When Did “Normal” Become the Exception?
I had a quick conversation at the gym this week that stuck with me.
Someone I met a few months ago asked how the campaign was going. I told him I felt like we were gaining momentum.
He mentioned my videos, so I asked him what he thought.
He said, “Great. You come across as normal.”
I appreciated the compliment, but it also made me pause.
When did being normal become noteworthy in politics?
It shouldn’t be remarkable for someone running for office to sound calm, grounded, and practical (my words…😎), but somewhere along the way, politics drifted away from the everyday concerns of everyday people.
The Silent Majority of “Normies”
Most Rhode Islanders are not ideological activists.
They are parents juggling work and family schedules. Small business owners trying to meet payroll. Workers figuring out how to pay for groceries, gas, and health insurance.
They are what many people jokingly call “normies,” and there are far more of them than there are people living on the political extremes.
Yet much of our political conversation seems driven by the loudest voices rather than the largest group of people.
The Policy Problem
One of the consequences of this dynamic is a steady stream of narrow policy proposals designed to solve specific problems for small groups of people.
Often these proposals are well-intentioned, but they can miss the bigger picture.
Instead of focusing on the underlying issues driving Rhode Island’s affordability crisis, we frequently focus on the symptoms.
Too often, our elected leaders are focused on policies designed with good intentions that create unintended consequences and make life more expensive instead of more affordable.
Minimum Wage as an Example
Take the ongoing debate over minimum wage.
Rhode Island’s minimum wage reached $16 per hour in 2026 and is scheduled to increase to $17 per hour in 2027.
Rhode Island has roughly 565,000 people employed across the state’s workforce.
About 50,000 workers earn minimum wage or close to it. That’s roughly 9% of the workforce.
National labor data shows that about 43% of minimum-wage workers are under age 25, meaning many are students or young workers entering the job market.
In addition, about half of minimum-wage workers work part-time, often in industries like:
Restaurants and food service
Retail stores
Hospitality
Entry-level service jobs
These roles are often seasonal or stepping-stone jobs and play an important role in helping people gain experience and earn income, but the bigger question for policymakers is whether raising wage mandates alone addresses Rhode Island’s broader affordability challenges or whether it risks increasing prices for everyone else.
The goal of raising wages is understandable.
No one wants workers struggling to make ends meet, but focusing exclusively on wage mandates can overlook the broader economic environment.
Let’s Not Forget About Energy
Wages are only one part of the cost equation for Rhode Island businesses. Energy costs are another major factor.
Rhode Island consistently ranks among the states with the highest electricity prices in the country. When higher wages are layered on top of rising energy costs, insurance costs, and regulatory requirements, businesses often have little choice but to pass those costs along through higher prices.
Which brings us back to the bigger question: should policymakers focus primarily on raising wages, or should we also be focused on lowering the underlying cost of living in Rhode Island?
A Different Approach
Instead of constantly adjusting wages upward to keep pace with rising costs, we should also be asking a different question:
Why is the cost of living so high in the first place?
We’ve discussed:
Energy costs
Regulatory complexity
Insurance costs
Housing shortages
These are the structural issues that make Rhode Island expensive.
If we address those underlying problems, wages stretch further without needing constant intervention.
Back to Normal
The conversation at the gym reminded me of something important.
Most people don’t want politics to be a constant battle between ideological extremes.
They want practical leadership that focuses on real problems.
Energy affordability.
Healthcare access.
Education that prepares students for the modern economy.
And a business climate that allows people to build careers and opportunities here in Rhode Island.
In other words, they want leaders who sound…
Normal.
Maybe the real opportunity in Rhode Island politics right now is simple.
Let’s make common sense normal again.
