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Former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee is endorsing Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. The Rhode Islander told The Associated Press he is endorsing Obama in a conference call Thursday. Chafee left the Republican Party last year and became an independent. He was one of the Senate's most liberal Republicans before he lost his seat in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions. In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist. Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s...

Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP By Bob Cusack Posted: 03/28/07 07:39 PM [ET] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions. In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist. Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln...

Lincoln Chafee may be out of politics, but he's still making political news. Last month it was reported that Chafee had bolted the Republican party. This weekend on a local talk show in Rhode Island, Chafee ruled out endorsing any likely Republican nominee. When asked about supporting a Democrat, Chafee hedged, but then added that if he did endorse a Democrat it would not be Hillary Clinton. Chafee said Clinton, and others who voted in favor of the Iraq war were "disqualified" to lead the country. The whole exchange looked like it could very well be a preview of an...

Lincoln Chafee, the man who less than a year ago served as the Republican Senator from Rhode Island, is apparently no longer a Republican today. That’s right, he recently dropped his affiliation with the party to become an independent. “It’s not my party anymore,” he says. “Anymore?” When exactly was it ever your party? It is extremely tempting to point at Chafee’s official change of affiliation and remind President Bush, Karl Rove and the rest of the Republican establishment just how wrong they were. You see, although they all knew how liberal Chafee was, they poured money, effort and endorsements...

Chafee quietly quits the GOP 01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, September 16, 2007 By Bruce Landis Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — Lincoln D. Chafee, who lost his Senate seat in the wave of anti-Republican sentiment in last November’s election, said yesterday that he has left the party. Chafee said he disaffiliated with the party he had helped lead, and his father had led before him, because the national Republican Party has gone too far away from his stance on too many critical issues, from war to economics to the environment. “It’s not my party any more,” he said. Chafee’s departure...

Chafee no longer a Republican Former Repubican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who lost his seat in last year’s Democratic congressional wave, announced that he has left the Republican Party, according to the Providence Journal. “It’s not my party any more,” he said. In his seven-year tenure in the Senate, Chafee frequently split from his party on key legislation. He opposed the war in Iraq, voted with Democrats on estate tax and HMO regulation legislation and refused to support the confirmation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. In the past, Chafee had insisted that he would remain in the Republican...

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...

The Brody File is in constant research mode. For all you Fred Thompson fans out there, grab a seat. Pause your TIVO episodes of Law and Order. Put on hold those portraits you've ordered of Fred Thompson and Ronald Reagan side by side in your living room. I've discovered that when socially liberal bad boy Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee was running for re-election in 2006, Fred Thompson campaigned for him and came to his defense. Here's the money quote: "There are a lot of reasons I support Linc. We agree on most issues, disagree on some. Obviously, keeping control of...

Hello everybody! It's me, former Senator Lincoln Chafee here. After I lost my re-election, I realized that it was because a lot of you people don't really understand what conservatism is all about -- and it's not your fault that you don't get it. After all, it's men like me who've actually been in government and had experience, who have a responsibility to teach everyone else about governing -- but we haven't lived up to our obligations. In the interim, hucksters like the former owner of this blog and Rush Limbaugh have stepped into the gap and filled your heads...

Chafee provided concrete accounts of what and where the Bush administration went wrong. He added that while in each case, the administration's rhetoric on the subject had been laudable, the government failed to act on its rhetoric. “Has this been a deliberate deception?” he asked.

Ousted Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee criticized President George W. Bush's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, saying the president was bowing to a faction of evangelical Christians who oppose a Palestinian state. "The religious thing is driving the foreign policy here," Chafee said following a speech at Brown University in which he questioned whether the president's past comments pushing for peace were sincere. Chafee, who served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lost his seat in November as Democrats swept into power in Congress. He landed a job at Brown's Watson Institute for International Studies following his loss to Democrat...

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats working with a well-known Republican war critic are developing a resolution declaring that President Bush's troop build up in Iraq "is not in the national interest," said people familiar with the document. The resolution also would put the Senate on record as saying the U.S. commitment in Iraq "can only be sustained" with popular support among the American public and in Congress, according to officials who are knowledgeable about the draft. These officials would speak only on grounds of anonymity because the drafting is still under way. Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), a Nebraska...

It’s official: John Bolton has been sacrificed. The question is, how far will the dagger plunge into the back of America’s foreign policy interests? President Bush has accepted Bolton’s resignation after the recess-appointed UN ambassador was unable to secure a vote in the Senate. The Left, led by a vindictive Lincoln Chafee eager to get back at the president he blames for his much-deserved defeat, refused to bring the Bolton nomination to the floor. Unlike the first stormy Bolton hearing, there was little question he would have been confirmed this time. In April 2005, it seemed unlikely Bolton could be...

"[C]utting down the man who was our best chance to reform the U.N. has nothing to do with the popular will -- and everything to do with [Senator Lincoln] Chafee getting the satisfaction of stabbing President Bush and the GOP one last time." -- Investors Business Daily, November 13, 2006 -- RINO Senator Lincoln Chafee -- sullen and pouting because the voters in his state just kicked him out of office -- has announced he intends YET AGAIN to block the nomination of John Bolton as our U.N. ambassador. In fact, the Rhode Island RINO made his intentions known within...

Holding to the Center, Losing My Seat By Lincoln D, Chafee LAST Tuesday, I was one of the many moderate Republican casualties of the anti-Bush virulence that swept the country. Despite my having voted against the Iraq war resolution, my reputation for independence, the editorial endorsement of virtually every newspaper in my state, and a job approval rating of 63 percent, I did not win. Why? Back in December 2000, after one of the closest elections in our nation’s history, Vice President-elect Dick Cheney was the guest at a weekly lunch meeting of a small group of centrist Republicans. Senators...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sen. Lincoln Chafee said his knees buckled when he walked into his polling place Tuesday morning and saw that voters were given a prominently displayed option of casting votes along a straight-party line. "It was so easy to just go against the Republicans and fill in that Democrat. It was so easy," Chafee said Thursday in a post-mortem dissection of his loss to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. Voters in Rhode Island did exactly that on Tuesday, filling in Democrats in large numbers and sweeping the Republican Chafee from office as part of a fierce backlash that uprooted GOP...

ROVIDENCE, R.I. - Two days after losing a bid for a second term, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) said he was unsure whether he would remain a Republican. Chafee lost to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in a race seen as a referendum on President Bush and the GOP. On Thursday, he was asked whether he would stick with the Republican Party or become an independent or Democrat. "I haven't made any decisions. I just haven't even thought about where my place is,".......

(2006-11-10) — Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee said today he may leave the Republican party, and is also considering ending his stormy marriage with pop star Britney Spears. “I have been a faithful member of my party, just as I’ve been true to Britney for all these years,” said Sen. Chafee. “But I feel we’ve grown apart. I’ve stuck to the Republican principles of larger government, less aggressive national defense and moral flexibility, but the the party has been co-opted by ideologues who have taken it in a new direction.” The dual announcements shocked both the political and entertainment worlds...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This is probably not what President Bush had in mind when he stressed bipartisanship after the Democratic Party's midterm elections sweep. A key Senate Republican has joined Democrats in opposing one of Bush's initiatives for the lame-duck Congress: John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. With leaders from both parties promising a new bipartisan Washington, Bush began efforts to get two of his most controversial decisions approved before the Democrats take over. . . . . But Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who was defeated in this week's election, said he would block Bolton's nomination....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Two days after losing a bid for a second term, Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he was unsure whether he would remain a Republican. Chafee lost to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in a race seen as a referendum on President Bush and the GOP. On Thursday, he was asked whether he would stick with the Republican Party or become an independent or Democrat. ``I haven't made any decisions. I just haven't even thought about where my place is,'' Chafee said at a news conference. When pressed on whether his comments indicated he might leave the GOP, he replied:...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Two days after losing a bid for a second term, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) said he was unsure whether he would remain a Republican. Chafee lost to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in a race seen as a referendum on President Bush and the GOP. On Thursday, he was asked whether he would stick with the Republican Party or become an independent or Democrat. "I haven't made any decisions. I just haven't even thought about where my place is," Chafee said at a news conference. When pressed on whether his comments indicated he might leave the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Prospects for extending John Bolton's job as U.N. ambassador essentially died Thursday as Democrats and a pivotal Republican said they would continue to oppose the nomination. It was another blow to President Bush two days after Democrats triumphed in elections that will give them control of Congress next year. On Wednesday, Bush had announced that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a polarizing figure and face of the Iraq war, would step down.On Thursday the White House resubmitted Bolton's nomination to the Senate, where the appointment has languished for more than a year. Bush appointed him to the...

Well, this would just make tomorrow night so, so special...from The Plank: I have a friend in Rhode Island—a Democrat torn between his affections for Lincoln Chafee and his desire to make Harry Reid majority leader. Over the weekend, my friend attended a Chafee event and cornered the senator. Now, my friend doesn't have a personal relationship with Chafee, but he put the question bluntly to him: Why should I stick with you in a race with so many national implications? Chafee pulled my friend aside, lowered his voice, and told him that he might not be a Republican for...

Three-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Myrth York has endorsed Republican incumbent Senator Lincoln Chafee's bid for reelection. Declaring that she places greater value on the character of the candidate than on party, she says Chafee most closely represents her values on issues ranging from opposition to the war in Iraq to the environment to personal freedoms.

Lincoln Chafee, the only Republican U.S. senator to vote against the Iraq war, often breaks ranks with his party to survive in one of the nation's most liberal states. But in two weeks Rhode Island may break ranks with Chafee, ousting one of the most moderate voices in the Republican Party and handing the Democrats one of six key seats needed to seize control of the Senate... Trailing by four to 11 points in recent polls, Chafee is stressing his unique brand of Republicanism - from championing environmental issues to fighting Bush's tax cuts, pressing for direct talks with Iran,...

The man hoping to oust incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee is leading in two new polls released today. Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse has a 10-point lead in the poll conducted by the national independent pollster Rasmussen Reports. He leads Chafee 49 percent to 39 percent with 8 percent undecided and 4 percent supporting other candidates. A separate poll released by Rhode Island College's Bureau of Government Research and Services found that Whitehouse leads by 3 percentage points, 40 percent to 37 percent with 23 percent undecided. Both polls have a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. Rasmussen surveyed...

Rhode Island Senate: Lincoln Chafee (R) 42% Sheldon Whitehouse (D) 51% Undecided 7%500 Likely Voters, poll taken Oct 6http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2006/senate/ri/rhode_island_senate_race-17.html Minnesota Senate: Amy Klobuchar (DFL) 56% Mark Kennedy (R) 40% Undecided 4%500 Likely Voters, poll taken Oct 5http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2006/senate/mn/minnesota_senate_race-15.html Minnesota Governor: Mike Hatch (DFL) 50% Tim Pawlenty (R) 46% Undecided 4%500 Likely Voters, poll taken Oct 5http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2006/governor/mn/minnesota_governor_race-57.html

Democrat targets The President’s approval ratings remain low and generic polls (“which party would you be most likely to vote for?”) give an edge to the Democrats, though perhaps by less than in the summer. So the seats most likely to change hands are ones the Democrats are targeting. Montana ought to be safe for the Republicans, and with another candidate, it would be. But Conrad Burns has been linked to uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now convicted of corrupting public officials. Burns has been trailing for some time, and Montana now pips Pennsylvania as the Democrats best hope of a pick...

Senator John McCain (R - Az.) “Senator Chafee is one of the most fiscally responsible members of the U.S. Senate,” said U.S. Senator John McCain. “He wants to cut excess government spending, and he is willing to make the tough decisions to eliminate the federal deficit. Senator Chafee has been a leader on environmental issues, he’s working to raise fuel efficiency standards and make America energy independent, and he’s an honest advocate for his state. He is an important member of the Senate and we need him to keep representing the people of Rhode Island in Washington.” ------------------------------------------------ Senator Elizabeth...

Is Ted Kennedy going to hold the entire city of Fallujah accountable for violating the Geneva Conventions when they killed four non-military American contractors, burnt and beat their bodies and hung them from a bridge? How are democrats going prosecute the masked terrorists when they beheaded Nick Berg, Paul Johnson and others? Will the democrats voting Geneva Convention and Habeas Corpus rights to terrorists stipulate that when video taping a beheading, terrorists not wear masks, clearly identify themselves and where they can be reached? How would we process Osama Bin Laden if we caught him alive? Would we treat...

The focus temporarily is on Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a frequently unfathomable maverick Republican, as the days dwindle down for this Congress to permit John Bolton to continue as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. But Bolton's two-year struggle to get confirmed can be directly traced to a determined Democratic senator and the vengeful UN secretariat. Senate Republican Whip Mitch McConnell sat down Tuesday for a heart-to-heart talk with Chafee, pleading with him to permit Bolton's nomination to reach the Senate floor. The reason Chafee is in this pivotal position can be attributed to Sen. Christopher Dodd's fierce open opposition to...

Once again, John Bolton -- the tough-talking, no-nonsense U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations -- is facing an uphill battle for confirmation in the Senate.

  Connecticut US Senate If the general election for US Senate were being held today between Ralph Ferrucci, of the Green party, Timothy Knibbs, of the Concerned Citizens party, Ned Lamont, the Democrat, Joe Lieberman, of the Connecticut for Lieberman party, and Alan Schlesinger, the Republican, for whom would you vote? (names rotated) 9/19/06 Lamont Lieberman Others Undecided Likely voters 45% 47% 3% 5% Republicans (26%) 15% 66% 8% 11% Democrats (39%) 62% 36% 0% 2% Unaffiliated (35%) 47% 45% 3% 5% 8/21/06 42% 44% 3% 11% Based on 600 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of likely...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A new Brown University poll shows Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse neck-and-neck two months before an election that could help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. If the election were held Tuesday, 40 percent of voters said they would select Whitehouse, compared to 39 percent for Chafee. That lead is negligible because the poll, conducted between Sept. 16-18, questioned 578 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Original source for Leip's Atlas was Kos, so take that with a grain of salt. Here's what they say Rasmussen's new premium poll from Rhode Island says: Whitehouse (D) 51% Chafee (R) 43% +/- 4.5 MOE, 500 likely voters

Is Chafee on the brink? Steve Laffey's campaign aides will be stunned if they lose. Campaign sources say they hit all their target numbers in every targeted precinct etc, assuming a turnout of 50 to 55k voters. These are just targeting predictors, not vote counts, so anything can happen, but everything has gone as planned for their turnout operation. The Secretary of State reports that precincts across the state ran out of the more than 20K Unaffiliation forms they distributed. That suggests a least three possibilities: 1. Independents and Democrats voted for Chafee and then re-established their independent credentials 2....

Zoologist Darren Naish has written a thoughtful essay on “Are Sumatran Rhinos Really Living Fossil?” His blog is in response to my comments on the “living fossil” issue, discussed here. I disagree with Naish’s restrictive parameters, of course, as I see this more an issue of educational semantics influenced by zoology, not ruled by it. Darren Naish’s approach is worthy of your attention and he has every right to his very informed point of view. Needless to say, in this case, I was employing the “living fossil” definition that this rhino species is “a living species/clade with many ‘primitive’ characteristics...

Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R) beat back a strong primary challenge from Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R) tonight, a victory for which national Republicans deserve considerable credit. The Republican National Committee, White House and National Republican Senatorial Committee coordinated on a vast voter identification effort on Chafee's behalf that, combined with sophisticated microtargeting and a big get-out-the-vote operation, won the day for the senator....

In the latest test of the country's politics of polarization, the middle ground held on. Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee said his victory Tuesday against a conservative challenger sent a message across the nation that moderate Republicans remained "alive and kicking" after beating back a challenger that ran to his political right. "Partisan politics must not prevail," he said. His primary win over Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey was notable in a year that saw moderates from each party lose primaries to hard-line candidates. Chafee thanked Democratic-leaning independents for supporting him, while he also got backing from the Bush administration...

Moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, his political career at risk from a more conservative challenger, led in early returns Tuesday in a contest that could be crucial in the larger fight for control of Congress. With 3 percent of precincts reporting, Chafee had 2,735 votes, or 55 percent, to Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey's 2,241 votes, or 45 percent. The last big day of primaries before the November elections also brought intriguing Democratic contests for Senate in Maryland and a House seat in Minnesota. In all, nine states and the District of Columbia voted, with the other states...

Rhode Island's independent-minded Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) confronted stiff opposition Tuesday in his bid for a second term, the latest race with a moderate targeted by his own party's hard-line critics. Nine states and Washington, D.C., were holding primary elections Tuesday, but Chafee's race has drawn the most attention as another test of the depth of anti-incumbent sentiment and the erosion of the political middle ground. Chafee has a remarkable amount of support from national Republicans, especially for a senator who has often been at odds with the party, bucking the administration on tax cuts, civil...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The conservative Club for Growth, which has angered some Republicans for years with a series of well-funded challenges of party moderates, is taking aim at its biggest target yet -- Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. The group, which advocates tax cuts, free trade and limited government, has raised more than $700,000 for Chafee's conservative challenger and helped put the moderate senator at risk in Tuesday's Republican primary in Rhode Island. The maverick Chafee has frequently opposed the policies of President George W. Bush, but the White House and Republican Party establishment have rallied to his...

On Tuesday, the GOP primary in Rhode Island pits Sen. Lincoln Chafee against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey. Whatever else may be said about Chafee, he has been a very reliable vote against obstructionist filibusters of judicial nominees. He's voted for cloture all 25 times (see details below the fold). According to Rasmussen, Chafee has pulled to within two points of Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse in his bid for re-election (i.e. 44% for Whitehouse and 42% for Chafee). Whitehouse previously had a six point lead. But Chafee must first face off against Laffey, on Tuesday. Rasmussen has Whitehouse leading Laffey 58%...

WARWICK, R.I. -- Senate Republicans face the prospect of one less seat Wednesday morning, party leaders say, if Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a liberal, loses his primary tomorrow to conservative Stephen Laffey. "Mr. Laffey has no chance to win a general election. We would find ourselves down a seat going into the November elections," said Dan Ronayne, spokesman for the NRSC. Mr. Ronayne has said the committee will not back Mr. Laffey if he wins. The national Republican machine has devoted time, money and resources to securing a primary victory for Chafee. This support came even though the incumbent opposes party...

On Tuesday, the GOP primary in Rhode Island pits Sen. Lincoln Chafee against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey. Whatever else may be said about Chafee, he has been a very reliable vote against obstructionist filibusters of judicial nominees. He's voted for cloture all 25 times (see details below the fold). According to Rasmussen, Chafee has pulled to within two points of Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse in his bid for re-election (i.e. 44% for Whitehouse and 42% for Chafee). Whitehouse previously had a six point lead. But Chafee must first face off against Laffey, on Tuesday. Rasmussen has Whitehouse leading Laffey 58%...

Few incumbents have been as besieged in this year’s campaign season as moderate Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), who faces a threatening challenge from conservative Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in the Sept. 12 primary. And the final days of that contest have been as rough on Chafee as what came before: He has found himself obliged to disavow some of his own side’s hard-hitting negative ads aimed at Laffey, and facing criticism from Laffey and allied conservatives concerning his indecision over whether to support Senate confirmation of John R. Bolton, President Bush’s confrontational appointee as...

WASHINGTON - A Senate panel postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on approving John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, a job he has held temporarily since last year when President Bush appointed him over Democratic opposition. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., gave no reason for the delay and did not say when the vote would be held. Bolton had been opposed by many Democrats but was expected to be confirmed by the Republican-led panel. Lugar said he removed the nomination from the agenda of Thursday's committee meeting after conferring with several senators. His approval by the committee would...

September 3, 2006 Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee (R ) has pulled to within two points of challenger Sheldon Whitehouse in his bid for re-election. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll in Rhode Island shows Whitehouse earning support from 44% of voters while Chafee attracts 42% (see crosstabs). Whitehouse had a six point lead last month. Based upon this poll we are shifting the Rhode Island Senate race from “Leans Democrat” to “Toss-Up” in our Senate Balance of Power ratings. Rhode Island is the fifth race in the Toss-Up category. Though he has his sights set on Whitehouse,...

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 3rd, 2006 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and his Democratic challenger, state treasurer Robert Casey. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., and his primary challenger, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey; actress and animal rights activist Bo Derek. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Rep. Christopher Shays,...