Enticing Brown students with free food and a forum for political discourse, U.S. Senate candidate and Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown spoke Thursday night at 62 John St. The Democrat put out a call for reform of the nation's education system and urged students to join his campaign.
"The way you get from here to there in this country is with public education," he said. "We've got to fix the public schools."
About 60 students attended the event, held in the front yard of a student supporter's house. In addition to education, Brown spoke for about 45 minutes about environmentalism, the war in Iraq and abortion.
Brown, 34, portrayed himself as a man of the people, frequently referring to the years he spent at City Year Rhode Island, a community service organization he founded that is affiliated with AmeriCorps. Relatively new to politics, he said he is "not a favorite of the political establishment" because of his idealism and his grassroots style.
"I don't like to do things their way," he said.
Brown entered politics in 2002, when he defeated incumbent Ed Inman to become secretary of state.
So far, four candidates have entered the 2006 Senate race: Brown, incumbent Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, former Democratic state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, a Republican who declared his candidacy Thursday.
Brown spoke at length about public education, which he said was one of his top priorities. He described the dismal state of public education and blasted President Bush for his education policy.
"I don't know how George Bush sleeps at night, talking about No Child Left Behind, which takes away funds from public schools, talking about increasing Pell Grants when he actually cut them," he said.
He criticized a higher education system in which thousands of students are prevented from attending colleges every year because of tuition costs and said that the nation must find a solution.
When asked about his views on the environment, Brown blamed the current U.S. energy crisis and rising gas prices on the nation's unwillingness to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.
"We're paying the price for the fact that 30 years ago, people didn't listen to Jimmy Carter about alternative energy," he said. "We are now the No. 1 funder of terrorism in the world because we depend on oil, because we didn't do what we were supposed to 30 years ago."
The United States should support alternative energy projects such as Cape Wind, the offshore wind farm on Nantucket Sound, to alleviate the problem, he said.
Brown also blasted Bush for misleading the public about the war in Iraq, and called for him to bring home American troops.
"I was the first major Senate candidate to call on President Bush to set a timetable to bring troops home," said Brown, who said he has been against the war since its beginning. "I said, 'You ought to bring them home in six months,' " which would give American troops enough time to train Iraqi troops to take over.
In a brief interview after the question-and-answer session, Brown spoke about his opponents.
When asked about Chafee, Brown said he and his party were not doing their jobs well.
"My question about Lincoln Chafee and the Republicans who are controlling Washington is what have they done to solve the problems people are facing everyday," Brown said. "Schools have gotten worse, health care is more expensive. ... What has he done to solve these problems?"
Brown also noted Chafee's ties to Bush, saying he has voted in favor of the president about 80 percent of the time.
And Brown cited differences between himself and his Demo-cratic opponent, Whitehouse.
"He's a guy who's been in politics his whole life, and I respect him," he said. "I've spent most of my life working with the community, running nonprofit organizations, tackling tough little problems. ... That's the type of leadership we need in Washington."
Of the four candidates, "I'm the only one who's not a millionaire," Brown said with a smile.
The structure of Thursday's event, called "Grillin' with Matt," was unusual. Campaign organizers invited students and community members to barbecue with Brown, and then to "grill" him with questions afterward. John Collins, the campaign's communications director, said the style of the event fit Brown's grassroots style.
"We didn't want it to be a political event," Collins said. "(The grill) is a much more casual, personal way to get to know people."
University students gave Brown a warm welcome, applauding several times during the question-and-answer session. Several students in attendance had already signed up to work on the campaign, and most of the others found Brown to be a viable candidate for the Senate.
"I think he has the kind of youthful optimism that established politics is missing," said Michael Soule '06. "I also liked his immediate answers to the Roe v. Wade question and environmental questions - that he was so immediately pro-environment and pro-choice, I find very good."
Soule said he is slightly but not overly concerned with Brown's lack of political experience.
Michelle Osterman '06 agreed with Soule, saying she liked what Brown said. She thought his work with City Year was very important.
"I feel very positive about his background," Osterman said. "He founded City Year, and he has experience working with poor communities and doing direct services. I think he has more of an understanding of poverty and economic justice and social justice than other candidates do."
But although she thought highly of Brown, she did not immediately endorse him and instead took a measured approach to the Senate race.
"I don't know too much of the other candidates," she said. "I'll have to educate myself about them."
