The Hill - There's no chafing over support for this Rhode Island renegade

[Pirate Smile]

This weekend, just a few days after he will vote on the controversial nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) will fly to Nashville, where he will attend a fundraiser with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

The timing of the two events is coincidental, but it points to the difficult political terrain that Chafee must negotiate this year. Despite his reputation as the Republican most likely to cross party lines and issue blunt statements critical of the Bush administration, Chafee is relying on solid Republican leadership support in what is shaping up to be a tough reelection campaign.

To win in a state that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry carried by a greater margin than any state but his home state of Massachusetts, Chafee will have to maintain his independent reputation. But he also needs to remain in the good graces of conservative party leaders to raise the money to run a competitive race.

The Bolton nomination has been a particularly difficult test for Chafee, who expressed his surprise at President Bush’s pick almost as soon as it was announced. The Boston Globe reported last week that Chafee said his constituency was “overwhelmingly” opposed to the nomination.
But more recent reports, and Chafee’s history of supporting presidential nominees, indicate that he most likely will back Bolton when the Foreign Relations Committee votes tomorrow or Thursday. Chafee has said he will probably vote for Bolton unless something in the hearings convinces him otherwise.

Chafee’s press secretary, Stephen Hourahan, said yesterday that Chafee “is waiting to make up his mind.”
-snip-
Chafee voted to confirm Rice, as well as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who faced substantial opposition from Senate Democrats. Citizens for Global Solutions, a grassroots organization, spent about $20,000 running ads in Rhode Island against Bolton.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/041205/renegade.html

If the link above does not work, go to the following link and click on "The Hill" - the first two words in the Diary
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/12/101018/078

[ps1074]

1. Fuck Chafee

I am tired of all this shit... He might be moderate but dems can't win back the Senate if they don't win seats in blue states. This seat must democratic.

[AlinPA]

2. Thanks for the post. We should not agonize over this guy. He is a

republican. We expect him to follow the leadership on important votes. Lets just work to vote him out of office.

[Pirate Smile]

5. He has got to LOSE in 2006.

"But the pivotal Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, said he was "still inclined" to vote to confirm Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The Constitution gives President Bush considerable leeway to name ambassadors and "I see the bar as very high" for rejecting his choices, Chafee told reporters after the hearing was adjourned.

-snip-
Chafee noted calmly that analysts criticized by Bolton had "kept their jobs."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46436-2005Apr12.html

He takes the party line as usual. It is very rare for this guy to buck his party, no matter what his reputation is as a moderate.

[w4rma]

3. Flying out to support Sen. Frist. That doesn't sound like a moderate to me

That sounds like a fraud.

[bluedeminredstate]

4. You'd think he wouldn't want to be seen with that man

I bet he's hoping the news doesn't make its way back to RI.

[dbackjon]

6. While I would take Chafee over any of the clowns here in TN,

He is still no Democrat, and needs to go.

[Zorra]

7. One more time: Never, ever, trust a republican. n/t