Posted on 06/22/2006 4:24:20 PM PDT by Mike10542
1. The most important vote a senator makes is his first; that is, for Senate leader. A Republican, even a RINO, will vote for a Republican leader, while a 'Rat will vote for Reid (and Kennedy, etc, ad nauseum.)
2. In a predominantly blue state, where the media os overwhelmingly liberal, the best we can hope for is a moderate; conservatives tend to get crucified 24/7.
3. The best way to deal with RINO's is to marginalize them by winning Democrats' seats. The Rino's were Powerful when it was 51-49, then they controlled everything. Now that we have a strong majority, you haven'y heard much of the Gang of 14. We get to 60, and they will hardly matter anymore, and will go along with the majority (if they want to keep their plum committee jobs!)
In conclusion, I would hold my nose, vote for Chaffee, and send money to candidates running for open and Democratic seats.
See my post #12
Your post makes plenty of sense.
I would vote for people like Collins and Snowe, because they know how a RINO should behave.
The rule is, Republicans from liberal states are allowed to vote with the Democrats any time except on important bills where their vote will make the difference. In other words, they could vote "wrong" 50 times, as long as they voted right just that one time when the leadership tells them their votes are needed.
That way, they placate their liberal constituency and get re-elected, while the leadership can count on them in the clinch.
Unlike Collins and Snowe, Chaffee has repeatedly violated this basic rule. He has voted against several major bills that have gone down to defeat by ONE vote.
The man is no better than Jim Jeffords. He simply cannot be trusted.
No message is sent to anyone by losing a seat in RI. The place to "punish" the rogue Republicans is in Red States where there is an actual constituency they aren't serving.
And if you're going to try sending messages where nobody is listening you are going to end up with McCain, Graham, DeWine, etc. and be in the minority.
It is case of breathtaking stupidity to sacrifice a RINO for a Dem, Committee chairmanship positions are way too important to left to the Rats.
If Laffery wants to Challenge chaffee, he better make sure he has a chance of winning the senate seat, otherwise it is a case of repubs digging their own hole.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.