The 2006 election season is really heating up. By working for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse, gubernatorial candidate Charlie Fogarty and lt. governor candidate Elizabeth Roberts '78, we can help set a new agenda at the national and state levels. In this election, Brown students have an opportunity to help shape the future of our country.
After six years of failed Republican policies and President George W. Bush's irresponsible leadership, and after a dozen years of Republican governors in Rhode Island, our country and state are headed in the wrong direction. From the stay-the-course policy in Iraq, to corruption scandals, to attacks on a woman's right to choose, to destructive environmental practices, to the lack of affordable health care, to disastrous education and economic policies, the administrations at state and federal levels have failed Rhode Islanders and all Americans.
The first vote that a U.S. senator makes each session is for the leadership of the Senate. For the past six years, Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75 has voted for leadership that has proven incompetent and corrupt. When Whitehouse is elected, he will vote for leadership that will take our country in a new direction. With Democratic control of the Senate, Whitehouse will push for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, comprehensive health care, ethics reform and the protection of Social Security. In the most important decision Chafee makes every Senate session - choosing who will lead the U.S. Senate - he always favors the Bush Republicans. That's reason enough for a change.
Carcieri promised many things when he was elected four years ago, but he has failed to deliver. Current Lt. Governor Fogarty will bring actual reform to the Rhode Island government. From ethics to education to lowering property taxes, Fogarty has the experience and energy needed to set Rhode Island back on track for a brighter future. Along with Roberts, he will fight for affordable health care for all Rhode Islanders and provide a counterweight to the anti-choice legislature that Carcieri, as a Republican, cannot.
Recent polls show that both Whitehouse and Fogarty are well-positioned to win this year, but they will need our help to beat two Republican incumbents that Bush and the GOP are desperate to protect. Every scenario for Democrats retaking the Senate includes a win in Rhode Island, making the election here one of the most important in the country. If national attention is focused on Rhode Island this November, ours should be too. We are fortunate to live in a state small enough that the manpower and energy of college students can be a huge asset to statewide campaigns.
The most important thing that we can all do between now and Election Day is help these candidates in their efforts to contact as many Rhode Island voters as possible and share the Democratic message. The Democratic Party has been the greatest vehicle of progressive reform in this country since the 1930s, and we need to remind voters that it is Democratic candidates like Whitehouse, Fogarty and Roberts that will help bring about the necessary changes to our state and country.
The Brown Democrats need help canvassing and phonebanking every weekend from now until Election Day. Not only are canvassing and phonebanking fun opportunities to get to know fellow students, learn about Rhode Island and its politics and get off campus, they make up an extremely important contribution to winning campaigns. TV ads are a big part of modern politics, but it will be our work on the ground that wins or loses this election.
Brown students have strong convictions, from opposing the war in Iraq to supporting women's rights, desiring clean government, protection of the environment as well as equal rights and civil liberties for all Americans. This election season, it is critical to work for the candidates who will fight for our values.
Tor Tarantola '08 is president of the Brown Democrats, Craig Auster '08 is vice president and Carly Rush '08 is the national politics chair.
