Posted on 08/25/2006 10:22:03 PM PDT by neverdem
COVENTRY, R.I. -- It was getting dark, but Stephen Laffey removed his cap, wiped his sweaty brow and sprinted across the lawn to greet one more voter.
Glenn Myers, stocky and middle-aged, opened the screen door to shake hands with the 44-year-old Cranston mayor. "I believe in you," he told Laffey, who was barnstorming the neighborhood with his wife and five kids and various high school friends. "And I hope you beat the pants off of Lincoln Chafee."
The Laffey-Chafee Republican showdown Sept. 12 is the next chapter in the turbulent 2006 election saga. A spate of primary upsets -- especially Ned Lamont's victory over Democratic Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in Connecticut -- have signaled that no incumbent is safe in a year when voters are agitating for change. With his spirited campaign against Sen. Chafee, Laffey is trying to push that frustration one step further. He wants to turn his race into a referendum on personality and attitude.
Rhode Island is a solidly Democratic state, but it does elect moderate Republicans such as Chafee and his late father, the veteran GOP Sen. John Chafee. During his seven-year tenure, "Linc" has distinguished himself as one of the Senate's least partisan members. Modest and soft-spoken, he has broken with his party on tax cuts, judicial nominations and environmental issues, and he was the only Republican senator to vote against the Iraq war.
In terms of temperament and political style, Laffey is Chafee's opposite -- confrontational and impatient, a working-class kid who scoffs at his opponent's patrician pedigree. Laffey dismisses the senator's careful approach to legislating as a big reason Congress cannot get anything done.
"He's become irrelevant," Laffey said of Chafee in a recent radio debate. "I work hard at good relations with everyone," Chafee responded.
The son of a union...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Gotta like this guy. I think he's going to win.
Win what? Surely not the senate seat, you don't think do you?
Let's hope so.
Nope. But Lincoln Chafee getting a dime of support from the national GOP is appalling. Let the 'Rats have another ultra-liberal New England Senator. Let the voters of Rhode Island have another irrelevant senator that no one ever hears about.
The only good Chafee does for the GOP is he usually doesn't engage in a filibuster.
That is an honest post. But Chaffee does support Bush's nominations usually for executive posts, and on some key votes otherwise. And he does vote for which party controls the senate, and thus the levers of power. However, I respect your point of view. It is a matter of one's own views, and what weight one gives to the assorted and sundry considerations.
I'm with you.
This primary just means we won't be able to break a filibuster and thus we won't get another Supreme Court nomination.
There isn't a snowball's chance that a nonwimpy Republican could ever win a Senate seat in liberal Delaware.
Chafee is extremely partisan. He's a pure bred Liberal and solid aly of the Dems.
He is not a moderate, nor for that matter, is Laffey. But Laffey is less extreme then Chafee and Chafee needs to be taught a lesson. As do all the RINO's. And the truth is that if it's 50/50 Chafee would jump. There is no upside to keeping him around as a result.
I honestly don't think he has a chance here, and I hope the Dim or Laffey beats the pants off of him.
There really isn't any GOP control of the Senate anyway.
Chafee needs to go, period.
Do you think someone who comes close to having a 90% liberal rating and threatens to switch parties (and WILL do so if we get down to 50 seats), and doesn't even vote for the President should be serving in the Republican caucus ?
As long as Chafee and similar liberals remain, we really don't have majority control. It's only on paper.
Blue states are not going to elect Conservatives...period. Therefore; IMO...RINOS are a heck of a lot better than a dim, if only for one simple reason, they do have the name, Republican!
As Rummy said, "You go to war with the army you have , not the army you want."...the same with elections, you go with who is doable, you run with who can be elected, you accept the limitations of who Republicans can squeak out of these blue states...and you're grateful for every Rino you can pull from a blue state...at least I am.
Impeachment proceedings come from the House, not the Senate. The House isn't in any danger of being turned over to the Dims.
we have had good Conservative judges seated, we have had tax cuts
Chafee voted against all of these.
take away all the RINOS and give the Senate to the enemy and there will be a difference.
RINOs, Dims...there is no difference. You should support Laffey in the primary. That's what primaries are for. You support the conservative and eliminate RINOs.
I'm certainly not defending the character, convictions or principals of Chafee, Snowe, Susan Collins, McCain, Shay or any number of these NOs...but, with this election as tight as it is, I don't think we can afford to throw any race away just because we can't stand some of these b*st*rds.
I'm not particularly fond of the two I will be voting for in WA state, but, better than Cantwell, oh, you bet, and just maybe Mike can/will beat her.
That's how I feel about it, that's all I am saying.
Just to show you the list of 'Rat Senators that Lincoln Chafee either scores MORE liberal than or equal to as of 2005 (his ACU rating was 12):
Blanche Lincoln - 16
Mark Pryor - 24
Dianne Feinstein - 12 (same as Chafee)
Barbara Boxer - 12 (same as Chafee)
Ken Salazar - 32
Bill Nelson - 20
Evan Bayh - 20
Mary Landrieu - 44
Debbie Stabenow - 12 (same as Chafee)
Mark Dayton - 16
Max Baucus - 24
Ben Nelson - 60
Jeff Bingaman - 13
Hillary Clinton - 12 (same as Chafee)
Kent Conrad - 21
Byron Dorgan - 17
Tim Johnson - 13
Robert Byrd - 20
Russell Feingold - 13
Herb Kohl - 13
Red, if you have no problem with Chafee's voting record and are "grateful" that we can pull this RINO out of a 'Rat state, than you should have no problem welcoming these 20 additional illustrious Democrats to the Republican caucus.
I'll add lastly that having liberal RINOs in control is every inch as bad (if not worse) than 'Rats being in control. The cancer that they have ends up infecting us from within and causing horrific damage.
Liberal RINOs are the biggest gift to the Democrat party you can imagine, as they kill 2 birds with one stone -- the 'Rats get their liberal agenda passed (or Conservative ones blocked), and they cause dissension in the GOP and damage them at election time. I can show you examples en masse of this occurring from all over the country.
The House isn't in any danger of being turned over to the Dims....from your keyboard to God's ears, but that is not what many of the pundits say and why on earth is Nancy Pelosi already picking out new drapes if there sis no danger of losing the house?
Chafee voted against all of these....I'm aware of that, I'm not in the camp for Chafee himself. I am in the camp of keeping every Republican whether he/she be a RINO or not, because we don't know what other states we might lose...Santorum, DeWine, Talent, Burns, Kyl are all in danger. Chafee might then be the deciding factor as to whether we keep the Senate or not...and yes, he might switch parties, but, at least there is still a chance with him and with a Dim there is not that chance.
RINOs, Dims...there is no difference....There is a difference because once in a while they go Republican and sometimes that once in a while is when it counts.
You should support Laffey in the primary. That's what primaries are for. You support the conservative and eliminate RINOs. If we were just going on principal and didn't have to worry about the final outcome, then I wholeheartedly agree...but, the possibility of that unfortunate outcome cannot be denied. IMO, that outcome is too big a chance to take in order to be doling out lessons.
I guess we are just looking at these from two different viewpoints. I support Chafee for one reason and one reason only, he is [at the moment] a Republican, albeit, RINO and there is a chance that he [because he is a very liberal RINO] can be reelected in a very blue state. If he is reelected that prevents a Democrat from taking that seat, a seat that a Conservative cannot be elected to, no matter how much we would prefer that to be the case.
So, we will just have to agree to disagree. I understand you would not choose a RINO over anyone/anything and I admire your convictions, but, as far me, I will take a RINO over a Democrat every time.
Sometimes you just have to make the trip and this is the time.
You really should have said, "Just kidding".
The GOP doesn't control the Senate. They sit in the seat of leadership but convey not one iota of true leadership. Were I in Frist's place I would force them to actually participate in a filibuster instead of simply declaring one. There are only about five spines in the Senate at this point.
"why on earth is Nancy Pelosi already picking out new drapes if there sis no danger of losing the house?"
For the same stupid reason she continues to get face lifts, she's nuts.
The only good thing Chaffee does for the GOP is being a nominal member. That way they stay the majority party in the Senate, control the chair of all the committees - and set the rules of operation.
Anyone who has seen Chafee's performance in the debate can see he is a LOSER. If he gets the primary, Whitehouse will eat his lunch.
The odds are he will lose that seat simply because he has lost much of the 70,000 republicans and independents will go for Whitehouse when they see Chafee look like the loser he is in the debates with the Dim.
You cannot appear more MUSHY than Chafee,
Laffey might just grab enough independents fed up with RI takes and misery to give Whitehouse a run for his money.
...The bonus is to get rid of the LOSER and deprive the MSM of the headlines...you know the ones..."Bush loses support of his own party" ...RINO crap!
The next time a bot goes ballistic whenever a criticism is leveled against "darling Laura," this little gem should be trotted out. She's not only involving herself in a GOP primary battle but is taking the side of the idiot RINO! Tacky and thus makes her fair game for political attack.
There isn't a snowball's chance that a nonwimpy Republican could ever win a Senate seat in liberal Delaware.
There probably isn't, but this race is in RI
I'm just going to ignore the fact you think we control the Senate right now....that's debatable but for another discussion.
Perhaps you chose not to read any my posts? had you done so, you've have observed the following:
If the Senate is split 50-50 Chafee will jump as Jeffords did.
I suppose you don't believe him capable of that? Even though he's held talks with the Democrats about it before? Well, if you wish to hold to such innocenece that is your choice. I don't really for one second believe he'd remain a member of the Republican Party if the Senate was divided and the Dems offered him the right perks.
So you would support re-electing a Liberal that can't even keep it in "Republican hands". I chose not to.
As you might recall, I had supported Stephen Laffey early on. If he were running in 2002 or 2004, he'd have real promise. But I've come to the conclusion that this simply isn't his year. It pains me to say this, as I think he'd be an outstanding Senator. In retrospect, he should have run for Lieutenant Governor.
Do you think that Sheldon Whitehouse will be a vote for sound, patriotic, common sense policy?
There is no reason to speculate Chafee would jump, he has a Republican legacy in his family.
I think supporting Chaffee is the safe choice if he can beat whitehouse, otherwise it is best to dump him.
LOL!
I'll give you one R.I. and raise you a Delaware.
So, I assume that a nonwimpy Republican doesn't have a snowball's chance in R.I. also?
OTOH, a Russian scientist is predicting that we are entering a cycle of lower solar emissions and will be going into a mini Ice Age era soon, so "Who knows?"
No matter what, I'm sticking with Laffey. I still consider myself a Conservative first, and if the GOP insists on promoting the interests and candidacies of far-left individuals that are antithetical to everything we believe in, I have no use for the party. We either stand on principle, or we stand for nothing.
Unfortunately, Laffey has zero chance to win the general election. But he has a good chance to beat Chafee. My guess is that Laffey will "laff" last. The revelation of the anti-gay articles he wrote many years ago as a young guy may ruin the primary for him, though. Depends how stupid Rhode Island Republicans are.
Are any elected officials in New England "that great"?
Offhand, I don't know of any. I'm sure there are a few in the state legislatures, but I doubt there are any in the House, let alone the Senate or governorships.
We take what we can get. Laffey is what we can get, he's a fighter, and he's far better than Chaffee.
Send money now, folks.
Exactly. I can't wait to see this stupid mug's career go down in flames.
I don't hate any of those you list, but I don't think any of them are particularly good -- except Carcieri, whom I know nothing about.
However, some are certainly much better than others. And all of them may be as good, or non-bad, as is politically possible for them.
The problem is that New England, even rural upper New England, has become increasingly hostile territory for conservatives.
I would state holding several meetings with Democrats about switching parties is substantial cause to suspect his loyalty to the Republican party.
Yes, and not voting for Bush in 2004. Absolutely a snake in the grass.
I am so eager to see Chafee bite it -- even in a general election against the Rat, if that's what it takes.
RI is a huge Blue state, Dem hacks. Laffey will not be very close in the primary but for the sake of the Union,he is the candidate. Too bad Chaffee will win that primary and perhaps even beat his Dem opponent. Conservatives are a rare breed in RI. I wish it were not true.
Why is it that liberals have "patrician pedigrees" while conservatives have "silver spoons?"
Because conservatives are greedy scum, and liberals aren't. Get with the program or you'll never be a member in good standing of the Establishment. LOL.
The meetings you might have read may be MSM speculation, i would trust it as I would trust a used car salesman.
If wanted to defect, he would done it in 2001-2002 when the defection would have mattered.
I dont think he wants to defect, Dems desperately want his seat to get the senate power balance, which I see even a few conservatives want to assist.
If his vote would make the difference, Chafee would probably defect. Not voting for your party's presidential candidate, especially when he's president, and then publicly stating that you didn't, is a serious break with the party. Combined with Chafee's voting record, there is serious cause for concern.
The defection would matter as much as Jeffords' did in 2001. All we need is another 50-50 Senate, and there's a fair chance that we'll have one.
And it's not just in a 50-50 situation that Chafee could, and I think would, stick it to us. If the Republicans had 51, he could caucus with the Rats in order to make it 50-50, which would force a power-sharing deal, just as it did (pre-Jeffords) in 2001.
Even if Republicans have 52 or 53 (probably the best we can hope for out of this upcoming election), people can die or resign. We could get to 51 or 50 during the session, without an election, or with a special election that goes the wrong way.
And regardless of any of this, Chafee takes up a Republican seat on the Foreign Relations Committee and on at least one other committee. That seat is wasted if it has to go to someone who's basically a Rat.
There is no other Republican in Congress who I'd like to see lose. But Chafee is a special case. His liberalism and disloyalty put him in a class of his own.
If Chafee wanted to switch, then why did'nt he switched in 2001-02?
Back then, the senate was split 50-50(49 Dem+ 1 traitor independent), so Chafee switch would have tilted the senate leadership to the Dems and Chafee could have got a plum job in the Committees?
I dont think Chaffee will switch to the Dems.
I am not a big fan of Chafee and if Laffey can beat Whitehouse then I support him, but it looks like he cant and Chafee can. Chafee should be supported simply because he contributes to the Repub numbers in the senate and keeps the like of Leahy out of Committee chairmanship.
Dems desperately want Chafees seat, Republicans should be looking to maintain their hold on the senate.
It's a reasonable point of view. I just disagree. As to your point about Chafee not switching in '01, these things are affected by who else does it, or doesn't. Jeffords may have beaten him to it. Also, Chafee has probably moved to the left, at least psychologically, since then. New England certainly has (though it was already liberal, it has become even more so).
There is a possibility that either Laffey's candidacy, if successful, or Chafee's defeat by the Rat in the general, could deliver the Senate to the Rats. I'm willing to take that risk. There are three reasons. One, I do believe there is a good chance Chafee will screw us anyway. Two, excessively "moderate" Republicans in the Senate are a HUGE problem. Incumbent senators are extremely difficult to defeat from the right -- our record on this in recent election is very weak. Senators take notice, and sometimes mend their ways, when they feel threatened. Defeating Chafee in a primary is a good way to change the votes, now and then, of some of the RINO senators. Three, pride and self-respect, in this case that of genuine Republicans, must sometimes be asserted in serious ways or they warp our souls. In other words, they must find an outlet that at least might be useful. Put more simply, we must be able to tell ourselves credibly that we have real clout.
Regarding defection, my point of view is Chaffey would have switched in 01-02 even after Jeffords defection, Jeffords defection caused a tie, Chaffee defection would mean a Dem control of the senate.
He didn't, so I dont supect Chaffee of doing so.
Judicial appointments are crucial, a Leahy controlled judiciary committee would not let a Bush nominee pass by, this is a crucial issue,Chaffee or Laffey, republican control of the senate is important for judicial appointments.
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