Obama’s non-endorsement in RI governor’s race creates a buzz

It hasn’t been unusual this year to see local Democratic candidates attempting to distance themselves from the national party or President Obama.

When it’s the president shunning a local candidate, it becomes big news.

Obama arrived in Rhode Island this afternoon for an event at a local small business and a pair of fundraisers for Democratic Congressional candidates. But it’s his non-endorsement in the state’s race for governor that seems to be generating the most buzz.

The contest there is not just Democrat Frank Caprio against Republican John Robitaille. Former Republican U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee is running as an independent candidate, and polls show he is running neck-and-neck with Caprio, the state general treasurer.

Obama served with Chafee for two years in the Senate, until Chafee lost his 2006 re-election bid to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. In 2008, after officially breaking with the GOP, Chafee endorsed Obama in the presidential race.

It’s that relationship that seems to be driving the president’s thinking.

“Out of respect for his friend Lincoln Chafee, the president decided to stay out of the race,” Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters en route to Rhode Island today.

The president’s neutrality stands in contrast to other national Democrats, eager to help the party win a seat it’s held for just four of the past 26 years. Former President Bill Clinton has campaigned with Caprio, and is scheduled to return this week. The Democratic Governors Assn. has made “a substantial investment” in the state, the organization says.

“Frank Caprio has spent his career fighting for the values of the Democratic Party. He deserves the full support of our party and its leaders,” said Nathan Daschle, the governors association executive director.

The politics are even more complicated when you consider that Caprio reportedly once flirted with running as a Republican candidate, until another prominent Democrat dropped his bid before the primary.

Caprio now seems entirely uninterested in Obama’s support, telling local radio station WPRO today the president can take his endorsement and “shove it.”

“I never asked for President Obama’s endorsement,” Caprio said.

He even went on to criticize Obama for using the state as an “ATM machine” to raise money, but not visiting after severe flooding last year.

Two-term Republican Gov. Donald L. Carcieri is barred from running for re-election because of term limits.

mmemoli@tribune.com

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