Don’t get too excited. Former Providence mayor Joseph Paolino, Jr. announced that the First Lady will be gracing the East Side of Providence this weekend. She will be at a fundraiser September 30 at Paolino’s home to raise money for her hubby’s reelection campaign. But don’t start picking out your business clothes just yet — breathing Mrs. Obama’s air will cost you a pretty penny. Tickets start at $1,000 and could go up to $30,500.

So you need to ask yourself: do you really want to spend a year’s tuition on a few hours with Mrs. O?

Looking to add a little bit of pizzazz to Obama’s State of the Union address tonight?  Thanks to our friends at NYU Local, we’ve got just the trick: a SOTU drinking game.  It’s pretty simple: take a drink every time that the President says “partisan,” “healthcare,” “economy,” “unemployment,” “coming together,” or “blood libel.”

Lincoln Chafee was sworn in as the 58th governor of Rhode Island yesterday in an inauguration ceremony held in front of the state house.  Photos by Michael Danielewicz / Herald.

In an interview on televangelist Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, Jindal–formerly a PLME, currently the Republican governor of Louisiana and a potential 2012 presidential contender–criticized Brown’s political correctness and liberal bent. “I wasn’t the traditional Brown student,” Jindal told Robertson.

The good stuff starts at about 7:00, with anecdotes about how Jindal’s freshman RC criticized him for “opening doors for the ladies” and refusing to attend a “mandatory” orientation session (we have those?) on diversity.

Weirdly, Jindal doesn’t mention that he once liked Brown enough to be a trustee. We’re hoping his new book answers our burning questions about his time at Brown, like which part of his bio education at Brown convinced him that intelligent design counts as science and whether he ever tried to hold the door for Ruth Simmons.

So much for any hope of having two Brown alums in Congress now that Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 is headed to Washington. Rep. Dan Maffei ’90 has conceded in his upstate New York race, trailing by 567 votes.

Rep. Dan Maffei ’90 (D-NY), the only Brown alum in the 111th Congress, faced a tough race to hold onto his seat in New York’s 25th Congressional District.

With 96 percent of precincts reporting in the upstate district encompassing Onondaga, Wayne and parts of Cayuga and Monroe counties, Maffei had 50.6 percent of the vote, according to the New York Times. The first-term congressman was barely leading his Republican opponent, who trailed him by just over 2,000 votes, over five hours after New York State polls closed.

Though the Times still had not called the race by 3:15 a.m., Maffei maintained a slight lead. If he wins reelection, he will be joined in Congress for the next session by fellow alum, Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83, who scored Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s seat earlier in the night.

Two hours after polls closed in Lil’ Rhody, the results are in.

Democrats made a big sweep of the Ocean State, picking up both House seats — incumbent Jim Langevin held his own and outgoing Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 picked up Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s seat.

In a four-way race, tight until the last minute, former U.S. Senator and independent candidate Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 scored the governor’s mansion. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts ’78 held onto her seat.

Angel Taveras won mayor of Providence in a landslide. He took the stage at the Providence Biltmore under applause, camera flashes and upbeat Spanish-language music. “Gracias a todos,” said a smiling Taveras, who will be Providence’s first Latino mayor. ”This is a historic victory for our team.” He credited the Democratic Party for permitting the son of a Dominican immigrant family to triumph in the race. Taveras also touted the city’s diverse ethnic makeup, and said Providence’s rich cultural mix as a crucial reason for his decision to run. But he struck a more somber tone when discussing the stark tests facing the state capital. “Challenges will require decisive actions,” Taveras added. “As goes Providence, so goes Rhode Island.”

In the State General Assembly, Democrat Rhoda Perry P’91 held onto her District 3 Senate seat.

Democrat Chris Blazejewski picked up the District 2 state representative seat, and incumbent Democrat Edith Ajello held onto her District 3 slot.

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?

You might have heard that President Obama gave a speech two nights ago entitled “The End of the Combat Mission in Iraq.” Here it is if you haven’t already watched it and want to start off the semester by impressing that Political Science professor.

In the video, President Obama said that he made a promise during his campaign, and that this was his fulfillment of that process. He also said that all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year. He discusses the future involvement of the U.S. with Iraq, and what this means domestically, as well.