In 2nd District, clear choices face Democrats
07:59 AM EDT on Thursday, August 26, 2010
By Peter B. Lord
Journal STAFF Writer
One thing is clear to people who care about who goes to Congress from the 2nd District this year: In addition to five Republicans and independents, the three Democrats running in the Sept. 14 primary offer a broad spectrum of views.
Five-term Democratic incumbent James R. Langevin remains the key figure. He has won his past elections by wide margins and, despite the anti-incumbent fervor this year, he stands by a record that includes supporting federal stimulus funding and national health insurance.
Elizabeth M. “Betsy” Dennigan argues that Langevin has not been as effective as he should have been in representing Rhode Islanders. She also stands to the left of him on some social issues. For instance, he supports civil unions for gay couples; she supports same-sex marriages.
Ernest A. Greco, a political science professor at Roger Williams University, is far to the right of the other two. He is affiliated with a Christian group that opposes abortion and works to defend traditional marriage as well as religious liberty.
Not surprisingly, Langevin, the party-endorsed incumbent, has the biggest bankroll. He says he has raised $800,000 in the last two years for his reelection campaign.
Dennigan said she believes she has about $250,000. Greco says he hates to ask anyone for money, and that explains why he’s campaigning with just $10,000.
All three agree that the top issue with voters is the economy, or more specifically, jobs.
“I’m not hearing so much about social issues,” said Langevin. “It’s jobs. How can we improve the quality of life? People are nervous, afraid.”
“The war comes up and you hear a lot about the economy,” says Dennigan. “But it’s almost always about jobs. And a lot of seniors face increases in insurance co-pays and premiums while they remain our poorest citizens.”
Greco says cultural values are important to many voters, but he, too, hears more people talking about the economy and jobs than anything else.
A debate among the three on radio station WPRO earlier this week was somewhat skewed, because most of the questions focused on hot-button social issues. But it did help bring out key differences.
Langevin stood by his efforts to get the economy on track and create more jobs.
But Greco said the Democratic Party is going in the wrong direction, blaming it for running up $2 trillion in debt that most voters didn’t want or need. And, he said, the party fails to support human life from conception to natural death.
Dennigan said she has been frustrated with the partisan bickering that permeates Washington. She said it’s time for new leadership and new ideas and that more needs to be done to bring Rhode Island its fair share of federal dollars.
The candidates were asked: Do our troops have everything they need to fight in southwest Asia?
Langevin said yes. He is a member of the Armed Services Committee so he is in a position to see things are done right.
Dennigan said soldiers are saying they don’t have the equipment they need. Meanwhile, she said, billions of dollars in reconstruction aid is being squandered and lost.
Greco said having a timetable for bringing the troops home “makes no sense.”
Asked for their positions on abortion and same-sex marriage, Langevin said he doesn’t support abortion except in cases of rape, incest or saving the life of the mother. He said he supports equal rights for people who are gay or lesbian, but he prefers civil unions to marriage.
Dennigan said she supports women’s rights to choose and make their own reproductive decisions. She also supports same-sex marriage, based on the principle of equal rights for all.
Greco said he disagrees with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that provided women the right to abortions. He said marriage is part of “natural law” and that government has no authority to change that. He would like to see a defense of marriage amendment added to the Constitution.
How about the controversial Muslim cultural center proposed for southern Manhattan?
Langevin said he believes in the separation of church and state, and he considers the matter a local zoning issue.
Dennigan said she hoped its construction would build bridges among people.
Greco labeled those arguments “completely disingenuous.”
“It’s a triumphal monument being built over the graves of people who were killed by the very same ideology,” said Greco. “Try the Bronx. Try Brooklyn.”
Langevin said he was proud of his support of the stimulus funding, which he said brought $1.4 billion to Rhode Island and created 11,000 jobs. He said he is proud of his efforts to get the Pentagon to ramp up production of Virginia-class submarines, prompting more hiring by Electric Boat at Quonset Point. And for the future, he said, he is focusing on alternative energy, particularly the development of wind turbines offshore.
He also said he is proud of his support for national health care, because it can serve millions of people. And he said he’ll continue supporting stem-cell research, which in 5 to 10 years could benefit patients with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, as well as those, such as he, who suffer from spinal cord injuries.
A Brown University poll several weeks ago put Langevin way out in front in the race. But Dennigan said her consultants are skeptical of those results, and they say she is doing well.
She plans to focus on doing more to support the state’s small businesses rather than the big, “home run” projects the state’s Economic Development Corporation seems to favor.
She said her people expect only about 10 percent of the registered Democrats will vote in the primary. But she urges everyone to vote; don’t let others pick the candidate.
Greco says that with his preferences for religion and centrist policies, he’d be labeled a Christian Democrat, if the state had such a party.
He said he has been encouraged by right-to-life organizations, and by a group of professionals and academics forming a Rhode Island version of the Manhattan Declaration, a Christian movement supporting life, traditional marriage and religious freedom.
He said he also hears a lot of complaints about illegal immigration. He said that while his opponents talk about amnesty programs, he is more interested in enforcement.
