NEWPORT - From the $111 million expansion of Newport's Navy base, to the , good news and bad pepper the pages of local and national press.

Nationally, Congress recently passed an economic stimulus package aimed at jumpstarting the economy while the Federal Reserve took the unprecedented step of slashing interest rates twice in nine days. And once again, the economy has trumped all others as Americans' number one concern going into their primary election booths. It's not terrorism; it's not the environment; it's the economy.

On a state level, Rhode Island is staring at a $600 million conundrum, and despite months of debate, our elected officials seem no closer to solutions than they did the day after it was learned someone in the state budget office underestimated just how much trouble we're in.

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It was nice while it lasted, wasn't it?
For one glorious day, Rhode Island -- our nation's smallest state -- mattered. From Michelle Obama to John McCain; Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee. Candidates from far and wide descended upon Lil' Rhody to stump, cash in, and get out - the vote, that is. Bill Clinton drew 2,000. Barack Obama drew ten. Chelsea Clinton got in on the act and for the first time in even the longest of memories, Rhode Island's airwaves were awash in presidential primary campaign ads.

But now, the campaign offices have been shuttered and the paid staffers have fled. Rhode Island has once again returned to its quiet insignificance. But now it's over. So,goodbye Bill. Catch you next time Barack. Mike, we hardly knew you. Thus ends Rhode Island's brief relevance.
But that's a good thing.
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I was out of town this week.

My sister (one of four that I have) had her fourth child. A girl. She's cute. Okay, she's adorable. But in addition to the trip and the holiday fawning, I began to think. And that's what we're here to do isn't it?

I began to think about what kind of world this little bundle of pink would grow up in.
Let's begin firstly with the presidential election.

If Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama take the White House in November, she will grow up in a country where having a female or black president is normal.

If the 2008 winner follows suit with the last two administrations, she'll be in the third grade by the time the next president takes office in 2017.

By 2016, she will live in a country of 325 million people. Hispanics will make up the largest minority group, and taken in sum, people of color will out-number white Americans.

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I wanted to take a moment this week to take a break from politics and touch on a subject that is once again, aptly, beginning to surface as a topic of discussion here in our nation's smallest state.

Earlier this week, as Rhode Island Catholics woke to the mark the begining of Holy Week,  a visiting scholar from Israel awoke to a scene more reminiscent of the Middle East than Providence, R.I.

In what was either a stunning coincidence or targeted act of hatred, three Molotov cocktails were flung into the window of the apartment of Yossi Knaffa, a visitng scholar from Israel working with Brown University's Hillel association.

Two days later, three teenagers were arrested for setting a fire outside a former synagogue.

Now the FBI is investigating and Jewish leaders are speaking out.

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 Danielle Brazil leans back with a pensive but active gaze. She’s carefully weighing her thoughts; considering her options. Like many Rhode Island voters, Ms. Brazil, a Salve Regina University junior and president of the campus chapter of the College Democrats, plans to vote in next Tuesday’s presidential primary. And like many Rhode Island voters, she’s currently forming her thoughts on each of the candidates.
This will be a special election for the West Warwick native. Not because she is anxious to vote for “change;” not because she has been told by political pundits it is an important election. Rather, March 4 will be the first time she casts a ballot in a presidential election.
That means both opportunity and responsibility to Brazil.
“This is a big deal for me,” she said. “I’m really excited about it. I tell everyone I run into on campus to get out there and vote because I believe that college students definitely can make a difference.”
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Walking through Downtown Newport this time of year usually reveals a number of dimmed lights, papered windows,  and for lease signs at neighborhood businesses. Some are just closed for the season. Others are closed for good.

However, as Rhode Island continues to struggle under the weight of its $600 million deficit, the state’s inability to attract new businesses threatens to disrupt the seasonal ebb and flow of Newport’s economic activity. While Newport will remain a popular destination for tourists due to its natural and historic beauty, the state’s bleak economic outlook may discourage new business development.

For a solution, Aquidneck residents may not have to look further than out their windows.
At a symposium at Brown University last Tuesday, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D - R.I.) referenced an emerging concept currently beginning to take hold in our political lexicon: that of the “green collar” workforce.

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"There are times when the world changes new opportunities emerge and new generations come forward to seize them."

Those are the words of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the possibility of creating a new "green economy."

Whitehouse spoke recently at a forum on global climate change at Brown University. I stopped by to see what he had to say!

For more on Sheldon Whitehouse, click here

Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard  a lot about primaries and delegate counts. But do you know what a super-delegate is? Maybe, but maybe not.

So with Super Tuesday coming up on Feb. 5, and over 2,000 delegates from 24 states up for grabs, I thought we should answer the question: what exactly is a super-delegate?

Super delegates are first are foremost unique to the Democratic party primary process.

Now, don’t let the name fool you, Superdelegates can’t fly, don’t have x-ray vision, and have no discernible super human strength. What they do have is potential super political strength.

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It’s January 18, and I’m blogging today from a windswept and rainy Newport, R.I. Since I’m kicking off my coverage for MTV’s StreetTeam 08 in one of Rhode Island’s founding cities, I thought I’d start with the basics.

Once the state’s capitol, Newport is now primarily a tourist destination and home to a growing Naval industry. Located in the 2nd Congressional District, it is represented in Congress by Patrick Kennedy (D), Sen. Jack Reed (D), and the city’s own Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D).

 Over the course of the next ten months, I’ll be reporting from each of Rhode Island’s cities and towns -- on land and on sea. Sound ambitious? It’s not.

Rhode Island is a small state. How small you ask?  The smallest actually.At just 37 miles wide and 40 miles long, Rhode Island...