Projo Politics Blog

May 7, 2008 Archives

Just how thin is Governor Carcieri's political skin?

An April 22 letter the governor sent to Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, the teachers' union, may provide a clue.

"It has come to my attention that Mr. Patrick Crowley, assistant executive director of the NEARI, has taken a strong position against my recent executive order on illegal immigration,;'' Carcieri wrote in a letter obtained by The Journal.

Referring to a position taken by Crowley, a frequent blogger on RIfuture.org, in an e-mail to a particular group, Carcieri reprises Crowley's criticism of the executive order:

"He (Crowley) states the governor of Rhode Island has committed the worst attack on immigrant's rights in at least a decade by issuing an executive order that targets undocumented immigrants and will affect every Rhode Islander.''

A copy of Crowley's e-mail was not available, but Crowley did not dispute its contents as described by the governor.

In his letter, Carcieri continues, "I would like to know if this is the official position of the National Education Association. Does Mr. Crowley speak for the NEA? I think it is shameful that a person of Mr. Crowley's position would inflame the debate and mischaracterize my executive order. I have made very effort to praise the accomplishments of legal immigrants and celebrate diversity in our state.

"From his position, I would have to assume that the NEA supports the hiring of illegal immigrants, believes it is proper for contractors to do business with the state to hire illegal immigrants and disagrees hat upon release of known illegal criminals from the ACI that we notify ICE. Am I correct in these assumptions?''

When contacted, Crowley said he was surprised that his comments so enraged Carcieri. ``I just couldn't believe it,'' said Crowley, noting that his position is similiar to one taken by some of the state's top religious leadwers, including the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, and the Rev. Donald Anderson, executive minister of the R.I. State Council of Churches.

NEA's Walsh replied to Carcieri, stating that Crowley's positions are his own. ``Pat does a lot of things,'' said Walsh, referring to Crowley's blogging and union activism as co-chairman of the state's Jobs With Justice group, which supports labor organizing among groups not traditionally well-represented in the labor movement, such as janitors.

The official spokesmen for the NEA on state issues are Walsh and NEA President Lawrence Purtil, Walsh said.

On immigration, the "NEA believes what the courts have ruled, which is that all children no matter where they come from are to be given access to public education without being stigmatized,'' said Walsh.

``I think the governor's letter speaks for itself','' said Jeff Neal, Carcieri's spokesman, when contacted.

Although Sen. Barack Obama's near-miss in Indiana and his crushing victory in North Carolina have made Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's pursuit a majority of Democratic convention delegates increasingly implausible, Sen. Jack Reed is one uncommitted party leader who remains unwilling to push her to quit the presidential race.

The Rhode Island senior senator is a superdelegate, one of the unpledged party leaders who hold the key to a nominating majority that neither candidate appears able to attain by the close of the caucus and primary season on June 3.

"I have not put an internal deadline'' on endorsing a Democrat for president, Reed told an interviewer this morning, "but the reality is we can't go much past the middle of June.''

Reed reiterated his intent to let the remaining contests play out-- starting with next Tuesday's West Virginia primary.

A great factor, he said, "is who is best positioned to win in November. This is not about selecting a nominee, it is about selecting a president.''

Reed remains confident that after the remaining votes are cast, it won't take long for Democrats to unite behind a standard-bearer in the general election contest against Republican Sen. John McCain.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island’s most prominent Clinton supporter, said he hopes she continues running, despite trailing in the race for delegates. “She’s entitled to fight on and I think she has a good message and I think the process is a good one.’’

But when asked what he’d tell Clinton if she called and reported she was mulling whether to stay in or pull out for the sake of party unity and possibly a chance to be vice president, Whitehouse said, “I’d probably tell her that she should do what’s in her heart.’’

He said she has put an enormous amount of work into a fight in which she has faced a hostile media environment and that she has been steeled by “operating in the toxic environment of Republican smear politics.‘’ Whitehouse declared, “I think she knows very well the position that she’s in and I trust her to make that decision.’’

Meanwhile, one of Obama’s best-known supporters, Lincoln Chafee, a former U.S. senator from Rhode Island and Republican-turned-independent, said he believes the Democratic race is over and can’t understand why Clinton doesn’t grasp the math of the competition for delegates.

As for Clinton setting off on a fresh round of campaigning today, a baffled Chafee asked, “What is the strategy? It eludes me.’’

-- John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington bureau, and M. Charles Bakst, Journal political columnist

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Coast Guard Academy says Vice President Dick Cheney will speak at its commencement ceremony May 21.

Academy officials say the vice president is set to deliver the keynote address at 11 a.m. at the school's 127th commencement.

President Bush spoke at the academy's graduation last year, and portrayed the Iraq war as a battle between the U.S. and al-Qaida. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff addressed cadets at the 2006 graduation.

-- The Associated Press