Posted on 11/09/2004 5:23:38 PM PST by KoRn
WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who flirted with changing political parties in the wake of President Bush's re-election victory, says he will stay in the GOP.
"My Republican colleagues have let me know that they want me in their caucus," the U.S. senator from Rhode Island said Monday. "They value the voice I bring and they have made it very clear to me that they respect and want that voice to be heard."
Chafee had said last week he would consider switching party affiliation if Bush won because he thought the president was taking the party too far to the right. He said he got a flurry of phone calls from Republican leaders over the weekend, including Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and a key White House staff member, urging him to stick with the GOP.
A moderate Republican who often votes with the Democrats on environmental matters and some tax issues, Chafee said he wanted to press his views from within the party. He said he would be able to better serve Rhode Island as a member of the party that controls Congress and the White House.
His decision preserves the 55-44-1 Republican advantage that resulted from last Tuesday's elections. Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont had earlier switched from Republican to independent.
Chafee spokesman Stephen Hourhan said he was not aware if Republican leaders offered the senator anything to secure his loyalty.
A member of one of the state's better-known Republican families, Chafee was appointed to the Senate in November 1999 to fill the seat when his father, John, died.
© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Let him go. Please show him the exit. Jim
Also, it's a nice sign the wind is blowing in our direction.
On the other hand, if the senate were 51 Dems and the Reps were 49 - hmm, I might think about that.
Good point. Unless Don Carcieri decides he wants to be a Senator, we should hold our noses and support Chafee.
Heck, he flirted with changing parties when Bush originally won in 2000. I didn't realize he had only been in office, by appointment, for year at that point.
STAY a Republican? When is going to BE a Republican?
Just a way to get himself and his insignificant little state in the news.
I bet Jeffords regrets leaving the party now ... hehe
what an idiot !
Amazing that he seems to think that he has to act like a whore to get attention.
Of course when you have no core beliefs people tend to use you as needed. It's just the price that needs to be negotiated.
Some day this idiot will realize the humiliation he should feel for the whole Idea that someone would have to ask him if he will remain a Republican.
Be gone with you. Another fine example of a East Coast Tory row coward.
Perhaps he wants to be able to chair a committee. Doesn't look like the RATS are going to control the Senate any time soon.
Exactly, someone voting with Republicans 55% of the time is worth keeping in the fold. We will not always have a 55 member majority.
Heh...
The Chafees of the world have as much credibility as...the Specters of the world.
I'd never have anyone with this lack of commitment working in my company. I'd have fired his ass in a heartbeat.
Would you feel safe sleeping in a fox hole with a soldier that was going to cover your back 55% of the time?
Homie don't play that game. He's either with us or again us. Aint no grey area.
STAY a Republican? When is going to BE a Republican?
Good one...
He and Arlen should start their own party.
I'll take two Zels and a Conservative Democrat to be named later...
Really all he is good for, among a few others, is for R majority count. Nothing else.
. "They value the voice I bring and they have made it very clear to me that they respect and want that voice to be heard."
I don't respect him nor his voice.
Let him go if that is what he wants.
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