Chafee unsure of staying with GOP after losing election

[babylonsister]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2006/11/09/chafee_unsure_of_staying_with_gop_after_losing_election/?p1=MEWell_Pos4

Chafee unsure of staying with GOP after losing election

By Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press Writer | November 9, 2006

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Two days after losing a bid for a second term in an election seen as a referendum on President Bush and the Republican Party, Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he was unsure whether he'd remain a Republican.

"I haven't made any decisions. I just haven't even thought about where my place is," Chafee said at a news conference when asked whether he would stick with the Republican Party or switch to be an independent or Democrat.

When asked if his comments meant he thought he might not belong in the Republican Party, he replied: "That's fair."

Chafee, 53, is the most liberal Republican in the Senate and was the sole Senate Republican to vote against the war in Iraq. That was not enough to save his seat against the winner, Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, who shared many of Chafee's views but was a member of the dominant party in a state where Democrats far outnumber Republicans.

more...

[liberalpragmatist]

1. He also says his loss "Helped the Country!"

When asked whether he felt that his loss may have helped the country by switching control of power in Congress, he replied: "To be honest, yes."

I feel bad for Chafee. He's a decent guy and he sticks to principle. He should have run in the Democratic primary this cycle and pledged to caucus with Dems in the next Congress. Now he's out of the job. And he knows why.

[w13rd0]

5. Yeah, it's kind of sad...

...I've seen him in interviews and his voting record is decent (for a Republican). But dance with the devil and all that. Hope he makes the switch, and glad to hear he knows his defeat was "for the good of the nation"...

[bdamomma]

36. Linc was a casualty of this thuggish regime, I hope he does well

whatever he does.

[Strawman]

31. That's really an amazing public statement out of a pol

But the bottom line is that he let nostalgia for his dad's Republican party trump the reality that the Republican party today is the party of James Inhofe. I feel some sympathy for him, but more for the people who were victimized by Republican rule he helped perpetaute through his self-centered quixotic obsession with redeeming a party of mean spirited idiots.

[nodehopper]

71. I am confused, I just looked up his record on Wikipedia

how is he a Republican? He is a pro-choice, anti-war, anti-death-penalty, pro-gay marriage, pro-environmental protection, anti-Bush-tax-cuts politician. That's more liberal than some of the DEMOCRATS. I mean, is he considered, like, the Zell Miller of the Republicans?

[janx]

89. He's an old Goldwater Republican.

Almost extinct now.

[0rganism]

103. Yep, he was often paired with Zell Miller to show examples of partisan overlap

I don't think they have replacements -- they're both anachronisms, throwbacks to the days when Democrats were the party of southern white power and Republicans supported civil rights.

[IndianaGreen]

45. If Jim Webb can be a Democrat, so can Chafee

Let the GOP be reduced to being the Party of Gawd.

[Jiyah]

66. Lincoln Chafee is about the only Republican I would consider

voting for. Good luck to you, Mr. Chafee, and please join us on this side of the aisle. America needs more men like you.

[AnneD]

90. I really hate to see him go...

He is proof as to how far the GOP has shifted to the right. You could be a GOP and have those views at one point(remember it was the GOP that introduced the Clean Air Act). Barry Goldwater is turning over in his grave now, and I never thought I would miss him.

You didn't have to have a litmus test (racial hygiene as I like to call it)then and opinions were respected. That is how out of control the right wing of the GOP is. They have forgotten that WE THE PEOPLE CONSENT yes CONSENT to be governed and it needs to be all the people. If the majority disagree well to bad so sad-some decisions are personal and a level of personal freedom is the corner stone of our democracy.

[Hoosier Dem]

2. Personally, I do like Lincoln Chafee, but...

If he was going to switch parties, he should have done it last year!! Had he done it then, he'd still be a Senator.

Sorry, Lincoln, it's just too late.

[ddbaj]

3. What a shame.

He's a good guy, would have made a great dem senator!!

[rpannier]

4. Sorry Lincoln

I like you and even respect you.
But, you're a few months too late on this one.
Had you bolted last spring (even if you became and Independent) you'd be returning to the Senate.

[gaspee]

7. Oh yeah

Hell, if he were an I or a D, I would have voted for him. I voted for him for mayor 3 times and I'd vote for him for governor if he ran as an independent.

I would rather vote Chafee over Ford. All things considered, I'm not happy I had to vote for Whitehouse. I would have rather voted for Chafee.

Not only did I vote for Whitehouse, but I brought three former republican voters to the pols as they voted for Whitehouse too.

I like Lincoln Chafee, but *his* republican party does not exist anymore. He's living in dreamworld if he thinks it does. If he wants to know how republicans feel about him, he needs to go read the threads about him over at freeperville. Those people are vile. And scary.

Personally, I think he's tired of trying to derail his party's crazy train all by himself any more. I wouldn't be surprised if he threw his hands up and said, fine, all you crazy asses have fun drooling on each other, I'm outta here!

[rpannier]

10. The Lowell Weicker of Rhode Island?

[AllieB]

85. Lowell Weicker is from Connecticut

n/t

[rpannier]

99. I should have been clearer

When I said The Lowell Weicker of RI

I mean he could be to RI what Weicker was to CT

A man who went from being a republikkan to being a socially liberal-fiscally conservative independent.

[krkaufman]

81. Right. I appreciate your putting the country first. Control of the Senate...

... had to be flipped.

Thanks.

[AlamoDemoc]

6. Sen. Chafee has impeccable character as politician....I am saddened by his loss

[gaspee]

9. In a state where

corruption if a fun, family past time, he has always stood out as honest and above board. Wish I could have voted for him, but he made his bed when he didn't switch parties.

I think he'll be happier out of that vipor pit, DC, but what do I know?

[rpannier]

11. I'm sort of hoping this experience will

push him to going Independent and running for Governor.
I think he'd win and I think he'd serve RI well.
He may be Rhode Islands answer to Lowell Weicker in CT.

[AlamoDemoc]

14. I agree...RI politicians are synonymous with corruption and perversion

I lived in Providence when Vincent Cianci was the mayor there...I worked for Citizens Bank at the time and he was frequent money seeker on our Christmas parties....later I heard he was arrested and convicted for bribery and racketeering conspiracy.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. Gaspee, thank you so much for voting him out and convincing others to do the same-

I lived in Rhode Island for a long time and I can really appreciate the dynamics. Rhode Island is a state where corruption is practiced with a kind of exuberance that outsiders can't really imagine unless they have experienced it. Outstanding Rhode Island corruption stories:

The Winnebago driving Republican Governor who wasn't above dumpster diving to retrieve a brown paper bagful of cash (payoffs) he thoughtlessly had thrown into a local eatery's trash.

The banker who brought down the banking system who parked in a handicapped space with stolen disability plates on his way out of town

A Governor who beat up his wife's lover with a fireplace log with a State Trooper looking on

A Head of the State Department of Transportation who lost his job for looting a semi-trailer wreck at the scene of bathroom scales and boxes of candy which I think he planned to give as gifts, if memory serves me.

I may be wrong, but I thought there was a politico who managed to get his jail time counted towards his pension.

Rhode Island is so small that if you live there for any amount of time, you realize that there are not six degrees of separation, it's more like 2 1/2. That small world reality fosters cronyism which also fosters corruption. My husband and I used to like to joke that you could buy a vote in RI for the price of a cup of coffee. If a voter had ANY personal connection with a politico whatsoever ( "he held the door for me once at Twin Oaks") that seemed to be enough to cement a lifelong fealty that passed through generations.

And really, the entire state is not corrupt and they seem to be pulling themselves out of the sewer of old time hack/crony politics, especially after the Northern part of the state became a bedroom suburb of Massachusetts and people from Connecticut and New York bought up the Southern part. But the fantastic natives are the core and soul of the state. Odd fact: Rhode Island has the largest number of artists per capita than any other state.

Lincoln Chaffee was a good guy and he is still a good guy. He's such a good guy that he admits it was better for the state and the country to vote him out. Why doesn't he join the party that deserves him? Rhody is the truest, bluest, funniest, most idiosyncratic, beautiful state in the country.

[brentspeak]

22. I think he was hoping that the Dewey/Eisenhower-type Repubs would make a comeback

Problem is, there's only a few other Republicans besides himself who fit that description.

[bdamomma]

37. what a great post we do have our flaws but our strengths outweigh

our weaknesses. RI is a beautiful state.

[caledesi]

41. OMG! Twin Oaks. I miss my home statel. Grew up in Newport,

now live in Florida (love the weather, hate the state). My mother, 92 yo, felt bad about Chafee since his family is an institution in RI. She is a Dem, but have no idea how she voted in RI.

I have always liked Linc and wish he would have switched parties long ago.

As an aside, my friend was on the "Buddy" Cianci jury. He was a crook. My friend voted guilty.

[flyingfysh]

49. you left out the real problem with Rhode Island

They make clam chowder with tomatoes instead of milk! (ugh!)

If you want to try clam chowder made right, come to Boston.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

51. Rhode Island Chowder is a clear broth chowder. I have NEVER seen

clam chowder in Rhode Island made with tomatoes and I have eaten my way entirely through the state in concentric parabolas. (Side note: you will NEVER find better restaurants than those in Rhode Island. Even all the little places are usually good.)

[Karenca]

53. Don't get mad at me

But my family lives in Newport, so I'm there quite often.

The food there cannot compare to New York City,:pals:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

54. Never would I be mad at you. But back me up on the tomato slander.

And seriously, the food in Providence is as good as the food you will find anywhere anytime. (ok, except maybe . . . . New York):)

[Karenca]

59. We've got more tomato-thinking chowder people here. ??

(Check my other post).

My son loves that lemon/icy stuff.

[JudyM]

72. That'd be Dell's lemonade, in the green/yellow parper cups...

yum

:beer:

[Karenca]

74. That's it!

I couldn't remember the name.
Thanks :)

[bdamomma]

96. I thought Dell's lemonade was great, and if you got a piece of

lemon wedge in it, it was like gold.

[SquireJons]

86. That would be 'Maryland Style" clam chowder

New England clam chowder is milk based, Maryland clam chowder is tomato broth based. I have no idea what Rhode Island style clam chowder is. But they're all good (New England style is my personal fav).

[flyingfysh]

57. I took the family to a theme park there once

I think it was called Rocky Point, it's now closed. We were amazed to see the concession stand serving tomato-based clam chowder. Maybe people have learned better since then.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

60. On most menus in Rhode Island they specify New England, Manhattan

or Rhode Island Chowder and Manhattan (with tomatoes) is definitely the rarest. I'm surprised you found that at Rocky Point, but it's really not what you usually find. This was probably a major factor in their ultimate demise.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

61. Oooo...Federal Hill!

Such food. Such wonderful Italian folks!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

63. Where you can see a mobstah eat a lobstah!

That was a line in an absolutely hilarious fake state song a number of years ago.

[JudyM]

73. ... and that great little hole in the wall french pastry place... pastiche!

Now that's some sugah!

[caledesi]

62. Lived in Newport most of my life and HAVE NEVER even

seen tomato clam chowder (It's actually called Manhattan for a reason) on the menu.

It's either clear (Portuguese-style) or milk (New England-style).

Tomato clam chowder is Manhattan Clam Chowder - don't like it at all.

[Karenca]

58. Chowder in Rhode Island is ALWAYS clear broth!

I'm in RI at least one weekend a month for 10 years now--
I have never seen clam chowder made with tomatoes.

Now, in NY, our clam chowder is tomato-based.

[bdamomma]

97. clam chowder made of tomatoes is called Manhattan style chowder

George's of Gaillee has the best clear broth clam chowder.

[barb162]

38. I never heard anything bad about him

which is pretty amazing for any politician. He seemed like a real moderate in a party of extremists

[Qutzupalotl]

8. It's never too late.

We need more people with integrity and a conscience in politics. I hope he does find a way to return. I know we'd welcome him.

[struggle4progress]

12. I'm sorry the Senate lost him. But there really wasn't any other way.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. Some strategists believe Lincoln HAD to go...

Without their token moderates (are you listening Sens. Snow and Collins?) the Republican Party becomes a group of confirmed wingnuts, thus easier to persuade moderates to vote with us. Taking down Santorum was fun, but according to the theory, Chaffee pelt will yield bigger dividends down the road.

[Swede Atlanta]

13. We are the "Big Tent" Party

Regardless of where someone has been before, we are the big tent party. If someone is willing to commit to the values we as Democrats hold dear, then I welcome him to the party if that is his choice. Look at Jim Webb in Virginia. He was a Secretary of the Navy under Reagan but he has seen the light and come to our fold. I welcome him and having him onboard has made the party stronger and we won control of the Senate because of his conversion. I think John Dean has shown how insight and reflection can affect one's view. Dean was counsel to President Nixon during Watergate. I haven't heard him officially come out as a Democrat but his views and appearances give that impression. I welcome him too.

[WatchWhatISay]

47. He specifically stated on TV the other day that he is and Independent,

and not a Democrat. But he has the conscience and principles to fit right in to our party.

[Nite Owl]

15. Why now? He would be Senator for

another term if he had just gone I and caucused with the dems. He is probably the one honorable republican left.
The people of RI knew the stakes though, we had to get those chairs.

If he really wants to help he can give some advice to Snowe and Collins!

[Vidar]

28. Applauding Chaffee again.

[Brundle_Fly]

17. another example

of neo-con destruction.

[Raine]

18. It's sad that his party

basically turned their back on him. It's a shame that he didn't dump the GOP long ago if he had he would probably still have his seat.

[yorkiemommie1]

19. ' Come over to the light'....

as stephanie miller would say!

[Nordmadr]

20. Hey Lincoln, pull up a chair, have a beer. Nice to meet you sir. I hear good

things...

Olafr

[ShortnFiery]

21. Good! You're more than welcome Senator Chafee - come on over? n/t

[WatchWhatISay]

48. He's been invited many times before

But maybe the timing is right now.

[goforit]

23. Hats off to you Chafee!!!.... You were never for tyrranny anyway!

[Timbuk3]

25. Maybe we should write him?

Tell him he'd be welcome on our side.

[Karenca]

50. I think we should. eom

[ozymandius]

26. It is as Kos said a long time ago.

"Switch or die."

Kos argued that Chafee had the chance to save his political hide by switching parties before the Democratic primary. He was right as we now see. I, too, regret that Chafee lost his seat solely because of party affiliation. He's a decent fellow.

[Rose Siding]

30. His prolonged confusion cost dems 5 million bucks.

What a waste if he's going to switch anyway.

[juajen]

27. Let's face it

He has too much humanity in his face to be a pug. Bless his misplaced heart.

[bdamomma]

39. yea, he does have that kind of innocent face, he did well his

father would have proud of him, but he will do okay.

[arewenotdemo]

98. Isn't physiognomy amazing?

It's so clear.

[NOLADEM]

29. Sorry. Should have done it when it meant something. Can just switch to the winners cause you want

Sorry Lincoln. You seem like a decent guy. But you stayed with Bushco when they destroyed or attempted to destroy much of what is sacred to a Democrat about living in America (our international reputation, or treatment of people, torture, emergency response, habeus corpue). You could have stopped a lot of this, and you didn't.

And NOW after the election, you wanna change? Sorry. I wouldn't trust you.

[Katzenjammer]

32. I was just about to post the same sentiment.

He's a day late and a dollar short with his hemi-demi-semi epiphany

[Fluffdaddy]

33. Right. It's easy to say you are in the wrong party now. But it did take balls

to vote against the war.

[gaspee]

34. I prefer to say it took guts, not balls,

But I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. When even *dems* voted en mass for the war, he stood up and said NO!

I t5hink he thought he could get his party back to what it used to be, but a lone Senator from tiny Little Rhody never stood a chance. Period.

[txindy]

75. Unfortunately, that is my view, as well.

He had years of chances and refused to take them.

[gardenista]

35. Lincoln, come on in! The water's just fine!

We would love to have you in our party.

You've been a voice for reason in a dark time.

I would be proud to be in the same party with you. Yeah, bring any friends over that you think would be interested, too!

Anyone who wants to exclude *anyone* else from our party is nuts. We win by opening our arms.

[Art_from_Ark]

56. So should we welcome David Duke?

Pat Robertson? Grover Norquist? Rush Limbaugh? Ann Coulter?

[gardenista]

79. You might benefit from a little research on Chafee.

If you think he's another Robertson, Norquist, Limbaugh, or Coulter.

But if any one of them publicly renounced the Republican party, and publicly committed to the democratic agenda, hell yeah!

I want everyone to be a democrat, and I don't care where they came from.

[Art_from_Ark]

82. I know about Chaffee

I was responding to your statement "Anyone who wants to exclude *anyone* else from our party is nuts."

[kath]

68. Uhh, 'scuse me, but just because he's been an honest Republican, doesn't

mean that he shares Democratic values. The Democrats need to stand for SOMETHING, dammit.

It's good that he voted against the Iraq invasion. Where does he stand on stem cell research, women's rights, tax cuts for the super wealthy, universal healthcare, the environment, the minimum wage, workers' rights, torture, habeas corpus, warrantless searches and wiretaps, the bankruptcy bill, etc, etc.?
Just because honest Republicans are rarer than hen's teeth doesn't necessarily mean he's a Democrat. Perhaps he shares Democratic values (or at least, what USED to be Dem. values), perhaps not.

<on edit - on further reflection, I do give him a HECK of a lot of credit for having the incredible guts to buck his party and vote against the Blank Check Resolution. It's so damned pissin'-off that SO many Democrats were too chickenshit to vote against it (hello, Hillary et al!)
This whole thing is complex, and not at all black-and-white.>

[gardenista]

77. Let's find out.

and if he's not completely there with us, let's get him there.

He's been a good ally to us. Let's cultivate the common ground and see what happens. That's all I'm sayin.

By the way, I like your questions, and I like your edit.

[gaspee]

94. In answer to your questions

Pro stem cell, including embryonic

Women's rights, staunchly prochoice, NARAL endorsed him

Tax cuts for the wealthy, against, even bucked his party and voted against

Universal healthcare, against making health care public. For finding some way to cover the uninsured as long as it doesn't cost business money.

Environment -- staunchly pro. Sierra club endorsed him. Did great things for open space in my city when he was mayor. Has been driving a hybrid for years, even before it was popular.

Minimum wage increase -- pro. We in RI already have a higher minimum wage than the national average, so that one was a no brainer for him.

Worker's rights -- he's a corporatist, but no worse than the DLC. He's old money and heavily tied into the banking industry - a little like Biden.

Torture -- anti. Very, very, very anti

Habeus corpus -- voted against that stupid torture bill

warrantless searches and wiretaps -- against

Bankruptcy bill -- for. Like I said, tied into the banking interests. He's no economic populist, that's for sure. My biggest beef with him was the bankruptcy bill.

A couple more

pro gay marriage. Not civil unions, but full marriage. But that's a no brainer in RI because over 50% of the people in the state are pro equal marriage rights.

Anti death penalty. Even for Sadaam and Bin Ladin. As he said in a debate, if you can make an exception, then you aren't anti-death penalty.

He's also pro patriot act, with a little tweaking. one of my bigger beefs with him.

Chafee is along the lines of a social libertarian and a fiscal conservative businessman. Though he was a ferrier, and not a lawyer or businessman before becoming mayor of my city.

I don't agree with Chafee on a few issues, most having to do with ecomics, but he's no social darwinist and probably the best thing I can say about him is that he's thoughtfull, honest, keeps a cool head and thinks about the future. I would welcome him as a dem. And if he wanted to run for governor, I would support him.

We need more politicians like Chafee. And I love that the crazy asses on the far right loathe him. I almost voted for him just for that reason. Would have loved to see Santorum and Allen go down while Chafee kept his seat, but we needed that seat. Sorry Linc.

[KnaveRupe]

40. I woulda traded him straight-up for Lieberman, or Ben Nelson.

It is sad that Chaffee chose to caucus with the Republicans. If he had pulled a Jeffords, he'd still have his seat, I'm positive. But voting for Chaffee would have meant voting for Republican leadership.

It's too bad, cause I think he is overall a good guy.

[TriMetFan]

42. Well I think Mr. Chafee should switch to The Democratic Party.

I was once a Chafee type Republican and I switched to The Democratic Party because this Party is a Party that is willing to include all. Big Tent. We can agree and disagree and still work together for the common good.

[Hawaii Hiker]

43. I wish Chaffee would join the Democrats

I like him better than a Harold Ford, Ben Nelson, Joe Libermann....Lincoln Chaffee voted against the war, he didn't support GW in 04, he voted against Alito - you could argue he's already a Democrat....I heard he had a favorable rating in exit polls taken Tuesday, around 60%!...He's out of a job solely because his boss is GW....I don't know much about Sheldon Whitehouse, I hope he's a strong liberal, as several moderates won on Tues. (Casey, Webb, MaCaskill, Tester), so it would be nice to have someone little more left of center!!....

I would be trilled if Chaffee would switch to a Democrat...

[FyurFly]

55. I don't know much about this guy..

but what i'm hearing about him sounds good.

[Caoimhe]

44. If Chafee is anything like a GOLDWATER guy

I welcome him with OPEN ARMS!!!

[tblue]

46. People used to think John McCain was the maverick, principled Repug. What a joke.

McCain doesn't have 1/2 the huevos Chafee has.

[The Wizard]

91. McCain jumped the shark

when he hugged Bush at the 04 convention. He threw all principles out the window when he repeated Rove's talking point about Kerry disparaging the troops. He will never be anything more than what he is now.

[bronxiteforever]

52. His vote against the war was Courage in the JFK sense

I would welcome such integrity in the party any time!

[JI7]

64. what does it matter now ?

he could have agreed to turn Democratic or Independent and caucus with the Democrats and the party would have been behind him.

but he refused. so what does it matter now what he does ? he isn't going to be in the Senate. does he plan to run in the future again in a Democratic Primary ?

[NNadir]

65. That about covers it.

He's had years to do this.

I really have no sympathy. He voted for Bill Frist to head the Senate. He long had an opportunity to vote for Harry Reid.

My understanding is that people liked him, but the issue that was most important to them was his party affiliation. It mattered.

[Orangepeel]

67. Bob Shrum was right...

(maybe for once :D)

The MSNBC panel was discussing why Democrats are working to defeat their republican "allies" and he said something like, "they aren't our allies. whatever Lincoln Chafee believes personally, his vote for majority leader is was enabled the things he votes against to get to the Senate floor"

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

69. Has he tried the Connecticut For Lieberman Party?

:rofl:

Oh, my!

[orleans]

70. too bad. i liked him--from what i knew of him--except that one

horrible flaw....R!

and the bottom line is he should've known better.

[Avalon Sparks]

76. There were a couple of bills...

He really saved our asses on.. I even emailed him to thank him.

He's a good man - too good for the GOP that's for sure. I hope he sticks around and I wish him all the best - I can remember being really impressed when he didn't cave into the GOP strong arming.

Go Lincoln!!

[Eurobabe]

78. Take the first step in renouncing the DEVIL, go Indy

n/t

[tomp]

80. he got what he deserved

he should've switched parties when it meant something. he should have openly opposed bush like all partiotic americans did.

[ripple]

88. He DID openly oppose Bush

Hell, he didn't even vote for him in 2004. I would love to see him switch parties.

[tomp]

100. not the kind of opposition i'm talking about.

and it's not just about bush. essentially, the whole party repub party is corrupt, yet chaffee apparently felt little discomfort about allowing his party to raiload fascist legislation and lie. he may have been a liberal republican, but at this time in history that wasn't what was called for. he missed the boat.

[Naturyl]

83. He's a good guy that got mixed up with a bad crowd.

Too bad he couldn't have left the GOP earlier. But maybe this is what it will take. If so, I'd welcome him.

[Vinca]

84. I would welcome him with open arms. nt

[stanwyck]

92. Me, too! n/t

[nam78_two]

87. He is not just decent for a Rethug, he is decent by any standards

There are a Dems who are more conservative than he is...
If he switches, I would support him.

[Az_lefty]

93. The next Dem President needs to reach out to Sen. Chafee...

he's a good man and would make a welcome addition to any administration.

[against all enemies]

95. He'd be a fine Democrat but for what RI office?

[NastyDiaper]

101. That's the kind of Aisle Reach I'm talking about!

Mr. Chaffe, I have two words for you to reflect on: "Republican Primaries".

Cmon Lincoln! Leap!

[0rganism]

102. We NEED folks like him in the Republican party, if not in the Senate

At the very least, he serves as a reminder of what the GOP used to be before Nixon's "Southern Strategy" took hold.

It'd be pure foolishness to suppose that the GOP is gone forever after 2008. Someday, the Republican party will re-assert itself, and I'd rather see people like Chafee writing the platform when it does.

[4theheart]

104. And he's still holding out on bolton

A good man, I'd welcome him in, and he's rejecting bolton even now, doing one last good deed.

[SKKY]

105. Color me unimpressed.

[Zorra]

106. Why would anyone be a republican unless they were stupid or evil?

:shrug: