Chafee distances himself from Bush in new ad

[MaineDem]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --In a new TV ad released Monday, Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee distanced himself from President Bush and said his Democratic opponent was attacking him by tying him to the unpopular president.

"Sheldon Whitehouse says a vote for Chafee is a vote for Bush. It's flat out false," the ad begins. It goes on to list several of Chafee's positions that conflict with the president's, including his vote against the war in Iraq and his opposition to tax cuts for the rich.

"Lincoln Chafee stood up to President Bush on Iraq. And he'll stand up to Sheldon Whitehouse's false attacks," Chafee's new ad concludes.

Whitehouse, a former state attorney general, has released several ads since the Sept. 12 primary that mention the "Bush agenda" or unpopular Republican policies and continue his theme that a vote for him is a vote for a new direction in Washington.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2006/10/09/chafee_distances_himself_from_bush_in_new_ad/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

[YDogg]

1. Chafee at least has a bit of independence, based on the little I know.

But he's a republican. Period.

[JoFerret]

14. Voting against the war

counts well in my book.
However...he should switch parties.

[Cha]

21. Yeah, he should stand up to the repukes

in power and switch parties since he feels so strongly about distancing himself from the bushits. He's being tainted with an ugly brush staying in the republiCON party.

[Old and In the Way]

2. It's true.

Doesn't matter where Lincoln stands on the issues....he's irrelevant as far as the Republican Party is concerned. What is important is the (R) after his name. A vote for Lincoln (or Olympia or Sue) is a vote for a Republican majority and keeping Bush from being held accountable.

[cyclezealot]

3. agreed .

Chafee would never vote to have a full investigation of iraqi war deceit as being covered up by the Senate Cover Up Committee headed by Sen. Pat ROberts.

[oasis]

5. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas- No.1 Bushista regime enabler). (eom)

[cyclezealot]

16. wish we could sue him over our right to know

since he is involved in a cover up operation.

[Doctor_J]

10. Precisely - same thing over in the House

(R) majority - no investigations. (D) - investigations Into 9/11, Anthrax, Condi's perjury, Cheney's profiteering, Pagegate, Plamegate, etc. it matters not if the 218th Repub rep is a RINO - (s)he will dtill prevent democracy from obtaining over the next two years.

[skipos]

4. A vote for Chafee is a vote for a Republican majority

that usually supports all of Bush's bad ideas. So really, a vote for Chafee is a vote for Bush.

[Ouabache]

6. Oh really, what did he do, switch parties?

And become a Democrat?

[brentspeak]

7. Shoulda declared himself an Independent two or three years ago

[AlinPA]

11. Or switch to be a Democrat. Otherwise he just helps the R's maintain the

majority and therefore Bush's policies.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. So is this guy good or bad for us?

Being a rebel Repub means...............?

[stlsaxman]

9. ... means he's a Republican. Rebel or not.

I like what Lincoln does and says on occassion, but he's powerless over the neo-cons.

So, being a "rebel Republican" means little.

[Duer 157099]

12. I didn't know a thing about him until the other day

Saw him on ... hmm, can't recall, but something (MSNBC? CNN?).

From the few minutes he was on, I understood that he's not your average Republican, and in fact, he seems to be more of a democrat than a repub, at least in terms of how he has voted.

He figured that he would be able to "get more done for my state" if he was on the winning side (R) and that explained (to me) why he was a R.

He'd be the type who would switch to D if they were in power. He's a real RINO.

Too bad this is going to work against him this time.

[grizmaster]

23. He has been a GOPer lapdog every time they need his vote

the only time he votes dem is when the vote is already a done deal and then he votes dem to buy cover here at home.

Before bush he used to actually demonstrate some sensible independence, and I'd actually voted for him. But he's betrayed his past, his father's legacy, and the people of RI.

[Doctor_J]

13. HOw aggressive can Whitehouse be, do you think?

If he were to say, "A Republican majority in the Senate will prevent us from finding out the truth about 9/11. A vote for Chaffee is a vote for a cover-up."?

[lpbk2713]

15. Here's a T-shirt for Chafee .....

[SoCalDem]

17. What a little trollop Chafee has turned out to be..

He took the money from the nightstand, and left whike the john was in the john :) :)

[w4rma]

18. He needed to distance himself from the whole Republican Party. (nt)

[cyclezealot]

19. If her votes for Reid as maj leader

then I will consider him true to independent convictions. Have not heard him make that promise.

[warrens]

20. Whitehouse up by 10 in the last poll I saw

I think it's going to be close, but this Foley stuff is depressing the Chafee vote.

[grizmaster]

22. Chafee is there for the GOP every time they need him

He's been wearing bush knee-pads for 5 years.

Any time the vote count is tight he's sided with bush. The only time his so-called "independent" streak has come out is when the vote was a forgone conclusion and his vote meant nothing.

Case-in-point. He gave the key vote that got Bolton's nomination from committee to the floor, then voted against him on the floor vote.

His kind of "fair weather" independence is less than useless.

[greeneyedboy]

24. caucusing w/ the GOP = supporting the Bush agenda, period. n/t

[bdamomma]

25. Lincoln has the curse of being Republican

anyone see him on Bill Maher this past Friday. I would love to see two Dems for RI in the Senate, Whitehouse and Reed.