Charles R. Brayton, founder of |
A few days ago,
David Scharfenberg of the Phoenix wrote
a blog post entitled “The Curious Divide” noticing the distinct difference between
Rhode Island’s liberal federal delegation and its state legislature, which
skews moderate (and as one reader has pointed out, significantly to the right
of most Democratic state legislatures, with some Democrats more conservative
than some Republicans). Mr. Scharfenberg explains his view:
the split
vote – elect a moderate local rep and a liberal federal one – seems to
perfectly capture Rhode Island’s deep unease with its own politics: it is a
liberal state uncomfortable with its liberalism.
I’d agree, but I
don’t think it’s exactly right. Take the last election. In the race for
Governor, Lincoln Chafee’s advantage mainly came from two places; the cities of
Providence and Pawtucket and a group I like to think of as
“Bay Progressives” (though there were probably liberal Republicans in there as
well).
These are also
places where David Cicilline did extremely well against John Loughlin II,
though he was weaker in the Narragansett Bay
communities than Mr. Chafee. Mr. Cicilline’s advantage in Providence
and Pawtucket
overcame the lion’s share of his deficits elsewhere and pushed him to victory.
These are also the same places where David Segal performed well in the CD1
Democratic primary.
Basically, the
central urban areas, with their minority and working class populations, tend to
be strongest for liberal voters, and they can push elections to liberal
candidates. The bay area also attracts large concentrations of well-off,
highly-educated elites (as do the well-off portions of Providence
and Pawtucket ).
They tend to be strong on green issues and liberal on social issues. This
Urban-Bay coalition is a key part of the progressives who dominate federal
politics. Their enthusiasm can make or break a liberal candidate running for
statewide or federal office.
This isn’t to
say there aren’t urban progressives in Newport
or Woonsocket or North Providence, nor that
there aren’t equally important progressives in the more woodland areas of South County .
But their margins of support are less overwhelming, and there are fewer of
them. Providence
tends to make up the deficit.
There’s the
actual tension. It’s not that the state is uncomfortable with its liberalism,
it’s the historical tension that’s existed between urban core and country since
the Industrial Revolution poured Italian, Irish, Portuguese, and Quebecois into
the cities.
It’s where Rhode Island ’s corrupt political machine politics got
their foundation; then under the control of Republican “Blind Boss” Charles Brayton, the countryside prevented
the working poor and immigrants in Rhode
Island ’s cities from getting the amount of political
representation they deserved. This is not a secret, the General Assembly’s own history makes
this pretty clear (and is a pretty amazing narrative of that body until about
1994).
Now, of course, Providence ’s representation
is roughly proportionate to its population; but that tension lingers. The
well-off countryside can easily view the urban areas as basically a charity
basket-case. No wonder they vote for more conservative legislatures. The
problem is exacerbated by the largely assimilated white countryside and the
as-yet unassimilated immigrant and second-generation Americans who inhabit the
cities.
Taken
collectively, our state skews liberal; both because it actually is (even our
Republicans are more liberal than their peers in other states), but also
because the cities have a powerful voting constituency. In the General
Assembly, the towns and villages have more distinct representation, the
conservative ones can largely counterbalance the liberalism of the urban core.
Their own progressives can be outvoted by the larger numbers of conservative
voters. When progressives and liberals unite across the state, they’re a very
powerful constituency.
And that’s why I
think our federal politicians are so different from our state politicians.
P.S. This
analysis has missed moderates, and that’s largely because moderates don’t pull
the Assembly one way or the other.