Paul Ryan jumps into the race – between Cicilline and Doherty
August 13th, 2012 at 12:29 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
Rhode Island Democrats could barely contain their glee on Saturday morning when Republican Mitt Romney announced that his running mate would be Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, the GOP’s arch-conservative top wonk – and none more so than David Cicilline.
Cicilline was running against Ryan before Brendan Doherty, and the Democrat’s campaign immediately declared that Ryan’s selection made the 1st District race “even more critical.” Doherty offered a far more subdued reaction, praising Ryan as “articulate, intelligent, and open-minded” but distancing himself from his Medicare proposal and opposition to Simpson-Bowles.
Cicilline knows his only hope of winning this fall is to nationalize the race and run as a generic Democrat, reminding 1st District voters that a majority of them are, at heart, center-left on federal matters. Doherty, like Ron Machtley in 1988, needs to keep voters thinking about how much they dislike the incumbent.
Romney’s choice of Ryan instantly gives Cicilline a powerful new way to portray the national GOP as a radical group out to shrink the federal government, cut taxes on wealthy Americans and phase out traditional Medicare. Doherty’s statement revealed the fine line he has to walk – distance himself from Ryan, but not quite so much that conservatives desert him.
The question congressional strategists are asking – not just in the 1st District but from sea to shining sea – is how much Ryan really matters. It’s not like Democrats were ignoring Ryan and his budget before he became the VP choice. Will his direct tie to Romney and higher profile make it easier for voters to grasp that argument? And will they buy it?
“The reality is that Ryan is now every Republicans’ running mate whether they like it or not,” Politico’s Kate Nocera wrote this morning, “forcing GOP candidates who would just as soon run from the debate over senior citizen entitlements to embrace the third rail of American politics like never before.”
Doherty’s aides are hopeful they can continue to maintain a safe distance from the national party, as they’ve been doing for months amidst a growing onslaught from local Democrats. They knew that was coming even if Ryan wasn’t next to them on the ballot – and if he gets a few more Republicans excited to work on the campaign and vote in November, so much the better.
Democrats also face a challenge: Brendan Doherty isn’t Paul Ryan.
Doherty is about as close to a policy blank slate as you can get – a bit like Eisenhower in 1952, drafted by the GOP because of his public service outside elected office rather than his policy positions. Paul Ryan is a committed movement conservative who’s spent almost his entire adult life on Capitol Hill and wants to push government in a sharply different direction; Brendan Doherty was a state trooper who probably didn’t spend much time thinking about the rate of taxation on capital gains before he decided to run for Congress.
Democrats’ strongest evidence for a connection is Doherty’s comments at a May Tea Party meeting noting that Ryan is “digging his feet in” on his controversial proposals: “I applaud him for that and I support him.” That’s a lot closer to an endorsement of Ryan than Doherty’s more nuanced recent statements taking issue with his policies.
But even if Doherty says he wouldn’t vote for Ryan’s policy blueprint, Democrats can make a different case – the only roll call that matters is the one for speaker, and Doherty will vote to put John Bohener and his Republican committee chairmen in charge of the House chamber, giving them the power to push through Ryan’s policies even if Doherty eventually votes against them. It’s basically the same case Sheldon Whitehouse made in 2006 against Lincoln Chafee, who by then was clearly estranged from the national GOP.
Replacing front-page stories about Providence’s financial problems with concerns about Republican Medicare policy undoubtedly benefits Cicilline, particularly if he avoids discussing Obama’s proposals for cutting the program. The Ryan pick just adds to the tightrope Doherty has to walk, and doing so won’t be easy for a first-time candidate who stumbled out of the gate and is facing one of Rhode Island politics’ most skillful debaters under a glaring spotlight.
The Republican’s ability to navigate the road ahead – along with voters’ willingness to reconsider their opposition to Cicilline – will likely determine who the 1st District sends to Washington in November. And once he gets there, the winner must face the fact that, Paul Ryan or no Paul Ryan, soaring health care costs are a real problem.
Update: Via Politico’s Charlie Mahtesian, here’s what national GOP strategists are telling Republicans like Brendan Doherty they should do to counteract Ryan-themed attacks – basically, fight the Democrats to a draw on the Medicare issue and then pivot back to the economy.
(photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Tags: 1st Congressional District, brendan doherty, campaign 2012, congress, david cicilline, mitt romney, paul ryan
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
I don’t think any Republican will be able to get distance from the Ryan choice. Obama got a very nice belated birthday present, and old fashioned moderate Republicans got a major obstacle. Good luck to the strange union-member Republican Doherty, his message is so mixed to begin with, that it would take a more seasoned politican to get beyond his own inconsistancies, especially now. Clarifying his position has just become much more difficult, while Cicilline has had his own obstacles cleanly removed. Cicciline’s Providence past isn’t such a big deal in the face of all that Ryan represents. Independents who favor Doherty have a problem they didn’t have before when the issues were mainly local.
Snow,
He lied to us all. That’s not a big deal? Wow. What do you tell your children?
[...] U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's place on the national ticket, however, gives Cicilline a chance to …Paul Ryan jumps into the race – between Cicilline and DohertyWPRI-TV 12 (blog)all 4 news [...]
HOPEFULLY YOU HAVE SOME SMART PEOPLE HERE THIS TIME VOTING.
THIS SCUM CICCILINE MUST GO. ALL HE CARES ABOUT IT HIS AGENDA, WHICH IS SENDING US INTO A DEEP HOLE OUT OF WHICH WE WILL NEVER RECOVER.
[...] Ryan’s proposal for changing Medicare is sure to be a flash point this fall in the Cicilline-Doherty race (or the Gemma-Doherty race). The candidates are entitled to [...]
[...] Ryan’s proposal for changing Medicare is sure to be a flash point this fall in the Cicilline-Doherty race (or the Gemma-Doherty race). The candidates are entitled to [...]
Doherty will beat the liar Cicilline by 20 percent.All that matters is Cicilline cant be trusted.
Dan, if you want to focus on what Cicciline did or didn’t do in Providence, that’s your prerogative. I’m worried about extremist Republicans controlling the senate. Cicciline has done an excellent job ias a senator. I will vote on his senate record with an eye on the national situation. Again, if you want to pretend that Rhode Island is a church and Cicciline is a clergyman who lied, go ahead. I prefer to concern myself with what will happen if the senate becomes republican: cuts to the poor, the elderly, social security, and medicare.
snow,
you are the reason this state is in such miserable state. this state should be ashamed.
extremist republicans??? where???
i guess you like thieves better. like cicciline that lies and while doing so smiles in your face.
what a scum
Tea Party Republicans in Congress are extremists.
Snow wrote: ” I’m worried about extremist Republicans controlling the senate. Cicciline has done an excellent job ias a senator. I will vote on his senate record”
Wow. And she is a public school teacher and frequently comments on politics. Cicciline is not a Senator, he’s a Representative. Reed and Whitehouse are Senators. She likes to rant on about how much she knows about politics and those awful Republicans and how great the Democrats are, yet she doesn’t even know which seat Cicciline has. That’s embarrassing.
Oh, and if you want to vote based on what Cicciline has done while in Washington, well, Doherty has done just about an equal amount and he’s not a “Senator” either.
AND BY THE WAY FOR THE RECORD
PAUL RYAN LEAVES MEDICATE ALONE IF YOU ARE NOW 55 AND/OR OVER. SO WHAT ARE YOU SENIORS WORRIED ABOUT.
NOBODY IS GOING TO SEND YOU TO THE CHAIR EXCEPT THE DEMOCRATS WHEN THE MONEY RUNS
OUT THEN WE ALL GO DOWN
Perhaps seniors are concerned about their children and grandchildren. Perhaps pulling up the ladder after themselves isn’t part of their values.
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH!
A French doctor says ‘Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.’
A German doctor says ‘That is nothing; we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.
The Russian doctor says ‘In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.’
An American doctor, not to be outdone, says ‘You guys are way behind. We recently took a man with no brains out of Illinois, put him in the White House, and now half the country is looking for work.
MyRightWingDad.net
A user-generated archive and interpretive center dedicated to the medium of forwarded right-wing emails passed on from right-wing dads everywhere. “Begin Forwarded Message:”
RE: Divorce Agreement between Liberal and Conservative America
Divorce Agreement between Liberal and Conservative America
I got this through one of the many 2nd amendment groups I belong to.
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950′s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:
Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).
We’ll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s and rednecks. We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we’ll help provide them security.
We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying the bill.
We’ll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.
You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We’ll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We’ll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute Imagine, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.
We’ll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we’ll keep our history, our name and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.
Sincerely,
John J. Wall
Law Student and an American
P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand & Jane Fonda with you.
P.P.S Of course you could not forget Pelosi as leader of the gang!
Soon all the private sector middle class taxpayers will have left the state and the only middle class taxpayers left will be working for the goverment so they can just pay each other on payday. It wll be just fine so don’t get concerned.
[...] There are plenty of reasons Paul Ryan presents a big headache for Brendan Doherty. Here’s another one: he makes the campaign much more wonky, and even [...]