To Hold Senate, G.O.P. Bolsters Its Most Liberal

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/washington/10senate.html?ex=1158465600&en=75bd734a5ca5a709&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: September 10, 2006

WARWICK, R.I., Sept. 9 — With a barrage of television advertisements and the mobilization of its get-out-the-vote machine, the national Republican Party has lined up in Rhode Island to beat back a conservative primary challenge to the most liberal Republican in the Senate, Lincoln Chafee. The outcome on Tuesday could help determine whether Democrats have a shot at taking back the Senate.

In an extraordinary pre-emptive announcement, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has said it will concede Rhode Island to the Democrats should Stephen Laffey, the mayor of Cranston, defeat Mr. Chafee in the primary. Citing poll data, Republican leaders said they saw no way someone as conservative as Mr. Laffey could win in a state as Democratic as this; as it is, they are increasingly worried about Mr. Chafee’s hopes in a general election.

The result has been the striking sight of the national Republican Party, dominated by conservatives, using resources to save the seat of a Republican who said he voted against Mr. Bush in 2004. He chose instead to write in the name of the first President Bush.


Senator Lincoln Chafee, left, with Barry O’Brien on Saturday in Warwick, R.I., faces Stephen Laffey in Tuesday’s primary.


Mr. Chafee has opposed many centerpiece Republican policies, from the war in Iraq to tax cuts to most restrictions on abortion. This week, he helped force a delay on the confirmation of John R. Bolton as the United States ambassador to the United Nations.

FULL story at link above.

[rpannier]

1. Go Laffey GO! GO! GO! GO!

Personally, I like Sen. Chafee.
But, we need to win the Senate. And it'll be much easier to beat Laffey.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. If the Senate should end up split, Chafee could write his own ticket

about committee assignments or whatever with the Dems if he were to declare himself either a Dem or an independent who caucuses with the Dems. Shades of Jeffords! The Puggies better be careful what they ask for. IIRC Chafee already flirted with this idea in the past but didn't do it because his switch then wouldn't have done anything decisive to the balance of power.

[krispos42]

3. If Chafee is so liberal, he should just make the jump to the other side

Hell Lieberman did, he just doesn't realize it yet.

[expatriot]

4. no crap... i don't get wide disconnects between party and ideology

I mean, I can understand small disconnects... staying with a party that has strayed from your beliefs for a little while out of loyalty or stubbornness but there has to be a point when you can't be in denial anymore.

[krispos42]

5. Exactly!

I mean, I'm a Democrat but I don't run around siding with the GOP on issues. I mean, if your party has changed, then change with it or change parties. that is something Lieberman won't do. He claims he's been a Democrat since Kennedy and will remain one until he dies, yet his actions show him becoming a moderate (old-school) Republican.

My major beef with the Dems is guns. This Rhode Island guy seems to have major beef with every GOP plank! I say, if you're that concerned with having a "-R" after your name, then suck up to the party leadership and don't divert. If you're committed to certain ideals your party has moved away from en masse, then recognize when it's time to admit your party has left you.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Washington Post: GOP Forced to Fight for Rebel Chafee

GOP Forced to Fight for Rebel Chafee
His Challenger in the Primary May Be Too Conservative to Win R.I.

By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 10, 2006; Page A04

WARWICK, R.I. -- Republican Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee disagrees with his party on the Iraq war, tax cuts and a host of other issues. But national GOP leaders are flooding this tiny state with manpower and money to save the rebel senator, fearing that his loss in a primary could cost Republicans control of the Senate in November.

Party leaders believe that if Chafee loses to Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in Tuesday's election, they will have little chance of keeping the seat because many see Laffey as too conservative in Democratic Rhode Island to prevail against Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.

If Chafee falls, he will be the second sitting senator to lose a primary this year. But unlike Democrat Joseph I. Lieberman in Connecticut, whose defeat is attributed to his outspoken support for the war, Chafee's problems have little to do with where he stands on issues. Rather, they are rooted in his contemplative, consensus-building style, an aberration in the current bitterly partisan climate.

By contrast, Laffey has an assertive, tough personality. He contends that Chafee's independence has made him irrelevant, and that his unpredictable voting patterns suggest a political identity crisis, as if the senator can't make up his mind. Most political observers in Rhode Island gave Laffey the edge as of late last week, but polling has been erratic, and both sides say the outcome is impossible to predict.
(snip/...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/09/AR2006090900830.html

[Toots]

7. Mr. Chafee has opposed many centerpiece Republican policies

Not by his voting record he didn't. He may say he opposes something but the proof comes when it's time to vote and he has voted with the majoriity every time...

[Zorra]

8. Chaffee still nests in Bu*h's panties, dangling from his dingleberries.

Like all republican legislators. All republican legislators have the Mark of Bu*h, all are radical RW extremists.

The stench and stain of the skid marks on their voting records tie them to the scene of the crime: Total, unabashed loyalty and support for everything Bu*h ever wanted them to do.

Bu*h and Cheney destroyed America, and GOP legislators were the flying monkeys that helped them do it.