langevin

He is faced with a monumental task.

Mark Zaccaria has very little money. He has little name recognition. And he has never run for statewide office, never mind the United States Congress.

But this 59-year-old former corporate executive from North Kingstown is trying to knock off the popular four-term incumbent Rep. James Langevin, a well-financed and well-connected candidate backed by two decades of experience in Rhode Island politics.

“It’s difficult not necessarily because I am a Republican, but because I am a challenger,” Zaccaria says of his election, sitting in a basement office tucked within the headquarters of the state GOP. “There are a number of things stacked in his favor.”

Indeed, with a massive financial advantage, the backing of powerful interest groups such as organized labor and the state’s dominant Democratic Party, Langevin’s seat in Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District is not in much jeopardy.

But that’s not to say the congressman is not vulnerable –– on paper, at least.

Just 17 percent of Americans approve of the job performance of Congress, according to a CBS/New York Times poll released last week. The nation’s economy is teetering on the edge of collapse. And closer to home, Rhode Island last week learned it had the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

Widespread voter discontent usually means trouble for incumbents.

“The nation’s problems are very serious. People are angry,” Langevin acknowledges, declining to accept personal responsibility for the state of affairs. “I’m sure there’s plenty of blame to go around.”

Zaccaria has tried to link Langevin to the nation’s shortcomings.

But the self-described “Chafee Republican,” who espouses the benefits of small government, acknowledges that winning a seat in Congress takes more than ideas and campaign strategies.

“If I had $150,000 that I could have spent, I almost certainly would have given Mr. Langevin much more than a good scare,” he says. “With even a fairly small amount of broadcast advertising a week or two prior to the election, I think a tremendous difference could have been made –– I think there’s a chance, a realistic chance I win this election. I think smart money says there’s no way.”

But Zaccaria doesn’t expect to be able to afford TV ads. He had raised just $51,203 as of Sept. 30, which includes a personal loan of $11,100, according to campaign-finance reports.

Still, he’s refusing to end a campaign that has become increasingly critical of Langevin’s job performance.

“You can’t hide the truth, and the truth is that Mr. Langevin is not cut out for Congress. We’ve given him four terms to prove that he can be an effective representative of the Second District, and he has failed,” Zaccaria said in a recent news release. “In these tough times, we simply cannot afford to send a ‘do-nothing’ representative back to Congress.”

By some measures, Langevin is becoming a more powerful advocate for Rhode Island in Washington.

He has been named chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology and sits on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The chairmanship is proof that he is becoming a stronger voice for his constituents, he says. “As I gain in seniority, I have a greater ability to effect change at the most senior levels of Congress.”

Indeed, powerful political action committees have taken notice of the congressman’s position.

In this election cycle, Langevin has raised $751,476 so far, according to finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Political action committees contributed nearly $339,291, or almost half of that total.

(Zaccaria, by comparison has raised $2,075 from PACs.)

Langevin’s top contributors include Raytheon, General Dynamics, and the Airline Pilots Association, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. The defense electronics industry contributed a total of $32,500 as of Sept. 30.

In addition to attention from interest groups, Langevin –– the only quadriplegic member of Congress –– last month played a high-profile role in the passage of an amended version of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He was among those invited to the Oval Office — his first visit to the chief executive’s office — for the bill signing.

But Zaccaria maintains that Langevin has done little to distinguish himself, or Rhode Island, since he took office in 2001.

As proof, Zaccaria cites the “power rankings” compiled by the Washington publication Roll Call that suggests Langevin is among the least influential members of the House of Representatives.

Langevin was ranked 217 out of 235 House Democrats.

Overall, he was ranked 331 out of the entire House chamber of 435 representatives, according to Roll Call’s system that examines committee assignments, earmarks, and whether members successfully sponsored legislation that was adopted by the full chamber, or amended bills on the floor.

(The Ocean State’s other congressman, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, by comparison, was ranked 83rd-most powerful in the entire chamber.)

Langevin dismisses the power rankings as “being developed by the input of insiders.” “Anyone who knows Jim Langevin knows I’ve always been a strong independent voice; it doesn’t make you popular with the insiders,” he says. “The only approval rating and power ranking I care about is that of the people of the state of Rhode Island.”

A statewide poll released in February by Brown University reported that 55 percent of respondents said Langevin was doing “a good or excellent job.”

Additionally, an analysis by the Washington Post reports that Langevin participated in 98.2 percent of all House votes this session, among the highest voting percentages in Congress. The same analysis notes that Langevin voted with his party 98.6 percent of the time.

Zaccaria said he was baffled by his opponent’s relatively high approval ratings.

“He hasn’t done anything,” Zaccaria says of Langevin. “It’s not like he’s down in the islands sipping rum drinks. He goes to work every day. But you know what? The United States House of Representatives does not decide bills on the floor. All of the real work gets done outside the floor. The reason his voting percentage is so high is because he doesn’t get invited to those meetings.”

Asked to name his legislative accomplishments, Langevin cites a bill he has repeatedly submitted to provide universal health-care coverage modeled after plans offered to federal employees.

While he holds no powerful committee assignment with jurisdiction over the issue, Langevin says the legislation has bipartisan support this year. Still, he doesn’t expect it to be approved as it is written.

“I think my bill is an important starting point in that health-care discussion,” he says.

Regardless of Langevin’s job performance, political observers suggest his seat is safe.

“The odds of anyone, Democrat or Republican, defeating Jim Langevin are extremely slim,” says Jennifer Lawless, a Brown University political-science professor who unsuccessfully challenged Langevin in the 2006 Democratic primary. “At this point, Langevin benefits not only from the incumbency advantage, but also from a high level of popularity in the Second Congressional District. The challenge for Republicans is even greater, though. There’s a national tide sweeping Democrats into office at the federal level, and Rhode Island is among the bluest of states.”

And even Zaccaria acknowledges that he’s taking a challenging route to Washington. His previous political experience consists of two terms on the North Kingstown Town Council and four years on the local zoning board.

He wasn’t even supposed to run for the congressional seat.

Zaccaria told the state Republican Party last year that he would head search efforts for a suitable candidate to challenge Langevin. In the 2006 election, there was no Republican opponent; Rod Driver, an independent, earned 28 percent of the vote.

Zaccaria, a former Air Force instructor pilot and now a father of three grown children, decided to run in February, only after his recruitment efforts came up empty.

“My real interest here is that the Rhode Island Republican Party becomes a full-service political party. It’s not today. Sorry, I love them, but you got to see what’s really there,” Zaccaria says. “We need to contend meaningfully in every single race or we’re not doing full service to the people. It’s not an election unless you have two choices.”

Indeed, Lawless says “it’s not necessarily a bad strategy for the Republicans not to line up a potentially formidable challenger,” but that “because qualified Republican candidates are a rare commodity in Rhode Island … it makes sense to target offices and open seats that provide better opportunities for victory.”

For his part, Langevin downplays his advantage. “I never take any election or any vote for granted,” he says.

Langevin also dismisses rumors that this congressional election will be his last.

“I’ve heard rumors I’m running for governor, I’m running for some different office. Totally not true. I may run for governor someday, but it’s not going to be 2010,” he says. “I love my job in the House of Representatives, and that’s where I want to continue to serve.”

speoples@projo.com