Just a month ago, after an October 7 forum sponsored by Common Cause of Rhode Island in Warwick, Don Carcieri was visibly frustrated by the sense his experience wasn't gaining sufficient appreciation and that Myrth York was maintaining a sizable lead in the gubernatorial race.

But four weeks, of course, is an eternity in the heat of a campaign. Even if the York campaign hadn't gone with the misplaced negative commercials that blamed Carcieri for degrading the environment in Brazil and Philadelphia, among other things, it seems unlikely the Democrat would have been able to outpace the Republican rookie. Blunders by the York campaign notwithstanding, House Speaker John B. Harwood proved to be the perfect foil for Carcieri, and although his post-primary campaign was slow out of the box, he best captured the outsider theme of change. In the end, Carcieri cruised to a decisive 55-45 percent victory over York.

The specter of Harwood -- who is expected to yield the speakership after apparently maintaining his House seat in a narrow victory over write-in challenger Bruce Bayuk -- lingered like an unrecognized guest in the 17th-floor ballroom of the Providence Biltmore as the widely successful state Democrats mourned York's third gubernatorial loss.

In the past, York had always been able to portray herself as the outsider, but "this time, [Carcieri] was able to also," says one State House source. "You had an air of change in this state. It wasn't even this bad during the banking crisis. It was off the charts. As they were stopping Myrth's growth, the Harwood thing [the controversy over unproven allegations of sexual harassment] was just bubbling and bubbling. I really do think it was Harwood."

"Were there mistakes made [in York's campaign]? I'm sure there were," adds the source. "[But] the biggest mistake was that Harwood didn't step down" -- a move the speaker avoided since he believed that giving up the post prior to the election could have killed his hopes for reelection to the House.

Former US representative Robert Weygand expressed surprise that York's campaign, which had been so effective during the Democratic primary, lapsed badly during the general election. "She had momentum, she had money, and knowing Myrth, she had desire and determination," he says. But with the inevitable tightening of the race, the York campaign stumbled with the attack ads, and Carcieri -- whose affable, grandfatherly demeanor offered a contrast to the Democrat's more cool and calculated campaign persona -- grew in stature because of his outsider message and emphasis on leadership skills.

By the last week of the campaign, York was back on the air with more issue-oriented commercials, emphasizing her differences from Carcieri on choice, school vouchers, and gun control, but after the Republican had successfully co-opted the outsider theme, it was too little, too late. With York having pumped almost $4 million into her campaign and enlisted Washington consultants Mandy Grunwald and Marla Romash, "I don't blame Myrth personally," Weygand says. "I blame the media consultants and the campaign manager."

York offered brave words in conceding defeat, telling supporters at the Biltmore, "I've been a reformer my whole life. I'm not going to stop now."

But during an evening in which both incumbents and new office holders-elect read largely platitudinous speeches during their turns at the podium, it was Providence Mayor-elect David N. Cicilline, the most noteworthy and effective Democrat in this Rhode Island campaign season, who most strayed from the typical boilerplate.

To be sure, there was a measure of popular appeal in the repetition of familiar themes -- restoring a sense of civic responsibility in Providence and the like -- from Cicilline's insurgent primary campaign. Cicilline also offered accolades to York, citing her as a political role model. But after a season in which York's overly scripted and mismanaged campaign left most voters underwhelmed, Cicilline offers an important example. As the Providence mayor-elect said, the beauty of his campaign was "to risk believing in something."

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: November 8 - 14, 2002