Chafee dissed BushCo in NYT!

[RiverStone]

Hard pressed to find any rethug I respect, though Lincoln Chafee is a lone exception. Particularly his consistent anti-war position and being an advocate on environmental issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/opinion/12chafee.html

Some rumors out there put him as a "maybe" for switching parties. He is certainly more liberal then "conservative Dems" from the south. Do y'all think he would receive a broad base of Dem support if he became a Dem and ran again for office?:shrug:

[ananda]

1. Poor Chafee

Right ideas and philosophy for the wrong party.

Poor guy. I'm wondering why he stuck with the
GOP this long, much less why he's still a Reep.

Some things just make no sense.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. From what I've read, it was out of a sense of loyalty to his father.

I doubt that his father would recognize the Republican party of today, though.

[ck4829]

2. Chafee for Ambassador to the UN

That's something I would gladly support.

[benny05]

21. Me too

I wrote Senator Obama to encourage him to tell Bush to nominate Senator Chafee and why I thought Chafee was a better nominee. Bolton has been a total disaster.

[Karenca]

3. Strange------

That every time I reminded of Chafee, my heart goes out to him.

I don't understand why I continue to feel so sorry for him -

:shrug:

[burythehatchet]

5. Same here

he has a kind face and is obviously a man of some morality.

[Hav]

9. .

Maybe because he put his conscience or what he saw was right before the party?
Maybe because he voted against the torture bill when 10+ Dems in the Senate voted for it?

I'm absolutely happy that we have a majority in the Senate, now, but I somehow have a feeling that he might have been a more "reliable" supporter of our side than a few others with a D after their name.

[RiverStone]

13. Agreed! If he does not run in 08 - how bout the new Dem Pres offering him some admin position?

[Zensea]

17. What if he runs for President?

Can't recall ever hearing that idea floated.

[skipos]

16. His conscience told him that enabling a Repub senate majority was OK

otherwise he would have switched parties before this election.

[Warpy]

15. He's a Lincoln and Roosevelt pubbie

whose party has deserted him.

As a formerly working class, uninsured American, I understand how that feels.

And I'm still uninsured and uninsurable.

[Hav]

4. .

Had he changed earlier, he might have won with 70+%. He apparently didn't want to "betray" his party in RI, on the other hand his party actually left him.

It must have been a tough choice for the voters in RI. They probably knew that he was one of the few good and they didn't really vote against him. But they realized that this seat was just so important to give control of the Senate to the Dems.

But I hope he switches now. I think that at least in RI with his name, he could win whatever office he wants to if he is a Dem. Maybe he can get a position after the Dems hopefully win in 2008 ;). He'd be without any doubt a fine choice.

[wicket]

6. If he'd switched before the elections, or atleast turned independent

He would've sailed to re-election.

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I saw where he said it was a good thing for the country that he lost.

Otherwise the Democrats would not be in control of Congress. That has got to be a hard place to be in.

[Hav]

12. .

Yeah, I can't remember that I ever heard a politician say something like this. And that after the Repubs always insinuated how bad it would be if the Dems win the majority.

On election day, they showed short videos of him while he was voting and checking out the ballot. I felt really sorry for him and I think that even many in RI aren't happy that they had to vote against him.

[hlthe2b]

8. I believe it is called "loyal to a fault..."

even as they cut the legs out from under him and he surely saw the writing on the wall, chafee remained a "loyal" Republican... I think his only chance for regaining office is to change parties..But, I don't know that Jack Reed (D) is going anywhere... Maybe Governor?

[Horse with no Name]

10. Chafee's fatal flaw was that he put party before country

when he voted on all that horrible legislation.
In the end, it ended up he put his party before himself.
He seems to be redeemable as many aren't, but he isn't redeemable as a Republican, he is redeemable as a Democrat.

[AndyA]

11. If he had switched parties and become a Democrat, he would have

likely been re-elected. He does seem like a nice guy that got caught with a bad affiliation that pulled him down.

He has a right to be angry with the Republicans, and he could still change his party affiliation.

[Skinner]

14. I have always had a soft spot for Lincoln Chafee, BUT...

...I must admit that I find reading that op-ed to be sickening. What, exactly, is the point? He lost his seat -- and rightly so -- because he continued to support a party and a president that made a mockery of everything he stood for.

If the man had an ounce of integrity he would have jumped ship back in 2000 when Jeffords did. Writing this op-ed in the Washington Post a week after he got his ass handed to him, in a crass and pathetic attempt to paint himself as independent, is too little too late. He blew it. He provided aid and comfort to the enemy, when what this country needed was leadership.

I say screw him. If in the future Chafee tries to run for Senate again as a Democrat or an Independent, I will be strongly supporting Sheldon Whitehouse or Jack Reed -- Real Democrats who were Democrats when it actually mattered.

[LTR]

18. Chafee hung on to the GOP far too long

He stayed out of respect for his late father, whose seat he took over. Also felt he'd be betraying RI voters if he switched parties. I'm sure this stuff was weighing on him heavily.

In the end, his party moved away from him, as did RI voters.

If he stays in politics, I'm willing to bet he'll finally cross over to the Dems or become an independent who sides with Dems.

I don't fault him for not making the jump sooner. That couldn't have been an easy decision for him.

[Crunchy Frog]

19. Wish we could have kept him and lost Lieberman.

I think he likely would have pulled a Jeffords if he had won his seat.

His positions on many issues I care about are better than those of many Democrats. I would hope that he would get support from our party if he were to switch.

[leftyladyfrommo]

22. Yea, I really liked him, too.

I have no idea what Lieberman is about anymore.