Leave it to Rhode Island. The smallest state made big headlines today after gubernatorial hopeful, Democrat Frank Caprio, told President Obama he could “shove it.” The president declined to endorse a candidate in the state’s race, currently dominated by frontrunners Caprio and independent candidate Lincoln Chafee. Caprio’s comment is now the remark being heard around the world, and you bet he’s standing by it.

The self-professed “Clinton Democrat” isn’t sweating it too much though — he has the former White House inhabitant making another stump trip to Rhode Island this weekend. The two go way back; the Providence Phoenix dubs Caprio’s professional admiration a “Clinton fixation.”

Caprio and Clinton have a private moment during Clinton's July visit to the Ocean State — Providence Journal photo

Clinton’s July visit to the Ocean State came just days before his daughter Chelsea’s summer wedding, so it’s possible the Rhody politicians were just angling for an invite to the elite, top secret event. With the nuptials behind him, his upcoming visit to Rhode Island, which Caprio dubs “Clinton Country,” is all business.

State Treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio told President Obama to “shove it” after hearing that Obama was coming to Rhode Island without an endorsement for him. The Associated Press notes that Obama might be staying out of the R.I. endorsement business because of key support in his 2008 election from independent Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14, a former GOP senator. Caprio probably can’t be too happy either that a new Rasmussen poll shows Chafee up seven points, giving Nate Silver’s computer reason to change its mind and declare Chafee a light favorite. Or maybe the prez is still salty that hoops buddy and R.I. Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87 is not on the ballot.

When candidate Obama was in Li'l Rhody in 2008, only half of the Democratic Party was against him. Rahul Keerthi / Herald File Photo

Original image courtesy of Marc Nozell

Obama wants you…
to get off your ass and vote in the midterm elections!

In a conference call with student journalists (that must have been fun for him), Obama asked young people to be engaged in the midterms (not the exams) and warned of potential policy reversals if young voters stay home. With many analysts predicting Democrats may be in trouble come November, the GQPOTUS has been traveling the country to rouse support for the party. Now he’s turning back to his bread and butter, the demographic that won him the election — us.

So do as your GQPOTUS says. Request your absentee ballots before it’s too late.

Of course all his promotion ignores the possibility you’ll vote for someone other than a Democrat…. But any engagement is good engagement, right?

Anyone out for their hangover cure bagel sandwich and coffee had plenty of signage to look at and fliers to refuse. At least three groups were demonstrating up and down the street — one for job creation, one to bring American troops home, and the most inflammatory one in the photo below.

Hipster protester poses with Hitler-Obama — Anne Simons / BlogDailyHerald

Great. Another Obama as Hitler poster. The Glass-Steagall reference is to a law that created the FDIC and introduced some banking reforms. The law was repealed in 1999, an action some politicians and economists believe served to worsen the economic crisis of 2007. Obama has spoken out against the act that repealed Glass-Steagall, so one wonders why a someone who wants to bring back the law would want to impeach Hitler-Obama. Ignorant protester or am I missing something?

President Obama cited the massive teacher firing at Rhode Island’s Central Falls High School in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday.  The decision to fire all Central Falls teachers has attracted controversy since its announcement, and the Obama administration has pointed to it as an example of a tough but necessary approach to fixing the nation’s education system.

A bill to prevent minors from incurring child pornography charges for “sexting” could be voted on in the General Assembly this week.  Under current law, minors who send obscene texts or videos could be subject to child pornography charges that could land them a lifelong place on the sex offender registry.

Like birds singing and warmer weather, potholes are a sign that spring has come to Providence.  The city has already deployed 32 tons of pothole filler to fix some of the worst areas, but that hasn’t stopped people from complaining about the nasty craters.  Sage advice for drivers from one Providence resident: “make sure you don’t have dentures.”

It’s time to stock up on those sweet, sweet cloves. Thanks to new regulation passed by the Food and Drug Administration, flavored cigarettes are to be pulled from the nation’s shelves.

But don’t worry — your menthols are safe (at least for now).

In prohibiting the equivalent of the training wheels to a nicotine-tinged life and hacking death, the FDA hopes to curb the number of kids who start smoking in the first place. “These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers,” said FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg in a press release. And it may be flavored cigarettes that are helping their habits along; 17-year old smokers are more likely to smoke flavored cigarettes than than smokers over 25, according to the FDA.

Continued after the jump. [Read more →]

When President Obama speaks to schoolchildren nationwide today around noon, hard work won’t be the only thing getting a shout-out. Jazmin Perez, an ’09 graduate who is now a masters student at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, is one of a handful of individuals he will single out as a good role model for today’s youth. Quoth the President:

Congrats to Perez, who by our unofficial count is the first member of the class of 2009 to be mentioned by name by the President in a high-profile public address — and a controversial one at that!