RI candidate says campaign hit by vandals

BOSTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Rhode Island Republican congressional candidate David Rogers -- as a former Navy Seal -- knows about sabotage, and he says it may have hit his campaign.

Rogers, who is trying to unseat four-term Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said Wednesday he discovered earlier this week that all 16 lug nuts on his wife's car had been loosened to the point where they could be turned by hand.

That followed recent incidents involving vehicles belonging to his political director and his campaign manager.

Rogers, in a telephone interview with United Press International, said the vandalism was "extremely dangerous" and could have resulted in an accident.

"It was my wife's car, and she had just driven my kids to school on the same day" the loose lug nuts were discovered, said Rogers, the father of two boys, ages 8 and 6.

He said he did not believe that the three incidents were coincidental, but were part of a pattern "too much to ignore."

"Two events would be very difficult for me to believe were intentional," Rogers said. "But three separate people, on three vehicles, on three occasions, in three cities?"

Rogers said his political director, Christian Winthrop, advised him to check his Geo Metro earlier this week after Winthrop discovered three of the five lug nuts on his mother's vehicle were missing -- and two were loose.

Winthrop was using his mother's car because his, a Mercedes, had been taken to a garage after its engine seized up due to a lack of oil, a mechanical problem now also viewed with suspicion.

Rogers said that on Thursday night, someone smashed the window of the car belonging to campaign manager Ben Jackson and stole a laptop computer that contained campaign information.

Rogers said, however, he was "not drawing any conclusions" as to who might be responsible.

He said police in Pawtucket, Providence and Newport are investigating, but "it's very difficult to do any sort of investigation on something like this. There's really not a whole lot they can do in a case like this."

He said he was at first reluctant to disclose any of this to the media, but "because we were talking about the lives of my wife and kids here," he decided publicity was a good thing.

"It can actually serve as a very effective deterrent, at least that is my hope," Rogers said.

"Nobody really knows exactly what to make" of the apparent vandalism, said Brown University political science Professor Darrell M. West, "although whoever did this targeted Rogers, his campaign manager and his political director, so it does seem to be an odd coincidence."

Kennedy spokesman Larry Berman said "no comment" when asked about the incidents, and he noted that the congressman holds a solid lead over his Republican challenger and was confident of re-election in November.

Berman said one poll last week "had the congressman ahead 56-25."

Rogers admitted he had a difficult task ahead of him trying to keep Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's son from winning a fifth term in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District.

While the Kennedy campaign does not appear to be in trouble, it has not been without trouble.

"I wouldn't say he's in a lot of trouble," West told UPI, also noting last week's survey that had Kennedy leading Rogers by some 25 percentage points.

"He has had shake-ups within his organization," West said, referring to the recent resignation of his chief of staff, Atlanta-based lobbyist Dean J. Martilli.

The reason given for his ouster was his failure to disclose his past dealings as a Washington lobbyist.

"I think that was the major problem," West said.