Posted on 09/17/2007 10:52:26 AM PDT by RightWingConspirator
Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he has left the Republican Party because the national GOP has drifted too far from him on critical issues, including the war in Iraq, the economy and the environment.
"It's not my party anymore," Chafee, who represented Rhode Island from 1999 until 2007, told The Providence Journal in an article published Saturday.
Chafee said he is now an unaffiliated voter after leaving the GOP "in June or July."
He said he made the move because "I want my affiliation to accurately reflect my status."
Chafee was appointed in 1999 after his father, Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., died suddenly, but lost last November's election to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.
During that campaign, Chafee made an issue of his differences with the national party. He was the only Republican senator to oppose the resolution supporting the invasion of Iraq and was also critical of the "permanent deficits" caused by Republican tax cuts.
He also noted that he opposed other Republican stances, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
He told the newspaper that although the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended in December a gradual pullback of American forces, the advice has been largely ignored.
He also criticized Republican leaders for abandoning fiscal conservatism, once a mainstay of the GOP's platform, by passing tax cuts without spending cuts to balance the resulting loss of revenue.
The strategy, he said, has undermined social programs that bolster the American middle class. He specifically mentioned Pell grants, which help students attend college, and Head Start programs, which support the education of low-income children.
Good riddance, indeed. Don’t fight under OUR colors.
Status? Marooned Space Alien!
I aways thought he was a little "light in the loafers" if you know what I mean.
No.
He was a RINO.
Sad...his father, John Chafee, was a great SECNAV and GOP senator. The DDG-90 is named for him.
Quick, let’s make the Republican Party even more “progressive” so that we can woo him back.
Rhode Island, the only state that didn’t show up for the original Constitution Convention, I think... because they misidentified themselves as a state, and they spelled “Road” incorrectly on the forms...... (/chuckle)
Too bad. He has a close relative who is an ex-marine and current Assistant US Attorney in Rhode Island.
This guy is likely the biggest whiner in politics today. After he lost his reelection bid last year he actually wrote a NY Times Op-Ed whinning about it and basically calling RI voters stupid for voting him out.
Really? Why not?
He never was a Republican. Voted with the Dems. most of the time and admitted he didn’t vote for Bush in 04. We never had him on our side and now he has made it official.
“Former RI Sen. Lincoln Chafee Leaves GOP”
Took him long enough to do it formally. Guess he wanted to make it official!
Perhaps what Lincoln meant to say was it wasn't his party to begin with (or it was alot LESS his party), then it became his party, and now its becoming less his party once again.
Still, one can imagine his disapointment.
Sounds like he’s suffereing from not getting any attention deficit disorder.
I hate RINO’s but they do help in the overall number when it comes to chairmanships. Is Rhode Island even capable of electing a real republican?
Better late than never. When the last Republican leaves RI, please turn out the lights.
Ditto that.
I've always thought Lincoln had a face for the democratic party.
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