Psst. Republican politicians in Rhode Island. Can we talk quietly?  You really need to up your strategic game.

Take this non-story about the gun raffle. The false narrative that the national Democrats and mainstream media have painted on a specific firearm is an incredibly sloppy production; you can see all of the traced lines.  After the Navy Yard shooting, the media proclaimed that the AR-15 was “back in the news,” but it was only so because they had mistakenly reported it as one of the weapons used.  NBC was finally reduced to reporting that the shooter had handled one at a range recently.

Likewise, the Providence Journal’s online headline that you’re “under fire for gun raffle” is only the case because reporter Kathy Gregg called people for comment. She set up the firing squad.  Caving to this is like clearing takeoff for the plane that’s going to drop a bomb on you.

I get the sense that you aren’t spending much time hanging out with your base across the state, because if you were, you’d see that they’re dejected and demoralized and rapidly concluding that being active in the public sphere isn’t worth the effort. You better do something about it fast.  You’re about to enter the election year playing field only to find that your team is limited to those who are there by habit.