Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - August 1

Dee DeQuattro (@DeeDeQuattro)

Governor Chafee has now become a lame duck. If you didn’t know it before it’s clear now. That or he has completely sold out to the Democratic Party. Just look at Chafee’s lackluster response to the beach contracts scandal involving former Democratic Party Chairman David Caprio (who resigned after the State Police investigation became public) and State Representative Peter Palumbo. But Governor Chafee is just staying out of it. Even worse than the fact that these sketchy contracts are happening is the fact that the Governor of the state doesn’t even seem to care.

David Caprio

Life's no beach

Meanwhile while Peter Palumbo and David Caprio might have won the bid for the beach concession contracts but they certainly do not win in the court of public opinion. The two are trying to say this whole thing is a misunderstanding. That Palumbo did intend to run the concessions but had to back out last minute and Caprio who has never run a concession in his life just happened to be the next highest bidder and then because the two are old chums Caprio just decided to hire Palumbo. Mmmm-Hmmm, Right! That is exactly how it looks to the public. It doesn’t matter though, Palumbo will probably still get reelected and this is probably not the last time we see David Caprio.

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Golden goose turned ugly duck

Then there is the Rhode Island Republican Party. They should change their names to the day late party. The situation with the Chairman of the Democratic Party being investigated by the State Police was like a golden goose and the GOP didn’t take it. The GOP should have come out swinging the day Parker Gavigan’s investigative report was released. Instead they waited and did nothing. Then Caprio resigned and then the following day the GOP decides to weigh in on the matter, attacking Caprio, who already resigned, and calling for Palumbo to resign. Talk about a day late and a dollar short. They traded in a golden goose for an ugly duckling.

Here the GOP could use from schooling from the liberals, Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals reminds us that you should never let a good crisis go to waste. When you have a prominent member of the opposing team about to implode it is not the time to sit back and watch.

Ahead of the game

Not all Republicans remained silent, kudos to Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Block for coming out in front of the issue and calling out Caprio prior to his resignation. At least someone is paying attention.

Fung had a win too, he was the first candidate to call for an investigation into state contracts.

Neighborhood watch

Meanwhile in Battleground Providence, all of the mayoral candidates are missing a golden opportunity to get out in front of the violence on Federal Hill. Buddy Cianci should be leading the charge saying Federal Hill was safe under his watch, although he is not doing that and neither are the other candidates.

Buddy and foe

However you need to hand it to Brett Smiley, he is not laying off the Buddy attacks. Smiley laid out his plan for ethical government and while he didn’t directly mention Buddy Cianci, attack dog Elizabeth Roberts, who endorsed Smiley at his event, did. She called Cianci out for bringing corruption to city hall.

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Now he just needs a Tinder

Meanwhile, Buddy Cianci for Mayor has made it to Twitter (@CianciForMayor). He has a whooping two tweets, 246 followers and he is following one person: Ted Nesi. Congratulations Ted! I guess this makes Ted a winner this week too.

That’s all for now. Tune into The Mic Gardiner Show on WBOB on Tuesday, I’ll be his guest.

Have a great weekend, if you’re looking for something to do why not hit the beach? I hear the concession stands are pretty “hot” right now.

Dee Dequattro is a WBOB political columnist and reporter for ABC 6 (WLNE).

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More Pulse on Politics

• Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - July 25
  
• Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - June 27
  
• Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - July 18
  
• Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - June 20

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