On Sunday night, over 100 Democrats from Rhode Island came together for the 2008 State Committee Meeting in West Warwick. The members endorsed Barack Obama for President, Senator Reed for U.S. Senate, and Congressmen Langevin and Kennedy as U.S. Representatives.
Below are some highlights from the meeting.
Senator Whitehouse
Senator Reed
Attorney General Lynch
Congressman Langevin
Congressman Kennedy
Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed may be on the potential shortlist of VP 
candidates for at least one of the two remaining Democratic candidates for president, Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter speculated in his Tuesday column.
To compensate for the huge gap in national-security experience, Obama might pick retired general Anthony Zinni, Sen. Jack Reed (a decorated Vietnam veteran) or former senator Sam Nunn as his running mate. He would stress homeland security, crushing Al Qaeda and how McCain’s support for the Iraq War has harmed the military and cost trillions that could be better spent at home. The last argument would be used to blunt any GOP attack on the high cost of Obama’s liberal social programs. (The $233 million Alaska “bridge to nowhere” that McCain complains about incessantly is equal to less than 18 hours in Iraq.)
Reed, who made his 11th trip to Iraq last month and has so far remained neutral in the Democratic race for the presidency, has also been mentioned as a possible secretary of defense in a Democratic administration.
From the ProJo blog:
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed will travel to Iraq tomorrow for his 11th visit there since 2003, his office announced.
The Rhode Island Democrat, a West Point graduate and Armed Services Committee senior member, is slated to meet with American commanders and Rhode Island soldiers serving there before returning to the United State on Jan. 19.
The U.S. military last week launched Operation Phantom Phoenix, an offensive aimed at “cracking down on al Qaeda-aligned terrorists and other insurgents in Iraq,” Reed’s office said.
Reed served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an infantry platoon leader.
From Political Wire
Think Progress reports that ratings numbers show more television viewers for both Fox and CNN watched Sen. Jack Reed’s (D-RI) Democratic response to President Bush’s much-anticipated speech on Iraq then watched the President’s actual remarks.
Meanwhile, a CBS poll released yesterday found that most viewers felt the President’s plan to reduce troops did not go far enough. Almost half (47%) want more troops home by next summer than Bush allowed for, and the number of respondents who said the troops should either be reduced or removed completely (68%) did not differ significantly after the speech than responses from before.
Perhaps even more troubling, only one third of respondents felt the surge had made a positive impact in Iraq, despite an encouraging report from Gen. Petraeus. Two thirds feel the surge has had no impact or has made violence even worse.
The Hill newspaper reports today that 76 of the current U.S. Senators have been to Iraq since the war
began, with at least 38 saying they’ve made the trip in the last 12 months. None, however, have been there more than Rhode Island’s own Jack Reed, who has been there 1o times. Reed is one of nine senators who have made at least six visits to Iraq since the war began.
James Thurber, professor of political science and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, said that Iraq visits give lawmakers more credibility on the war.
“The more trips you go give you more authority,” Thurber said.