With literally thousands of progressives from across the country descending on Providence for Netroots Nation, it’s important to recognize the local progressives who brought the annual conference of lefty activists and journalists to the Ocean State: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Mayor Angel Taveras.
The three lobbied hard to host the 2011 event in Providence. But Netroots felt it couldn’t come as employees of the Westin Hotel were mired in a contract dispute with management. But when the labor dispute was resolved, the conference agreed to pay Providence a visit.
“Providence is a beautiful city. It is as blue as the waters of Narragansett Bay,”Whitehouse said in announcing the news that Rhode Island would host the 2012 event at last year’s in Minneapolis. “You progressives will feel right at home.”
So far, so good. I met with Mary Rickles of Netroots on Tuesday and she said the city has been great to them so far, and the local amenities have been outstanding.
Taveras isn’t surprised the Netroots crowd is already enjoying the city. “Providence is the perfect place to host Netroots,” said the progressive mayor, noting that their stay will likely only get better.
“I can’t wait to see the bloggers reaction to Waterfire,” he said. “They are going to promote in nationally.”
Waterfire, for those new to the area, is a downtown tradition that centers around a series of seemingly floating fire pits in the Providence River.
Whitehouse agreed, saying Netroots is “a chance for Providence to come out as a hip, attractive destination.”
While both recognized it as a great opportunity for the city, they also said it is a great opportunity for local progressives.
Taveras, who will give a welcome address to the conference, called it an opportunity for “the great minds and great thinkers” from all over the country to co-mingle with us local progressives for “an opportunity to talk about the future of our city, our state and our country.”
Whitehouse said Netroots Nation is important too to his fight in Washington D.C.
“If you look at it from 50,000 feet when you look down what you see is immensely powerful special interests,” he said. “One of the most effective way of fighting those special interests is through the grassroots, internet community that Netroots represents.”
Whitehouse will speak on two panels at Netroots: one on tax fairness and another concerning Citizens United. Fitting, in that he authored the Buffett Rule bill in the Senate and is also sponsoring the DISCLOSE Act, which would require Super-PAC TV political ads to list those who paid for the message.
Another progressive Rhode Islander, Congressman David Cicilline, will also play a key role in Netroots Nation’s visit to Providence. He’s participating on two panels: one on gun safety and another on reinvigorating the manufacturing sector of the economy. He’s also giving the closing speech.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of good communication, incubating new ideas and learning how to challenge the staus quo,” he said. “The only thing better would be if everyone stayed here and became Rhode Islanders.”
Saying U.S. Representative David Cicilline is vulnerable isn’t news, it’s akin to saying the sky is blue. But despite his flagging popularity, it will be difficult for a known-quantity challenger to knock him off in the primary. It seems likely that Anthony Gemma will be that challenger, having all-but made the announcement. David Segal seems unlikely to attempt to challenge Cicilline again and Bill Lynch’s last-place showing two years ago puts him out of the running, as Mr. Lynch never managed to define himself as much more than a member of the Democratic Party. Two years ago, every candidate facing Mr. Cicilline attempted to position themselves as the anti-Cicilline, with none besides John Loughlin succeeding (who was only the anti-Cicilline by default).
The importance is with Mr. Segal’s voters. Mr. Segal, a former Green Party City Councilman turned Democratic State Representative from Providence is perhaps best described as hailing from Howard Dean’s “Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party”, a.k.a., the left. Mr. Segal’s voters are most likely to have voted for him because they enjoyed his positions; liberal on social issues, interventionist on economic issues, and green. The thing is that all of these issues won’t favor Mr. Gemma; they’ll favor Mr. Cicilline. If Mr. Segal declines to run, Mr. Gemma should follow suit.
1 Gemma Harder: Mr. Gemma runs alone against Mr. Cicilline. Mr. Gemma runs on many of the same themes that he used last time, attempting to hammer Mr. Cicilline with the state of affairs in Providence. No matter what happens in Providence, Mr. Cicilline is buoyed by former Segal and Lynch voters who don’t wish to see Mr. Gemma in the U.S. House. Outspent and outvoted, Mr. Gemma is defeated handily.
When I decided to run for Congress in 2010, I began my campaign with the conviction that no issue was more important than putting men and women across Rhode Island back to work.
Over recent weeks I have visited Main Street small businesses and toured manufacturing facilities throughout Rhode Island’s First Congressional District. I have met with jewelry makers, boat builders, and creators of cutting edge medical devices and aeronautical components, and heard from restaurant owners, small textile retailers, and information technology start-ups. Across this diverse array of interests I hear one common and constant concern – in order to survive, prosper, and grow, entrepreneurs and seasoned small business owners alike need consumers, and those consumers need jobs.
I know its been conservative philosophy for over a century that under the law corporations are people….but it never really made sense. And to hear Republican leaders like Mitt Romney say it out loud…well, they just need to be called on it. Congressman David Cicilline has an online petition going right now asking Republican leaders to get their priorities right – start focusing on REAL PEOPLE – not phony corporate people.
Rumors abound that Merrill Sherman, a cofounder of BankRI, is considering a run against incumbent Democratic Congressman David Cicilline. She would run as a Democrat in the September 2012 Democratic Primary. Another Democrat has already announced the possibility of a run against the vulnerable Cicilline – former CD-1 candidate Anthony Gemma. Interestingly, Sherman was recently selected as a possible candidate to serve on the powerful I-195 commission. If she is appointed to that, would that make it less or more likely that she would run for higher office?