his campaign.
It’s Marathon Monday in Massachusetts today, when the Red Sox play their annual 11 am home game in conjunction with the Boston Marathon, but it’s also Patriot’s Day, marking the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first actual military skirmish of the American Revolution, which Ralph Waldo Emerson dubbed “the shot heard ’round the world.”
It’s also the day the Senate is slated to take its first vote on the Buffett Rule … check out our coverage here.
This page may be updated throughout the day. Click HERE for an archive of the RI Progress Report.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
The line I’ve been toting is that Congressman David Cicilline isn’t as beatable as his approval ratings suggest. First off, I doubt that his approval ratings are low because of his time in Congress, where’s he’s been a reliable progressive vote (as he was always going to be). What seems to be the zeitgeist is that Mr. Cicilline is disliked because Providence is having budget issues.
I still think without a progressive anti-Cicilline in the primary race, progressive voters who fear that Mr. Cicilline might lose aren’t going to abandon him. Progressives are warming up right now, though they haven’t caught fire (they seem to have a knack for picking disappointing candidates).
If soon-to-be-announced primary opponent Anthony Gemma runs as he did last cycle – like he was running for a different office – then the only way he’ll win is through voter antipathy towards Mr. Cicilline, and not for any love of Mr. Gemma.
Let’s consider that possibility for a second. If you’re a progressive, here’s the question I have to ask: where do you go from there? Who do you vote for in November? Do you vote for Brendan Doherty and give a seat to the Republicans on the off-chance that Doherty will be defeated in 2014? Do you vote for Mr. Gemma, a right-wing Democrat who appears more likely to side with the Republicans than the Democrats and who’s competence you don’t have much faith in, but if elected is likely to stay there for years to come? Or do you just skip voting in CD1 come November?
I’m suspecting the last one for many progressives. The issue is that there is no “white knight” in the wings. Since progressives are over-reliant on the Democratic Party, there’s no way to do an end-run around the Democratic nomination process and run a progressive independent. That independent would also have to be well-financed and well-known (and at least popular with a decent swathe of Rhode Islanders); or otherwise risk media marginalization (a very stark possibility). If Mr. Cicilline goes down in a primary duel with Mr. Gemma, that will be it. Two non-progressives will battle for the center-right of Rhode Island voters.
It’s a sad problem to have. The only progressive candidate is terribly flawed, making what should be an easy waltz to reelection an obstacle course.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Anthony Gemma is running for U.S. Congress as a Democrat. He hasn’t formally announced yet, but it’s pretty clear.
For instance, type “Anthony Gemma” in any search engine. See the first result? “Anthony Gemma for Congress 2012.” He’s also taken a leave of absence as CEO of Mediapeel after selling it to Alex and Ani. Mr. Gemma needs to stop beating around the bush and announce already. The ongoing speculation feels like it’s being used as an attempt to drum up buzz, and it’s not helping him. He has been running since he lost in 2010. We know this. I saw Facebook advertisements back in 2011. Mr. Gemma has been attacking U.S. Congressman David Cicilline since the latter took office, every chance Mr. Gemma gets. It’s long past time for him to announce.
Unfortunately for Mr. Gemma, Democrats don’t want him. Maybe it’s the fact he only affiliated with the Democrats when he decided to run for U.S. Congress the last time. Maybe it’s that, as WPRI’s Ted Nesi put it on Newsmakers, “he’s sounding more like a Governor or an EDC chairman” than a congressional candidate. Joe Fleming also makes clear in that video that Mr. Gemma has almost no support from the left or the establishment wings of the Democratic Party, and even his support among its right wing will be shaky. The Party will lock shields around Mr. Cicilline.
Mr. Gemma doesn’t belong in politics. He belongs in business, where he can at least hide somewhat from public view and people are less inclined to challenge him openly. Unfortunately for the all-but-declared primary contender, politics is a public process, where scrutiny comes at you whether you want it to or not. Which is why it’s interesting to see that the candidate’s campaign page on Facebook suddenly leaped up in likes during the month of February.
Just as interesting are the subscribers to his personal page. Who are the 20,000+ people subscribed to Anthony Gemma’s Facebook? And here’s a better question: what’s up with many of their unusual names? And why do most like “Unicorn City Film” as a movie? Or why do Kevin Ubtryvh and Heideo Uthrdl have the same 16 friends (and only 16 friends), the exact same likes in sports teams, music, books, movies, and television, and yet somehow aren’t friends and grew up and went to schools in completely different places? Why are a large majority of their friends sporting the last name “Hic” or else some slight variant on that? Is Penix Jermainebrianne even a real person, or should her parents (assuming they exist) simply be examined for naming her such? Why do so many of Mr. Gemma’s Facebook subscribers follow this basic pattern of an odd first name followed by a last name made up of two names which are usually first names?
Mr. Gemma is about to go up against David Cicilline, a well-financed opponent who has a strong base of support among the Democratic Party apparatus. But Mr. Cicilline may have the money and ground games ready, he doesn’t have anything like Mr. Gemma’s Facebook numbers; totaling a mere 3,456 likes (this is comparable with numbers put up by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse). Mr. Gemma racked up 41,764 likes on February 23rd alone (a date he issued a press release attacking Mr. Cicilline; this doesn’t usually brings tens of thousands to click “Like” on one’s Facebook page). Looking just at his Facebook numbers, Anthony Gemma should be Rhode Island’s most popular politician. Which is why he sits 13 points behind Republican candidate Brendan Doherty in the latest WPRI poll (in comparison, Mr. Doherty has only 5,523 likes).
Now, there’s no conclusive proof that Mr. Gemma is not popular in Germany, Spain, Indonesia, and Dubai; countries where many of his subscribers are from. There’s no conclusive proof that Corinem Yers doesn’t exist (he’s also a fan of Unicorn City Film). But these people don’t show up on a Google search in any other place except Facebook. In contrast, most people tend to at least show up somewhere other than Facebook, because they have lived full lives. Examples include websites for their colleges, or their jobs, or in newspapers, or even the online white pages. Maybe those following the not-yet-a-candidate are merely people who are so cloistered from modern society they’re only allowed limited Facebook access. And maybe Anthony Gemma appeals to those people. In which case, he should be applauded to reaching out to a forgotten segment of our society.
But alternatively, people (especially those who are a bit tech savvy) could take a look at this and come away thinking one thing: Anthony Gemma is utilizing bots to inflate his social media numbers. Even if that’s not true, the appearance is what matters. Anyone looking for big numbers is going to think that more likes on Facebook equals a better candidate. But therein lies a problem. If your social media followers aren’t dedicated, if they aren’t real, then you’ve just lost a social media battle. To technologically competent people, nothing’s worse than a social media phony. People might begin to think like Facebook user Alex Avalos, who put it thusly to Anthony Gemma:
______________________________________________
Updates: RIFuture has attempted to contact Mr. Gemma for a response, but so far, he has not yet responded.
Sadly, an astute reader has pointed out that the Facebook account Penix Jermainbrianne no longer exists.
We also have been getting some emails and Facebook responses about this story. Readers have pointed out that Mr. Gemma’s Twitter followers are likewise odd, and he seems to be able to rally online support in online polls. Last election cycle, the Providence Journal‘s PolitiFact was unable to conclusively evaluate claims made by Mr. Gemma’s campaign about his status on LinkedIn. Likewise, a couple of readers have said this recalls late last year when Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was revealed to have followers who were roughly 80% dummy or inactive accounts. However, that was evaluated to be not far off from a standard political account. The second-to-last paragraph of that story leaves us with the idea that we should apply caution to all online interactions and not take things at face value.
So there is no smoking gun to suggest that Gingrich, or any of these politicians, bought any of their followers. But what this kind of analysis also reveals, says Topsy [a social media search company], is how hard it is to say which Twitter accounts are for real and which aren’t. Spam bots are getting more sophisticated; many now have fake profile pictures, fake bios and generate fake tweets. “The fact is, a large proportion of all Twitter accounts are inactive anyway,” says Ghosh [Topsy co-founder].
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Rhode Island progressives, indeed progressives across the country, should be happy Sheldon Whitehouse is a Senator. Not only has he sponsored the Buffett Rule tax code improvement that would prevent millionaires from evading paying taxes on their earnings, he’s also leading the fight against Super PACs and the Citizen United SCOTUS decision, the Projo reports this morning.
“Whitehouse leads a group of liberal Senate Democrats who hope to fashion a strategy for their party to enact legislation to blunt or at least cast more light on the effects of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that has changed the campaign-finance landscape,” reports the john Mulligan, the Projo’s Washington correspondent. “The decision, known as Citizens United, has given rise to a new brand of political action committee super PACs in campaign parlance that are not bound by earlier limits on campaign contributions.”
…Speaking of congressional politics, Anthony Gemma, who is still considering challenging David Cicilline in the Democratic primary for the CD1 seat in Congress, pens an op-ed in the Projo today about his plan to create jobs in Rhode Island.
His plan includes making Rhode Island “the center of Americas $125 billion wellness industry; encouraging additional job growth in the rapidly expanding health-care industry,” tax credits for green construction and making a higher education more attainable for the local workforce. It all sounds good, but making it happen is another story.
Here at Rhode Island’s Future, we’re still waiting with baited breath to see if David Segal will also throw his hat into the ring.
…On the state level, Ian Donnis of RINPR, reports that Gov. Chafee “is expected later this week to unveil his long-anticipated bill for aiding municipalities.” Here’s hoping that bill does more than just give mayors a tool to cut pensions, as that really isn’t the core problem for struggling cities and towns – despite the MSM constantly beating that drum.
…Providence Business News has a great comprehensive look at the fits and starts of Rhode Island’s proposed medical marijuana compassion centers. TurnTo10.com, on the other hand, has a story about a patient in the program who was robbed of two ounces of medicine. It’s worth noting that if patients could get their prescriptions filled at a dispensary, it would make it much harder for them to being targeted by the criminal elements associated with cannabis.
…Congrats go out this morning to two RI Future contributors. The first is Paula Hodges, who heads up the Rhode Island offices for Planned Parenthood. GoLocalProv gives her their power player treatment this morning. The other goes to Samuel Howard, one of our most prolific writers, who got a nice compliment from Ted Nesi, WPRI’s blogger-in-chief, in a recent post.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
With the recent announcement that Loughlin has decided not to run for Congress, I’ve been putting some thought into the upcoming CD1 race between Cicilline and Doherty. It seems that the campaign has gotten slightly more difficult for Cicilline, but I don’t see it nearly as much of an uphill battle as some others do. Granted, Doherty will no longer be subject to a primary campaign, but I just couldn’t imagine Loughlin and Doherty being involved in a significantly hostile and antagonistic primary campaign, despite their previous barbs. The main advantage for Cicilline would have been the Republicans spending their money fighting each other.
Also, even though there has been some speculation about Gemma and Segal jumping in, I can’t imagine either of them being candidates this year, so I think Cicilline won’t have to go through a primary fight either. Let’s review the circumstances leading up to the 2010 election to explain why:
Some may say this proves that Segal and Gemma have plenty of time to announce, but the situation this time around is different. CD1 is no longer an open seat; now it is occupied by Rep. David Cicilline. While Gemma or Segal are still wildcards, and could possibly announce, any Democrat who wants to run a strong challenge against Cicilline probably should be in the race by now. This is why I think the race will be between Cicilline and Doherty.
And I think Cicilline wins. Here’s why:
Cicilline’s message will be (and should be): vote for me so Republicans don’t have another seat in the House from which to advocate the destruction of the lives of middle-class Americans. I know that is hyperbolic, that was my intention, especially considering Obama using the legacy of Republican intransigence as the perfect weapon against Republicans. Judging by the post Rep. Cicilline submitted to the blog, Standing Together for Progressive Values, he has laid out his main key campaign themes for the election season:
Protect Social Security and Medicare from Republicans who want to destroy them
Protect the Environment from Republicans who want to destroy it
Tax People Fairly to pay for these things that Rhode Islanders actually want (that’s pretty important to remember – Cicilline is talking about things that Rhode Islanders care about)
In contrast, Doherty and the Republican and Conservative groups that will be supporting him will look back on Cicilline’s experience as Mayor of Providence (since he is a freshman Congressman in the minority party, there are no accomplishments in Congress to scrutinize). They’ll bring up the financial problems facing Providence (ignoring the rest of the country) and blame it all on Cicilline. But this has already been covered and discussed to death after he was elected, and I’m not sure how much airtime rehashing this theme will get.
Moreover, all we have to do is look to Central Falls, East Providence, West Warwick, and to some extent Pawtucket, and realize that Cicilline didn’t cause all these other problems either. The financial collapse that has destroyed budgets all over the country, and the notable decisions made at the State House to defund cities and town (including Providence), were all far beyond the control of Cicilline. Also, in spite of what one might think about the way Mayor Angel Taveras handled the “Category 5 Hurricane” Providence faced last year, he handled it. I don’t believe there will be the same crisis mode environment this year, and Taveras’s decisions will have largely mollified the degree of panic and anger that was being directed at Cicilline last year, to Cicilline’s benefit. Politically speaking, it happened too soon for it to be as compelling an issue in November as Doherty and his supporters would like.
Two additional thoughts:
Does Loughlin come out and actively support Doherty? With a campaign account of about $13,000, there’s not much financial support Loughlin could offer, but there must be more than a few names on his email list from the 2010 campaign. When you read Loughlin’s press statement, he doesn’t even mention Doherty. I find that strange and wonder if there is resentment stemming from Doherty jumping in the race and stealing Loughlin’s thunder while he was in Iraq.
RI redistricting will technically help Cicilline’s victory chances by shifting more “liberal” voters into the CD1 district while moving some “conservative” voters out, but will it come with a backlash of unintended consequence? Will there be a significant number of voters offended by something that appears to be politically motivated? I still think the net impact is a positive for Cicilline, but one has to wonder.
As first reported here on RI Future, Anthony Gemma, president of Gem Plumbing & Heating, was considering a run for Congress. For the past (at least) few weeks, he was making his fundraising calls, contacting some RI Future readers.
Gemma describes himself as a “conservative Democrat,” and the impact on the race for Segal, Cicilline, and Lynch is still to be determined, although it’s likely that Gemma damages Bill Lynch’s camapign to a greater degree than Segal or Cicilline. Could Gemma’s political inexperience be the ultimate rallying cry of an “outsider” candidacy in a political environment in which incumbency and political experience may very well be poisonous?
Anthony P. Gemma, born in Providence Rhode Island in 1970 to Larry and the late Gloria Gemma, is the youngest of nine children and remains a lifelong Rhode Island resident.
Anthony made his decision to seek election in the US House of Representatives 1st Congressional District because of his passion for the State he calls home. Anthony’s experience and work ethic span decades and include accomplishments such as successful business owner, attorney, exemplary leader, philanthropist and family man. He has worked tirelessly to create new, sustainable jobs, manage healthcare costs in Rhode Island, worked to develop performance excellence standards for Rhode Island businesses, and co-founded the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation in memory of his mom, who died from breast cancer in 2002.
Anthony’s solid work ethic both professional and philanthropic was instilled at the age of ten, when his father and mentor – introduced him to the family’s plumbing business. Discipline and integrity were expected from all the Gemma children, and Anthony applied those qualities to his academic career. He was graduated cum laude from Suffolk University in 1992 with a B.S. in Legal Argument/Communications. He earned his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law in 1998, and currently Anthony is admitted to practice law in Rhode Island and in Federal Court.
In 1998, Anthony assumed the roles of Executive Vice President and CEO and in 2000 was appointed to the position of company president, in which he remained until 2008.
At that time, Anthony founded Mediapeel™, an integrated marketing firm specializing in new media solutions and offering a product line which includes web video magazine and website development, media buying and placement, the Mediapeel™ On-Time Traffic Reporting Center, and other traditional and cutting-edge forms of advertising.
Anthony is committed to a team approach to business building and problem solving. He and his team of committed professionals founded the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation created in the memory of his mother, who succumbed to the disease in 2002. The Foundation is committed to raising breast cancer awareness, increasing breast health education, and generating funding for critical breast health programs.
Innovation coupled with the blending of cutting-edge and traditional strategies and methods are the hallmark of Anthony’s public and private endeavors. He was instrumental in the development of the Gem Institute for Performance Excellence, a learning organization with the mission to provide guidance to organizations throughout the United States seeking to increase performance levels.
Anthony is also an accomplished public speaker and motivator. He consults with organizations throughout the United States on various topics. He served as the President of the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, served on the Executive Board of the Northern RI Chamber and served as a board member of Quality Partners of Rhode Island. He is a past member of the Providence/Cranston Workforce Development, and an active volunteer with the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation.
Anthony has achieved many awards throughout his career including: 2005, 2007 and 2008 Forty Under 40 Award – Providence Business News, 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year – Point Magazine, The 2006 EFNE Award for Business Innovation, the 2007 WELCOA Wellness Award – Gold Level, and many more. Anthony has also won several awards for his outstanding commitment to community service including Philanthropist of the Year – St. Mary’s Home For Children, Sponsor of the Year – Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Local Hero Award – Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Boy Scouts of America – 2009 – Whitney M. Young Service Award. In addition to his commendations, Anthony has worked tirelessly with the Autism Project of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Veterans Administration and the Rhode Island Special Olympics.
Anthony is married to Julie DiManni-Gemma and is the proud father of Anthony Gemma. The family resides in Lincoln, RI.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387