In the Aug. 9, 2024, episode of “A Lively Experiment,” moderator Jim Hummel and his panelists discussed local reaction to Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and an update about the Washington Bridge.
Hummel was joined by Ted Nesi, a reporter for WPRI; Maureen Moakley, a retired professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island; and Ken Block, the founder of Watchdog RI.
This discussion has been condensed and edited for clarity. Watch the full episode of “A Lively Experiment” here.
Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz drew large crowds last week, and the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates acknowledged that they are underdogs in the race for the White House against former President Donald Trump.
Can Democrats keep level of enthusiasm high?
Despite the current enthusiasm, the question remains: can the Harris-Walz ticket keep up the momentum? The Democratic convention is looming and the races begin in earnest after Labor Day.
Moakley said that after the honeymoon is over, Harris will have to become more specific about policy.
“I think that’s gonna be a little bit of a challenge,” she said. “Because I think they’re gonna have to move, sort of frame it a little less to the left.
“But I think basically, Walz was a good choice, and I think they’ll do well.”
Block, meanwhile, believes policy will not be as important as much as the “stark choice” between Harris and Trump.
“It’s pro-MAGA, anti-MAGA, pro-Trump, anti-Trump, and I think that everyone’s gonna dig in on that, and that’s what we’re gonna get the most messaging about,” Block said. “Trump isn’t really strong talking about policy, at this point, which is one of the reasons I don’t think there’ll be a lot of discussion about it.
“The Democrats solved their lagging support issue that they were suffering from under (President Joe) Biden, and from my perspective, having gone through the data carefully in 2020, it looks to me like we are going have a very close outcome, very similar to what we saw in 2020, at this point.”
Nesi said he was “astounded” by the turnaround in the race. With Biden still in the race, several House and Senate seats were at risk. Now, with Harris at the top of the ticket, there is renewed enthusiasm among Democrats.
“No one was expecting the level of enthusiasm she generated so fast among the party base,” Nesi said. “I mean, they’re drawing these huge crowds at these rallies, and I think, I do think, there’s a story in The Washington Post this morning, as we tape, that, you know, Trump is frustrated, because I think ... he was playing to run against Biden, I think he thought he knew how to beat, especially, a beleaguered Joe Biden, and he’s now found himself in a very different race against a considerably younger opponent.
“I mean, just this week, it’s been striking me that Trump’s really mostly off the campaign trail, while Harris is doing this battleground state tour with Walz.”
The Washington Bridge and a lack of transparency
Closer to home, the status of the Washington Bridge remains a hot topic. Last month, Gov. Dan McKee acknowledged that he did not know when the new westbound span would be completed or how much it would cost.
“I wish the governor spent more time in the traffic jams that we all, who have to go back and forth to the East Bay, have to deal with,” Block said. “It’s extraordinary, the disconnect between what the professional engineering community has to say about what has happened, so far, about the bridge, a procurement that yielded no one competing to try to win the project, and frankly, the biggest problem of all that we have right now, and it’s extraordinary to me, is the lack of transparency.
“The Rhode Island government has locked down information about this procurement about what’s happening, and it’s utterly wrong. There isn’t a more important story to, and almost anybody who lives on the East Bay, than what’s happening with this bridge.”
Nesi said that the governor needs to have a definitive plan in place before he begins his re-election bid in 2026.
“He needs a message in 2026 about how he handled this,” Nesi said.
“Are you kidding?” Moakley said. “This is going on for years.”
Block said that the more important question is when the project begins.
“Or when will the bidding start?” Nesi added. “We don’t even know that right now.”
Moakley said the delays surrounding the bridge “is the gift that keeps on giving” to McKee’s opponents.
“I mean, he’s in hot water, as far as I’m concerned,” she added.
