Guy Dufault, the former chairman of the state Democratic Party, really messed up! Methinks 'twill have far reachin' implications in next year's state races, eh?

Now Mr Dufault is bein' hammered by both Democrats and Republicans, but 'twould seem the damage is done and reactions by Democrats is bein' seen as nothin' more than damage control. The followin' two stories'll provide a bit of info on what transpired.

"Governor Refutes Claims Made By Democratic Operative" and "Carcieri Refuses To Accept Apology From Dufault" provide a pretty good amount of info on what happened. Methinks it seems the general populace and particularly registered voters, over 60% of whom are independents, feels 'tis a plan by the state Democrats to smear the Governor that was accidently talked 'bout over an open mike and now is common knowledge, eh? Judgin' by the reactions on local talk radio 'twill seriously hurt Lt. Gov Charles Fogarty, a Democrat, in his expected run against incumbent GOP Governor Carcieri next year.

Are 60% of the registered voters in RI really independents ?
Did I read that right ? If so, that is amazing. RI must have open primaries.

And this operative's name is really Dufault ? (some sick humor there).

Are RI politics always so rough ? Geez- an on-air remark about taking
down an opponent with a list of his girl friends- ouch ! Not too smart on
any level.

Yes, Rhode Island politics are pretty rough. And there has been corruption all over the place, without regard to party.

Yup, 'tis true, eh? Methinks we're an independent lot here, sometimes maybe too much for our own good. Thanks to a voters' revolt here over 20 years ago, IOT keep the system of state funded and run primaries independents are eligible to vote in either primary, eh? Methinks the parties are reluctant to assume the funding and running of their respective primaries, so independents retain their voice in candidate selection. Most of us would prefer true open primaries with the top two, regardless of party, facin' off in the general election, but the parties and unions have stifled this so far.A good demonstration of just how dumb 'twas methinks a letter to the editor I just saw is relevant, eh? 'Twas from a nun no less.

"On hearing Dufault, I just felt dirty"

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 9, 2005

I have been a Democrat all my life. After listening to the smear against Governor Carcieri by former party Chairman Guy Dufault, I have heard just about all I can stand to hear.

We have finally found a person who is upstanding and honest, and the Democrats have to resort to this kind of mudslinging to unseat him. I am so sick of listening to garbage in our politics.

Who in his or her right mind would ever consent to run for any political office anywhere in this country, but most especially in Rhode Island? If dirt cannot be found on a candidate, then make it up. If you throw enough mud, it will stick. Well, I think it is beginning to stick to the party.

Why do top-notch people resist running for political office? With the kind of mudslinging going on, any past infraction can be blown into monumental proportions to embarrass an individual out of the running. Why can we not live with the knowledge that there is not a perfect human being alive, and that we have to allow people to grow and change?

After having watched and listened to the offending video, I come away feeling I have listened to two men talking, two men who have unethical and amoral principles. It felt dirty to me personally.

With that, I will be changing my party affiliation in Rhode Island to Republican. I never thought the day would come that I would do this.

Sister DOROTHY MALONEY, R.S.M.

Middletown

So, it seems that Dufault suffers from "loose lip" syndrome. What kind of chairman was he for your RI Democratic party? He's certainly no longer an asset to the Party as is well illustrated by the Sister's scathing note.

It's fine and dandy for someone in Rhode Island to switch parties. There, the GOP may offer a real alternative. But in most of the country, the GOP is a bunch of hard-core right wingers who offer no reasonable choice. An no Democrat, no matter how bad, would be bad enough to cause me to jump in bed with that devil.

Good point, dgg. With a Republican Senator like Lincoln Chafee,
you don't have to hide in fear. He's no right wing ideologue. Even his website
looks pretty good, though I did not read it in detail. No big link to the RNC.

http://chafee.senate.gov/biography.htm

I've been watching Sen. Chafee for awhile now. He definitely is a moderate republican, and he's even likable. When I've seen him in action on CSPAN I've been impressed.

Plus, Ann Coulter did a scathing column about him awhile back...what better endorsement then that!

None !

Is corruption controversial in RI now? Somebody tell Buddy.

For those who didn't get RD's reference, he's referring to Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence, RI. He was sentenced to a few years in the slammer for corruption. Anyone know if he's been released yet? I thought I recalled he got 5 years.

Methinks, just as in the bulk of the country, hard core right wingers don't play well here. 'Tis unfortunate the far right has been able to stage a coup and take over the reigns of that party nationally and in most states. Although many of the GOP faithful fit in that category, IMHO the bulk of them votin' GOP are moderates.

Methinks most of our GOP office holders woulda fit better with the Democrats back in the days when that party was more mainstream moderate with a touch of populism. Here Democrats have been taken over by the far left and pretty much purged the moderates, the exception bein' our Congressman Langevin (but they're tryin' to get him too, eh). Senator Jack Reed, once pretty moderate, apparently saw the writin' on the wall and took a hard turn to the left now. Here moderates almost always have to run as Republicans and, considerin' less than 10% of registered voters here are Republicans, do reasonably well.

A few years back we had a third party emerge and have some success. 'Twas called the Cool Moose Party (after Teddy Roosevely's Bull Moose Party) and best described as populist libertarian. Guess Democrats felt threatened, 'cause they successfully put up so many road blocks that it died 'bout two years ago. Actually they couldn't get a conviction for corruption, but did nail him on an obscure RICOH violation, eh? Methinks 'twas limited to bein' convicted for conspiracy to get involved in a conspiracy, or some such thing.

He's still in the federal pen at Ft Dix, NJ, but methinks he's tryin' to get moved to the federal facility at Ft Devens. Believe he's still got a little over two years left to serve. After that, just like after his last felony conviction, he'll probably get elected Mayor of Providence again, eh?

Unfortunately, hard-core right wingers play pretty well here in Texas. Either that, or people are just reflexively voting R and don't give a hoot.

Actually, the Democratic Party is by far the more moderate party in Texas but nobody pays attention. A. Do most Texans just automatically assume that *every* Democrat is a clone of Ted Kennedy, Jessie Jackson and Hillary Clinton? B. Is the Democratic Party just so irrelevant in Texas that its candidates are not even considered (a la the Libertarian and other minor parties)?

Well, methinks you lost a couple great Congressmen in Stenholm and Frost in the last election that were moderates. My perception might be faulty seein's I was watchin' from so far away, but it seemed your state party did little to help them while really pushin' for liberals like Jackson-Lee's reelection, eh? Seems much like what we're seein' happen here in RI.

The state party here is totally emasculated and does little to help anybody. Stenholm was placed in a district that was absolutely unwinnable, and Frost had no more than a long shot chance.

Frost was my congressman, and I'll agree, he was a great one. I would have been quite content had he been selected DNC chair. Hopefully he will re-emerge in public service before long.

The GOP strategy here, and in other Southern states as well, has been to eliminate all districts held by white Democrats and pack minority Democratic voters into the fewest number of districts possible to meet federal standards, which are very loose right now since Republicans run everything.

Thus minority Democratic incumbents such as Jackson-Lee face little opposition in the general election. I don't know for sure, but I doubt the state party did much to help her, either. The state party has few resources, and she wouldn't have needed the help.

Of course, the end result of the elimination of competitive seats is that it makes the Democratic Party appear more liberal and more minority-dominated. Both of which, even if they are more perception than reality, make it even harder for the Dems to break through with moderate voters. But then, I'm not sure that there are all *that* many moderates in Texas.

From the editorial page of the Providence Journal comes this update, eh?

Fear and loathing in R.I.

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, November 10, 2005

The most striking thing about the accidentally (we assume) broadcast remarks about Governor Carcieri by casino promoters Guy Dufault and Michael Levesque is just how pulp-fiction these men are. Hungry for the fees that powerful organizations pay them to push their interests, and eager to look like big shots, they engaged in swaggering locker-room talk about destroying the governor through unsubstantiated innuendo about his private life. They came off as both menacing and pathetic.

The tough-guy remarks, especially Mr. Dufault's (the inadequately ruthless Mr. Levesque seems a hapless second banana), gave Rhode Islanders a nasty view into how politics is sometimes conducted: with personal attacks, in place of thoughtful, if impassioned, discussion of issues.

The saddest thing is that such incidents discourage good people from entering the hurly-burly of public life. How many honest and public-spirited citizens want to spend time in a world inhabited by the likes of Guy Dufault and Michael Levesque (who are, respectively, a Democrat and a Republican)? More Lysol, please!

Not that this should have been much of a surprise. Guy Dufault's arrogance, cynicism and ruthlessness are well known. Indeed, they have even been seen as entertaining in a state with an excessive tolerance for bad behavior in the political class.

Nevertheless, the angry governor, in denouncing the duo's remarks, unfortunately got carried away and charged the Narragansett Indian Tribe, the Harrah's casino company, and public-employee unions with supporting a Dufault-directed sleaze campaign against him. That's very unlikely, if only because such a campaign can so easily boomerang. The casino backers and union leaders were, we would guess, mortified by the Dufault-Levesque talk. Indeed, the Las Vegas-based Harrah's has canceled Mr. Dufault's lucrative lobbying-and-consulting deal. Killing its deal with Mr. Levesque would further benefit the state.

Rhode Islanders would also benefit if the public-employee unions stopped funding Mr. Dufault's activities. In particular, do the state's public-school teachers still want to be associated with someone like Guy Dufault? What a civics lesson! For that matter, why would any group pushing public-policy positions and concerned about its reputation have anything to do with Messrs. Dufault and Levesque?

Finally, Rhode Island's civic life would benefit if, in response to the attack on the Republican governor, the Democratic House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President Joseph Montalbano joined the Democratic Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty and Democratic Party Chairman William Lynch in denouncing the politics of character assassination, as practiced by Guy Dufault.