By Bob Plain in RIFuture.org
We’ve got all sorts of Democrats here in the deep blue Ocean
State. We’ve got progressive Democrats, young Democrats, Democrats in name
only, we even boasted the lone ALEC Democrat for a spell last year before his
constituents threw him out of office.
Now add to the list: Wall Street Democrat. That’s the new meme
being used to define Gina Raimondo.
We’ve been saying it for a while. But when a post about Raimondo hiring a campaign expert
to manage the treasurer’s office went viral, GoLocal picked up on the idea for their expose on her fundraising
prowess among the banksters. In fact, it’s the most compelling part of their
story.
It’s entirely warranted, entirely fair and one of most relevant
bullets points on the general treasurer/gubernatorial candidates’ resume.
Pension cuts, payday loan reform and financial literacy are all important, but
so are her deep ties to Wall Street.
Brown political science professor Wendy Schiller makes a great
point in the GoLocal article.
“Politicians raise money from the people they know and meet
through their jobs – so it makes sense that a treasurer would receive money
from financial concerns,” she said.
It also makes sense that, if they want that money to keep
coming, they will act accordingly. Gina Raimondo will surely always represent
Rhode Islanders above her out-of-state Wall Street donors … the question is how
close of a second will the Wall Street donors be.
Bob Plain is the editor/publisher of Rhode Island's Future. Previously,
he's worked as a reporter for several different news organizations both in
Rhode Island and across the country.
