She has been a "super-inclusive politician", gaining the support of peasants, intellectuals, the urban jobless and the working class - precisely the alliance the communists managed to forge before their hold on power began unravelling a few years ago.

BBC: Who says communism is dead in Bengal?

Afscme officials say Ms. Raimondo's alliance with the Arnolds shows she is out of step with the interests of working-class Rhode Islanders.

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