Why in the world is Carl Sheeler running for the US Senate? The Democratic establishment wants him to go away, but the self-styled populist hopes to ignite a grassroots campaign BY IAN DONNIS

After building a rapport during more than an hour of animated conversation about the need to help young people in South Providence, and the absence of money for doing so, Curtis Spence turns to US Senate candidate Carl Sheeler, and offers magical words for anyone seeking public office: "My question to you is, how can I help?"

Sheeler, 45, a former Marine captain who bears a passing resemblance to Bill O’Reilly, responds by describing noncommissioned officers as the backbone of the military and, by metaphorical extension, most other endeavors. "It is not the people who have the titles, oftentimes, who are getting things done," the West Greenwich resident tells Spence, the founder of Team Providence, a nonprofit effort to keep youths out of trouble and on track for a productive life. "It is the people in the trenches."

When Spence voices frustration about "recycled leaders" and the difficulty of making meaningful change on the poor side of town, Sheeler remarks, "I think you’re incredibly humble about the amount of influence you can have." The candidate, a Republican-turned-independent-turned Democrat who is making just his second run for public office, only then changes the subject to himself, citing his non-existent entourage and how he has put his life on hold, at possible financial peril, to seek membership in the US Senate, America’s most elite political club. "Why?" he asks. "Did you see The Matrix? I took the blue pill and went down the rabbit hole."

Before he can transform into Keanu Reeves, Sheeler gets more serious, launching into a cultural critique of how Americans have sunk "into reinforcing mediocrity and not expecting much more," and how the electoral focus needs to change from "the criteria of how wealthy you are" to "what you are going to do." When he faults entrenched interests for a lack of progress toward universal health-care and for "why we’re still in Iraq," Sheeler is already preaching to a one-person choir. Hitting on the de facto elitism of contemporary politics, Spence offers an example of a California candidate who spent $25 million on a losing campaign. As their November 11 meeting winds down at the Center, a mixed-use office space at 570 Broad Street, Spence, who operates his own marketing and public-relations company, again volunteers an offer to help the Senate hopeful.

It will take legions of such people if Sheeler is going to register as more than a blip in the September 2006 Democratic primary. He faces two rivals, Secretary of State Matthew A. Brown and former attorney general Sheldon Whitehouse, who, in addition to actually having held public office, are far better known and steadily accumulating the tens of thousands of dollars — in what will become Rhode Island’s most costly US Senate race — that will be poured into television advertising. And though Sheeler likes to dismiss questions about his relatively meager war chest as an indictment of the status quo, he acknowledges that his unconventional grassroots campaign will have to catch fire for him to have any prospect of success.

WHO DOESN’T LIKE A THREE-WAY?

Still, the self-styled populist, who has made criticism of President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq central parts of his campaign, seems to be an annoyance to Rhode Island’s Democratic establishment. In 2000, the nasty and mutually destructive primary between Robert Weygand and Richard Licht cleared the path for Lincoln Chafee’s first Senate victory, and the last thing that frontrunners Brown and Whitehouse need is an additional complication.

Not surprisingly, Sheeler’s rivals don’t have much to say about his candidacy. Brown spokesman Matt Burgess says, "The beauty of our democracy is that anyone can run for office, but Matt Brown is going to get the Democratic nomination and be the next senator from Rhode Island." Whitehouse spokesman Mike Guilfoyle says, "Regardless of any Democratic opponent in this US Senate primary, Sheldon has pledged to work hard and he’s working his heart out. He’s building a strong grassroots campaign throughout the state."

Running as an independent in 2004, Sheeler made a credible challenge to state Senator Kevin A. Breene (R-West Greenwich), attracting 40 percent of the vote against a man whose family has been in the area for 11 generations. Although Breene says Sheeler outspent him four-to-one, he warns against underestimating the man he tabs as a dark horse in the Senate race. "He’ll obviously be a tenacious campaigner, and letter-writer, and editorial-writer," Breene says. "If it’s a close race, yeah, they’ve got something to worry about."

Although Sheeler’s figuring in a close race strikes most observers as unlikely, he could nonetheless influence the outcome. One knowledgeable Democrat thinks that Sheeler, with a highly organized campaign, could top out with about 10 percent of the primary vote, perhaps drawing support from Brown — who has been increasingly outspoken in criticizing Bush and the war. Even now, by quickly accepting Brown’s invitation this week for a debate on Iraq, "Sheeler’s move would appear to make it difficult for . . . Whitehouse . . . not to take part in the debate," as www.thehill.com, the congressional newspaper, reported.

All this seems anathema to Bill Lynch, chairman of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, who brushes aside Sheeler’s potential impact on the primary as "almost negligible," but notes, "We would have preferred to seen him not get involved in the primary. We don’t know Carl very well, and he ran for a legislative seat a couple of years ago. He seems sincere enough, but I think he would have been better off, maybe, running for a legislative seat again and trying to build up some support from within the party from that standpoint."

So why is Sheeler running for the lofty perch of the US Senate, against better-known, better-funded rivals, rather than pursuing a race with a stronger chance of success? A number of local political observers have the same question. Is it ego, idealism, ambition, some combination thereof, or something else entirely? Asked about his motivation, Sheeler is simultaneously on-message and enigmatic: "This isn’t about winning in the state Senate. This is about changing the way that we do politics, not only here in Rhode Island, but across the nation. It’s the good cause. It’s worth doing, and I expect to win."