 Photo: Courtesy of Dan McGowan Dee DeQuattro (@DeeDeQuattro) Finally, some movement on the Buddy Cianci campaign; the campaign held their first volunteer meeting at their Broad Street headquarters. Maybe Buddy is keeping a low profile, at least until after the primary and then plans to come on strong, we will see.  Buckeye black eye Meanwhile Allan Fung is taking a beating this week as it comes out his ad was shot in Ohio. What the heck is in Ohio? Well apparently a really nice diner. Fung shot the ad there most likely at the recommendation of his media group and he probably saved money shooting the ad out of state. The problem is it looks silly, especially in a state that brags about how good our food is. Will the issue make or break the campaign? Probably not especially when you consider every candidate has and out of state ad company. Either way it certainly hurts the campaign. It gives the Block Campaign new ammunition for their arsenal and provides fodder for talk radio. Calling all minions Meanwhile, while RI might now be open for business the Raimondo campaign is. The candidate is not shy about the fact that she needs canvassers and she is willing to pay. She has posted ads on craigslist and internmatch. She also has listings posted in local cafes. Troop tropes Four candidates, Clay Pell, Ken Block, Gina Raimondo, and Angel Taveras have all released veteran plans. That is plans aimed at helping Rhode Island’s veteran population. They are all quite similar and they reflect some of the key points I laid out in a blog earlier this year. Kudos to these four (your turn, Allan). Typically veterans are not given a place in public discourse and this year they have a spot. Now let’s see if they put their money where their mouths are if they get elected. As an aside, the Taveras plan was released first. Turning the other cheek Speaking of Taveras, he is continuing the attacks against Clay Pell. Now he is defending his attacks saying quite clearly Pell is just not qualified to be governor. Meanwhile the 33-year-old Pell is remaining positive and ignoring the criticisms. Check! Meanwhile Providence Mayoral Michael Solomon has released his plan to raise the car tax exemption in Providence. The idea of paying less in taxes is welcome news to all city residents and the plan is likely to help the candidate gain support among fiscally minded voters, unless of course they listen to Solomon’s opponent Jorge Elorza. Checkmate! The Elorza Campaign made a great political move when the candidate fired back at Solomon’s car tax plan saying that if it wasn’t for Solomon voting for the car tax, Providence wouldn’t even have this problem to begin with. Now it looks like Solomon is back tracking from his earlier decisions.  Ne-pot calling the kettle black Patrick Kennedy was back in town this week. Remember him? Well Rhode Island’s seniors sure do--and they were happy to greet him and his family along with the candidates he was stumping for as they made visits to senior homes on Monday and Tuesday. Kennedy was here to throw his weight behind Seth Magaziner for Treasurer, Guillaume De Ramel for Secretary of State, and Angel Taveras for Governor. Kennedy is still just as out of touch as he has ever been. While campaigning for Taveras, the son of Ted Kennedy and the nephew of John F. Kennedy, actually took shots at Clay Pell for having things handed to him and running on his last name. Kennedy was elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly when he was 21. He admitted he was elected on him name but said he was determined to prove himself. He said that that is why he waited until he was the ripe old age of 27 to run for U.S. Congress after he had shown people how hard working he is. Reality check, Patrick. You literally have been a career politician your whole life. At least Pell can argue that he had prestigious internships and has an Ivy League education. Either way a Pell, a Kennedy, they are one of the same. For Kennedy to be taking shots at Pell for not being qualified is a bit shocking. Considering that Kennedy’s experience when he was elected to the United State Congress only involved a degree from Providence College and a few years in the state legislature. Kennedy noted that he chose to run fro Congress not Governor because he did not think he was ready to be governor. In Kennedy’s defense, he did at least have more political experience then Pell has when he was elected. Ducking out Hey, did you notice that Governor Chafee is on vacation? Probably not, why would you. It’s not like the now lame-duck governor has been making much noise or doing much of anything while he is home. Put your money where your ice is Lastly, with all the hype over the ice bucket challenge some candidates are hopping on the bandwagon. I’d like to know how many of them are doing it for show and how many actually cut the check. With that have a great weekend folks. See you next week and things should be getting interesting with only 25 days until the primary. Dee Dequattro is a WBOB political columnist and reporter for ABC 6 (WLNE)
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