About That Billboard

You may have seen the billboard hovering above Route 95. “Rhode Islanders, Had Enough? Do Something About It,” instructs the opening advertisement for Transform Rhode Island, a recently launched organization that aims to bolster reform efforts through a strategy of communication.

Or perhaps you read the Sept. 29 article in The Journal (“Billboard ads have links to Carcieri backers,” by Steve Peoples and Katherine Gregg) that praised Patrick Crowley, the deputy director of the National Education Association, for his attempt to spawn suspicion over this new advocacy group.

Crowley’s dissection of this new group smacked of irony, as he and the NEA are precisely the type of political gutter-crawlers that Transform Rhode Island aims to expose.

Transform Rhode Island is a nonprofit corporation with no party ties. Its Web site calls “on every citizen, regardless of their political affiliation, to get involved in an effort to transform our state.” However, Transform Rhode Island unabashedly supports Governor Carcieri’s efforts to take on the state’s political establishment, and makes no attempt to mask its disdain for those who resist these necessary reforms.

From its Web site, Transform Rhode Island declares, “Our members believe in Rhode Island and support Governor Carcieri’s efforts to balance the budget and reduce state spending, improve education, curb illegal immigration, reform welfare and develop renewable energy sources here in our state. . . . While the Governor . . . continues to propose exciting and creative new ways to change the way our state operates, there are those who resist the very notion of doing things differently. Special interest groups consistently promote keeping the status quo.”

Transform Rhode Island is not an ideologically motivated organization, but rather a response to reckless — but deliberate — governmental obstruction. One can observe this by visiting TransformRI.com, where certain issues are addressed, but no specific candidates are endorsed. Obscure political entities are scolded for their pettiness and partisanship, and then the people are simply asked, “Now what do you think should be done?”

Rhode Islanders are learning the hard way that a majority of votes can sometimes be insufficient to create the environment they know their state can provide. The condition of one-party rule and decades of entrenched special interests have proven to have the capacity to almost entirely handicap anyone willing to confront the state’s political machinery.

Governor Carcieri, twice elected, has encountered dishonest but effective defiance from a myriad of players conniving within a political establishment that consists of a spiteful adversarial party, union bosses, welfare worshippers, and professional liberal activists.

So with a strong suspicion that the Democrat-dominated General Assembly is more the result of a broken and corrupt political system than it is a reflection of the people’s will, Transform Rhode Island seeks to augment the electorate’s voice with the launch of its new Web site.

Transform Rhode Island operates from the premise that opposition to Carcieri’s efforts is, in fact, resistance to the will of most Rhode Islanders. So the organization has bypassed the corrupted political clutter, and formed a direct relationship with the voters — a relationship it thinks will ignite political pressure by magnifying the will of the people, which will in turn expose the obstructionists (read: Patrick Crowley and the NEA).

Transform Rhode Island takes a cue from this year’s election theme by speaking of “real change,” and invokes Governor Carcieri’s warning: “We are at a tipping point.” Believing that the people retain populist positions, the organization asks Rhode Islanders if they have “had enough” of these five issues: high taxes and runaway spending; unaffordable social services; underperforming schools; illegal immigration; and soaring energy costs.

Visitors to TransformRI.com are not only encouraged to voice their frustration with State House gridlock, but the site also steers them to the appropriate mediums. The site makes it simple for visitors to contact radio talk-show hosts Helen Glover, John DePetro and Dan Yorke; lets them try to place their opinions within The Journal; and catalogues the contact information for every state senator and representative.

Transform Rhode Island is a statewide megaphone, transferring power back to the people by amplifying their voice.

This is a threatening scenario for members of the Rhode Island left, and their panic was perfectly demonstrated when The Journal story offered deputy director Crowley a “tip of the hat” for labeling Transform Rhode Island a “front for Carcieri” — the basis of the accusation being that some of its founding members are Carcieri supporters.

To Crowley, the credibility of any group is utterly in doubt if that group happens to support the governor. This includes clubs, advocacy groups, and your fantasy football league.

The Journal story lauded a staunch member of the Rhode Island left — not for addressing issues or debating ideas, but for his inclination to besmirch and barricade anyone who dares to even jiggle the State House enterprise.

Union spasms are the best indication that Transform Rhode Island is on to something with its communications strategy. Its methods may be the most effective way to illuminate those who impede the progress that most Rhode Islanders hope for. After all, it is easier to hide from a line of sight than it is from noise.