Robitaille looking at challenging Whitehouse

[redcommander]

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/politics/robitaille%3A-i-may-run-for-senate-in-12

I'm thinking Avedisian or Carcieri would be better, but Robitaille did almost knock off Chaffee when he shouldn't have, so who knows.

[Franzl]

lol

[Landslide Lyndon]

Yeah, I'm sure Whitehouse is sweating bullets as we speak.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

It'd be nice for Republicans to field a reputable challenger here, even if there's no real shot at Republicans picking it up. It's nice to have choices.

[Torie]

Whitehouse is an extremely capable Senator. He is not just another liberal drone, IMO.

[Saxwsylvania]

Whitehouse is an extremely capable Senator. He is not just another liberal drone, IMO.

What makes you say that?  Seems like a pretty apt description.

[Torie]

Whitehouse is an extremely capable Senator. He is not just another liberal drone, IMO.

What makes you say that?  Seems like a pretty apt description.

Watching him on the tube, and reading about him. Compare him to say, Durbin. Just a suggestion.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Whitehouse is a strong candidate and won't be defeated I might add any GOP person looking to do so will be very disappointed.

[Antonio the Sixth]

In RI ? In 2012 ?

No.

[Keystone Phil]

At least we won't have a nobody running. I still can't believe he almost beat Chafee. Thank God I can't vote up there because I likely would have supported Caprio, thinking Robitaille would be a distant third.

[Mjh]

The GOP bench in Rhodes Island isn't very deep, so he would probably be the best candidate we could field there.
He did manage to keep it close in the Gubernatorial race this year.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Guys, what you all seem to forget is that it was a 3-way race, and that he won a mere 32%. Really, would he have stood a chance in a traditional race ?
...And even if he had an infinitesimal chance in a gubernatorial contest, Senatorial races are FAR more partisan than gubernatorial ones. Really, it's lost.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The GOP bench in Rhodes Island isn't very deep, so he would probably be the best candidate we could field there.
He did manage to keep it close in the Gubernatorial race this year.

     True, though Senatorial races are more partisan & Whitehouse is an incumbent. Robitaille would do better than the next GOPer, but I still see him getting, at most, 35-38%.

[seanobr]

The complexion of the race changed significantly after Caprio's indignant response to President Obama's decision not to endorse him, which actually was a favor to Lincoln Chafee for his support of Obama during the Presidential election.  Until that point, Robitaille was in third place and, while he was attracting the stalwart Republican base that does exist here, I never saw him as acquiring the independent or conservative Democratic vote needed to counterbalance the union and progressive influence.  I wasn't a supporter of his campaign simply because, in my estimation, he did not possess the creativity or political acumen required to deal with our notorious General Assembly, but that has as much to do with the nature of the office as his own limitations.  Caprio, who was running to the right of Lincoln Chafee and even had a brief flirtation with changing his party affiliation before Robitaille took up the mantle (at least, the Providence Journal ran a story strongly implying such), was simply a much better candidate and probably would've been indistinguishable in practice from a Robitaille governorship.

If Robitaille does challenge Sheldon Whitehouse, the assessment above mine is correct -- he will garner 35 percent of the vote at most and either become a perennial candidate for office or recede back into the private sector after his political dalliances.  This is the most liberal state in the country at present, and a Republican who can do nothing more than recite the national platform and offer little of his own in the way of vision -- to give ambivalent elements of the Democratic electorate a reason to shift their support -- will never be relevant here.  If or when the irresponsibility and imprudence of the General Assembly finally brings our Democratic establishment into disrepute, that may change.  

The Rhode Island Republican Party has a financing, enthusiasm, and identity problem, and it will require exceptional and pragmatic individuals to overcome the severe disadvantage of identifying as one here to make a difference.  This is no sleight on John Robitaille -- he would be an able Republican candidate in almost any other state -- but he is not that person.

[Lunar]

I was heavily following the RIGov race in 2010.  It's not exactly shocking that John Robitaille was using the race as a platform to build statewide profile for another race -- strong seconds help one's political career and he was raising a fraction of the amount the other candidates were rocking. 

[Mjh]

The GOP bench in Rhodes Island isn't very deep, so he would probably be the best candidate we could field there.
He did manage to keep it close in the Gubernatorial race this year.

     True, though Senatorial races are more partisan & Whitehouse is an incumbent. Robitaille would do better than the next GOPer, but I still see him getting, at most, 35-38%.

Do you think Loughlin could be a stronger candidate, even though he didn't do that well in RI-1?

[Associate Justice PiT]

The GOP bench in Rhodes Island isn't very deep, so he would probably be the best candidate we could field there.
He did manage to keep it close in the Gubernatorial race this year.

     True, though Senatorial races are more partisan & Whitehouse is an incumbent. Robitaille would do better than the next GOPer, but I still see him getting, at most, 35-38%.

Do you think Loughlin could be a stronger candidate, even though he didn't do that well in RI-1?

     Maybe if he could get money behind him, though at any rate I don't see this seat as worth seriously contesting. Barring a massive scandal, Whitehouse is safe.

[Eraserhead]

He would make a pretty respectable sacrificial lamb.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

A lot of Democratic incumbents could be in trouble in 2012, but Whitehouse isn't one of them.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

He would make a pretty respectable sacrificial lamb.

This.

I actually like Robitaille and depending on the climate could see him breaking 40, provided he doesn't invoke Reagan like he did in one of those last debates.

[Kevin]

To the forumites saying Whitehouse is popular according to a PPP poll done over the summer his disapprovals were much higher this his approvals.

So he could very remotely be vulnerable and perhaps given a run for his money given the right candidate.

[Franzl]

To the forumites saying Whitehouse is popular according to a PPP poll done over the summer his disapprovals were much higher this his approvals.

So he could very remotely be vulnerable and perhaps given a run for his money given the right candidate.

Yeah right.

[Kevin]

To the forumites saying Whitehouse is popular according to a PPP poll done over the summer his disapprovals were much higher this his approvals.

So he could very remotely be vulnerable and perhaps given a run for his money given the right candidate.

Yeah right.

Perhaps Weld Vs. Kerry 2.0?

[Landslide Lyndon]

To the forumites saying Whitehouse is popular according to a PPP poll done over the summer his disapprovals were much higher this his approvals.

So he could very remotely be vulnerable and perhaps given a run for his money given the right candidate.

Chuck Schumer was pretty unpopular last summer. We all saw how difficult was his reelection.

[Kevin]

To the forumites saying Whitehouse is popular according to a PPP poll done over the summer his disapprovals were much higher this his approvals.

So he could very remotely be vulnerable and perhaps given a run for his money given the right candidate.

Chuck Schumer was pretty unpopular last summer. We all saw how difficult was his reelection.

Really?

First I've heard of him being unpopular in NY ever, besides Schumer's political skills are god-like and the state GOP is non-existent.

That's less so in the case of Whitehouse, even though Rhode Island is a state as politically Democratic and liberal as they come.