Rep. Donna Walsh goes toe-to-toe with her opponents at the
Knockdown in Narragansett
Tina Jackson and Kevin Prescott get ready to square off against Rep. Donna Walsh. |
By Will Collette
Rep. Donna Walsh, who represents all of Charlestown, plus
Block Island and parts of Westerly and South Kingstown, faced off against her
two opponents, Tina Jackson Baker (R) and Kevin Prescott (independent), at the
League of Women Voters candidate debate in Narragansett on October 10.
I didn’t go to the debate (time conflict), but you can watch
the video posted on the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch. Click
here – it’s in nine easy-to-digest segments.
Not shown on the video is the dramatic arrival at the debate
site by Tina Jackson right at the very minute when the debate was going to
start. Fortunately, we have this dispatch from Progressive Charlestown Special
Correspondent Henry Walsh:
I attended the forum Wednesday night (October 10) which
can be seen on the Narragansett- South Kingstown Patch and to be announced on
TV. One of the spectacular events of the night, if not the only spectacular event
of the night was the sudden appearance of Tina Jackson.
The time to start the
forum had arrived and a murmur of “where's Jackson?” passed through the room.
At the moment the forum was to start, Jackson burst through the double doors on
to the center of the room, her hair flowing like a superman's cape.
Holy shit,
she looked 7 feet tall! Her stiletto heels were at least 4 inches long,
complemented by black stockings, and appeared to have been poured
into her dress. Juxtapose that with the conservative New England attire
of the audience.
After that flamboyant entry, Jackson took her seat and it
was “Play Ball” time. Donna Walsh stood on her record as our state
Representative without hesitation.
Donna Walsh talks about her record |
While Donna could speak to the audience about her record,
her opponents were not really in much of a position to do the same. Kevin
Prescott is a first-time, probably last time, candidate. He actually admitted during the course of the debate
that he didn’t know what he was doing or any of the answers to the questions.
You’ll see in the video that toward the very end, Prescott understood that
entering the race was a really big mistake. Donna did her best to console
Prescott both before and after the debate.
Tina Jackson, on the other hand, delivered her lines from
the state GOP playbook like the practiced performer that she is. Jackson runs
one of the lobby groups representing the fishing industry.
Tina Jackson after her dramatic entry, telling her fish tales |
Look
at the video and see for yourself. For a person who supposedly has
expertise on fisheries, this is a terrible idea on many, many levels. One is
the question of whether the state actually has the power to do that.
Second is the complication caused by the Interstate Commerce clause
of the Constitution. If somehow Rhode Island managed to open up the
three-mile limit to unrestricted fishing (which is nuts), all fishing vessels, not just Rhode Island vessels, would have
unregulated access to take whatever they can catch.
Arrrr! Does Rhode Island need to build its own fleet? |
Then of course there is the simple truth that unregulated
fishing will simply mean the fish will be gone that much faster.
Anyway, Tina Jackson’s principle area of policy expertise is
supposed to be the law regarding commercial fishing – and this is what she
comes up with?
Up until this debate, there haven’t been a whole lot of Tina
Jackson sightings around the 36th District. Maybe the reason she was
at the debate, almost late with the dramatic entrance and all, is that it took
place in Narragansett, which is way outside the 36th District, but
closer to her constituency in the fishing fleet.
Now that she has surfaced and made her case for why she
should be elected instead of Donna, it’s time to take a closer look at who Tina
Jackson is and what, if anything, she has to offer the voters of the 36th
District.