Ferguson Says Kennedy Has Ticked Off Half of Congress(posted December 2, 2001)
Appearing today on the WJAR-TV show "10 News Conference", Republican congressional aspirant Christine Ferguson criticized Representative Patrick Kennedy for being a "partisan Democrat" and said that "he has the ire of more than half the people in Congress." Noting her own close ties to the late Senator John Chafee, Ferguson described herself as a "moderate Republican" who would build bridges with other people in Congress. "I know how the system works," she said.
When asked whether she planned to use Kennedy's personal incidents at Los Angeles Airport against him, Ferguson said "that is one part of the discussion", but added that the campaign would also involve how we feel about the issues and choices our country faces on health care, defense, and the economy. Host Jim Taricani asked Ferguson if Kennedy was an embarrassment, and Ferguson said, "I don't like to use those terms....He has done the best job he could, but it is not the best job for Rhode Island."
Ferguson praised the job President George W. Bush has done in handling the war in Afghanistan. She said she was pro-choice on abortion, against the death penalty, in favor of gun control, and felt Rhode Island should do what it could to "minimize gambling". The former director of the state department of human services, Ferguson is married and the mother of a 9-year old son. She holds a law degree and served for many years as a policy aide to Senator John Chafee.
