Whitehouse for U.S. Senate

Right off the bat, let me make one thing perfectly clear: personally, I am not fond of Sheldon Whitehouse. And that’s putting it mildly. I have yet to have a pleasant experience when dealing with Mr. Whitehouse and/or his staff. My negative feelings for Mr. Whitehouse first surfaced back in the late 1990s, when I was producing a series of political debates for one of the local Providence television stations. Out of all the candidates for the various races… out of all the staffers with whom I dealt… none was more obnoxious or full of themselves than the Whitehouse camp. The whole Whitehouse group, Sheldon included, had an air of an“we’re better than you, so why do we even need to acknowledge your existence” attitude going on. I've dealt with and worked with many politicians, campaign managers, and political staffers over the years... and the vast majority of those dealings were pleasant and professional. The Whitehouse campaign stands out as a rare exception to that statement.

That being said… I’m putting the good of the country before my own personal feelings when I urge you to vote for Sheldon Whitehouse for U.S. Senate. This race is bigger than the individuals at hand; it's the entire direction of our country that is at stake. With control of the Senate up for grabs, a Whitehouse victory in Rhode Island would go a long way towards ensuring a Democratic takeover of Congress. The current seatholder, Lincoln Chafee, contends that he’s the best man for the job (of course) and he’s attempting to appeal to the independent-mindedness of Rhode Islanders when he points out that he often disagrees with George W. Bush. But what Chafee fails to realize is that even though he does often disagree with GWB (and in the interest of giving-credit-where-credit's-due, Linc did vote against the Iraq war resolution), his reelection would give the Republican party the headcount it needs in order to retain control of the Senate. I'm sorry Linc, but we just cannot allow that to happen.

Linc’s a nice guy; he really is. But our country… for that matter, the world itself… is at a crossroads. We desperately need to turn in a new direction. Let's face it - we’re stuck with GWB for two more years, so there’s nothing we can do about that. But we CAN do something about the makeup of Congress… and a Democratically-controlled Congress is a first major step in righting the myriad wrongs inflicted upon the United States and the world over the past six years by GWB and his Republican-controlled Congress.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to vote Sheldon Whitehouse on November 7.