Matt Brown, Rhode Island's Progressive Reformer

A while back, I wrote about how Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown (D), now running for Senate, was one of the courageous leaders willing to put the Iraq War at the center of his campaign. And since I wrote that, I've been watching Brown, and looking at his record. It's very clear this is a guy who is a real progressive reformer in a state that has been at times plagued by insiderism and corruption.

Brown has been an outsider/reformer since he ran for Secretary of State. And his courage shows in his most high profile efforts to rein in the power of lobbyists in Rhode Island. In 2004, he took the bold move of publishing the names of lobbyists who were refusing to file their proper disclosure reforms, prompting anger from lobbyists and the establishment. At the end of that year, the Associated Press reported that Brown introduced legislation "to require lobbyists to disclose any money spent on politicians throughout the year, and, for the first time, to report campaign contributions."

Brown is clearly not the establishment candidate in the Democratic primary to take on GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee - Sheldon Whitehouse is. However, Brown has pulled ahead of his opponent after Whitehouse said he supported an exit strategy from Iraq, but then refused to sign a petition supporting such an exit strategy.

Let's be clear - I don't know much about Whitehouse, so I don't want to disparage him. For all I know, he might end up being a very good nominee. But there's something very striking about Matt Brown that you can see in his record and when he talks to people: its a willingness to take on the establishment and reject the seemingly "politically safe" conventional wisdom. He's done this in concrete ways - and not just bloviated about it like other candidates with higher profiles across the country. And that has built serious momentum behind his candidacy, showing once again that progressive politics can be winning politics.

COMMENTS: Go to Sirota's Working Assets site to comment on this entry