Governor Carcieri's approval ratings may be falling, but he's still got fans.

As he arrived by car at the State House today, accompanied as is usual by a state trooper, Carcieri was nearly mobbed by a fleet of teenaged girls.

Spotting the governor as he crossed the rotunda, the girls began squealing and rushing toward the state's chief executive, snapping photos with their pink and silver cell phones. "Oh my god, is it really him?" one exclaimed as she vied for a good shot.

A sheepish-looking governor bid the girls a happy holiday and stepped into the waiting elevator.

The star-struck students were 8th-graders from Barrington Middle School. They were at the State House to perform in a choral concert, one of many happening in the capitol throughout the holiday season.
The concert was fun, they said, but their brush with celebrity "was the coolest thing ever," someone proclaimed.

And they have the pictures to prove it.