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

NYTimes ^ | 9/10/2006 | Adam Nagourney

[Suzy Quzy]

Sorry, but Laffey CAN'T win if Chaffee wins the primary! Once Laffey wins the primary he has a great chance to win!!

[Don Corleone]

Chaffee is not a RINO! He is an IDIOT!

[onyx]

Chaffe is truly a "Republican In Name ONLY."

They're counting on him to hold his "R" senate seat.

[Admin Moderator]

I changed your headline back to the correct one. Do not substitute your own, ever.

[MNJohnnie]

Calculus is that Laffey will not win.

That is the sort of thinking that gives I expect from Surrender Now Democrats, not Republicans. The Party has NO business being involved in a primary fight.

[oceanview]

no, it is not insane. control of the senate may come down to the RI seat, and a pickup of a seat in NJ with Kean.

would you rather control the senate with these two members, or let the Dems have it?

[headstamp]

Yes, the timing is interesting on this.

[msnimje]

Because RI is just about the bluest state in the country.It's *that* simple.

That is what I thought. If I were the head of the RNC I would be more embarrassed backing Chaffey as a winner than Laffey as loser.

Chaffey disgusts me.

[Non-Sequitur]

If the RNC is so concerned with keeping control of the senate that it's willing to sink big money into the Chaffee campaign then why is the president talking up the Democrat in neighboring Connecticut? And let's drop the nonsense about Lieberman being an independent. He's a Democrat, he'll caucus with the Democrats, and if he wins he'll be back in the DNC fold in a matter of months. Yet the President refuses to endorse the Republican candidate or campaign for him or offer any support. Sheer lunacy.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

STOP DONATING TO THE NRSC & NRCC! DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE CANDIDATES!

[MNJohnnie]

Laffey has no chance of being elected

An assumption completely unproveable by any available data. The Party has no business being involved in a primary fight. Especially to save a seat that votes with the Democrats on everything BUT who controls the chamber. We can lose Caffee seat and hold the Senate. It is stupid for the RNC to waste time and money on a primary. They continually make these idiot Rockefeller Republican moves. IF we lose a chamber it will be because of the arrogant stupidity of the Republican Establishement who wants to be Democrat Party Lite. If it is a choice between a Democrat and a Democrat wanna bee, the Democrat will win.

[KarlInOhio]

They're counting on him to hold his "R" senate seat.

If the Senate is 52R - 48D, then you don't need Chaffee.

If the Senate is 51R - 49D or 50R - 50D, then I wouldn't count on Chaffee to stay in the R column.

[Gay State Conservative]

With the House and the Senate in play in this years election we need the RINOs. Chaffee has his head up his ARSE, but we can't afford to lose his seat to the Demos.

Very true.A practical example of what you're saying is contained in some stats put out by some leftist,atheist organization that rates Senators on issues that matter to them...stuff like the Boy Scouts and other issues that "unconstitutionally forces religion on citizens" (my words).

Here's a ratings list by that atheist organization of the Senate.Note that Reed (RI's democRAT Senator) gets a 100% (a perfect score) from the atheists and Chaffee gets only 40%.If a real democRAT is elected in RI,the state will have two Senators who rate 100%.

http://www.secular.org/scorecard/2006/senate.html

[upchuck]

Screw RNC!

Good for you. We need more!!

[oceanview]

the republican in CT is unelectable.

what the CT race can do for the republicans, with a Lieberman win, is to marginalize the part of their base that tossed him out of their party in the primary. that's the best we can accomplish in the CT race, so we might as well take what we can get.

[RustMartialis]

I changed your headline back to the correct one. Do not substitute your own, ever.

Ah, so "To Hold Senate, G.O.P. Bolsters Its Most Liberal (RNSC Picks RINO over Conservative)" would be okay, right?

Or perhaps "To Hold Senate, G.O.P. Bolsters Its Most Liberal (RNSC prepared to concede RI unless RINO wins)"?

--R.

[goldfinch]

The problem is acute RINO-itis.

The problem on this board is more one of acute LOSER-itis. Some people here would rather be ideologically pure and out of power then to make the compromises needed to retain a majority and exercise power. They are infected with acute LOSER-itis. Hopefully, it is not contagious.

[EGPWS]

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.

Sadly enough, it could be an improvement to the conservative cause if it was conceded.

[okie01]

no, it is not insane. control of the senate may come down to the RI seat, and a pickup of a seat in NJ with Kean.

Normally, I would agree with the pragmatic approach. But I ask you: Who would you rather the RNC and RSCC save -- Chafee or, say, Santorum?

If the majority is under seige, why don't we try to save those who are worth saving -- even if it means throwing the likes of Chaffee overboard?

[MNJohnnie]

no, it is not insane. control of the senate may come down to the RI seat, and a pickup of a seat in NJ with Kean

Only if you take all your data from Democrat Talking Points. The fact of the matter is the Democrats have almost NO chance of taking back the Seate. They have to hit 100% and the Republicans ZERO for that to happen. This is more "We cannot win the Party at the Conventions so we will control who the canidates are" Rockefeller Republican Establishment thinking. If they lose a chamber, it will be because of this "Me Too Democrat Lite" posuturing by the RINOS. Rove showed you how to win. YOU do NOT try to suck up to the Left. They hate you and will never vote for you. You win by firing up YOUR base to show up. This "play it safe" dogma in the Beltway is a losing strategy.