Posted on 09/15/2007 7:03:52 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj
I learned today Former Republican United States Rhode Island Senator Lincoln D.Chafee changed his affiliation to Unaffiliated as a voter in Exeter*, where he is now registered, the change I recall took place on July 10TH.
His wife, Stephanie is registered in Providence as a Republican*. The Senator is a former Exeter resident and Warwick Mayor and City Councilman. What is amazing is the media has NOT picked this up yet and it happened several weeks ago!
Ironically former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey still maintains his GOP interest and was at the South County Republican Breakfast were I learned this about the Senator morning. My town, Hopkinton, was host. Mayor Laffey is now out with a new book did not mention this switch. It was mentioned by someone else.
Rhode Island does not have Independent Voter registration but you can register Unaffiliated. Under Rhode Island law any change in affiliation takes ninety days from filing the registration change. However an Unaffiliated Voter becomes identified with a political party immediately by voting in a party primary or filing as a candidate of that party.
On a personal level, I like BOTH men. Mayor Laffey was VERY SUPPORTIVE of me on the national convention delegate fiasco orchestrated by former Rhode Island State GOP Chair Patricia Morgan with R.I. State Rep. Susan Story, R-Barrington, also involved in process by chairing the effort to recommend delegate candidates. He appeared on both delegate slates.
Former Sen. Chafee was supportive of keeping Mrs. Morgan as Rhode Island GOP Chair. However to Sen. Chafee's credit he was the only prominent politician to call me when I was on the Hopkinton Town Council in regards to opposing "Big Box Store" development off an exit on Interstate#95 in my town. I would have felt better even if the state GOP Chair's pick was the Governor's he would have discussed the problems with Mrs. Morgan with the Governor.
A positive light on the GOP scene is our new State GOP Chair in Rhode Island "Gio" Cicione is a "breath of fresh air" from his predecessor. We recently lost another Rhode Island Republican State Representative "Rick" Singleton who for now is "man without a party."
Unfortunately the imbalance between the Democrats and Republicans in Rhode Island that the GOP has not controlled the Rhode Island House of Representatives since 1939-41 and the Rhode Island State Senate from 1957-59.
--Scott Bill Hirst
*Please note original post edited due to error in location of Mr. and Mrs. Chafee's being registered to vote.
Good point!
good news
I’m so glad he’s finally gone
I'm reminded of the RINO senator from CT that Lieberman replaced.
The guy went "independent" and became the guv, only to institute the income tax in CT.
From what I remember of the news reports, he undermined the very notion of a democracy by buying the votes of the legislators, and preventing anti-tax protestors from getting any where near the state house.
They've probably turned too far left for the likes of him.
ewww scum bag, good riddence
ewww scum bag, good riddence
Wow, Rhode Island seems to have gone Democrat a lot earlier than some other New England states.
This is the state that was so anti-Federalist that it refused to send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. But they certainly haven't acted like it since.
The fact that he’s unaffiliated shows that even he knows that his public career is over.
It went Democrat because of a full-scale political purge by Gov. Theodore Francis Green in the mid ‘30s. The GOP had tried to get the jump on the Dems by appealing to the French Canadian Catholic immigrants that had been coming in en masse (even elected a GOP French Canadian Senator in 1928), but Green’s ruthlessness was unmatched, and they never recovered from a legislative standpoint (despite the fact the GOP has actually controlled the Governorship for all but 4 of the last nearly 23 years).
I was surprised he didn’t make it official and register rodent.
I guess he finally made official what we always knew, anyway.
Chaffe has no reason to pretend he’s a Republican any more since the RNC won’t be sending him more $.
I’ll miss him.
But only because I’ve never learned to throw tomatoes with any aim.
Because of the upheaval with Laffey’s flawed primary fiasco, Chaffee lost, and Chafee’s repacement, (D) Sheldon Whitehouse, a Clinton appointed AG, has become one of the most partisan A-Holes in the Senate!
Did anyone note that tS, Whitehouse, a 5 month junior senior puke, took over the dias from Leahy during the AG Gonsalves hearing, lecturing the AG Gonsalves on how the AG was a ethically challenged, untalented piece of garbage!
I’ve written Whitehouse on a couple of issues, this being one, taking him to task for showing so little class in his defiance of sitting presidential appointees
Chaffee was a jerk. He was too full of himself to act like a team player, the way a real RINO is supposed to do. He will not be missed.
After his popular father’s long tenure in office, Chaffee could have been a senator for life. Basically he destroyed himself by offending everyone and proving that he could not be trusted.
Isn’t this old news?
I wouldn’t blame Laffey. Chafee simply needed to go. The WH decided to back these loser establishment RINOs in far too many contests, and the end result is a rodent Congress. As for that trash Whitehouse, he’ll probably be the Senator until they carry him out feet-first. Too bad Bob Weygand didn’t beat Chafee in 2000, at least we would’ve had a pro-lifer.
In that he was never loyal, yes. The media never broke this story officially, which is what was bizarre. You’d think it would be something they’d love in order to bash the GOP with it. “Moderate Republican leaves GOP !” (Nevermind he was about as moderate as Mao Tse Hillary).
Slightly correcting the above:
Unfortunately the (resemblance) between the Democrats and Republicans in Rhode Island (means) that the GOP has not controlled the Rhode Island House of Representatives since 1939-41 and the Rhode Island State Senate from 1957-59.
We can thank Laura Bush for fighting for this idiot over a real deal conservative.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/17/chafees_foe_saves_attacks_for_bush/
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aqK_ZndZKGFs&refer=us
The less influence this woman has on the President’s policies, the better.
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