Spare Change: Finally! From boxing rings to grandmas, election TV ads soon will be done
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Finally! No matter who wins next week’s elections, we no longer have to endure their ads.
No more boxing rings, grandmas, visits to the Twin Oaks in Cranston, sad-faced Roe v. Wade supporters.
Truth is, I suspect these spots are effective. For instance, Allan Fung is portrayed as a regular Joe from Cranston … who hangs with the clam cakes and chowder crowd.
But Fung cozies up to far-right types such as Steve Scalise and Kevin McCarthy. Moderate Republican? There are few left, and Fung’s not one of them. The Providence NPR station reported this week that Republican Fung’s campaign took in $100,000 from 2020 election deniers.
You need to know more? Probably not.
Fung’s congressional opponent, Treasurer Seth Magaziner, a Democrat, has a profound inability to connect with voters. His delivery is stiff. He seems like a guy who really runs wild when he orders something besides vanilla.
His campaign has done little to refute the Fung camp’s assertion that Magaziner grew up like the sons in “Succession” and can’t wait to destroy blue-collar Rhode Islanders.
Even with a good chunk of undecided voters lingering, I expect Fung to hold his lead and capture the seat.
Ashley Kalus? We’ve covered her odd campaign. She repeats that she is a fighter. Great. But how would she work with the General Assembly, the power group in Rhode Island?
Gov. Dan McKee? Pleasant enough guy, but his sleepy campaign was uninspiring. His advantage is incumbency. And being a Democrat in a blue state helps his cause. He should feel fortunate that the GOP failed to recruit a knowledgeable candidate. I expect McKee to win this, but it might be closer than forecast.
And when it comes to predictions, I’m hardly Nostradamus, Jr. I believe there was almost no chance of an elderly and often ill Joni Mitchell flying 3,000 miles to the folk festival.
ODDZNENDZ: It’s very hard to predict local races. A City Council race could be decided by a single vote.I doubt much will change in local General Assembly seats. Too many candidates are running unopposed.
• In my world, a combined no-hitter is bogus. The starter has to finish.
George and Steve Feinberg, director of the state Film and TV Office, have done more than anyone to promote movies in Rhode Island.
George started by showing movies at Newport dinner parties. That evolved into FLICKERS, Marshall’s movie-screening.In 1981-82, VCRs were new and pricey. George screened movies at spots such as the ballet studio above Yesterday’s and at the then-crumbling Casino Theatre.
He attracted movie devotees (you’d see the same faces each time). You felt as if you had a nodding acquaintance with everyone in the place.
In search of a bigger canvas, George left his hometown of Newport for Providence, where he began the still-running Rhode Island Film Festival. Each summer the festival offered a wide menu of features, shorts, documentaries.
Other festivals rose and fell (including the late, lamented Newport International Film Festival, 1998-2009), but the Providence event endured.
That’s because of several people, but primarily George Marshall. He was 68 and possessed the energy of a guy 28 (he was also a popular film professor at Roger Williams University ).
George loved movies and loved Rhode Island. Let’s hope he frequently felt that love coming back his way.
• So when does Oprah plan to apologize for creating snake oil salesman Dr. Oz?
• Whatever happened to Cabbage Night?
• This one caught me off guard. A fond (and disappointing) farewell to Brix restaurant.
• Glad that “Derry Girls” received a proper sendoff in its third season. It’s been consistently funny since it first dropped.
Jim Gillis is a Daily News columnist. Send him email at jimgillis13@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Spare Change: Finally! Rhode Island election TV ads soon will be done
