In Rhode Island, Conservative Group "Push Polling" Against Chafee

[JABBS]

With just days to go before Republican primary voters will vote in Rhode Island, prospective voters are saying that incumbent Senator Lincoln Chafee has become the target of a "push poll" campaign.

A push poll is a telephone survey in which questions are designed to weaken support for one candidate or build up support for another. The negative campaign tactic is illegal in some states, but not Rhode Island.

Click here to read more.

[Tellurian]

1. Chafee has no worries in RI..

Laffey is just that, a Laf hee!

[MoonRiver]

2. Too bad.

Laf hee would have been so easy.

[sharp_stick]

3. Still, it would be nice if Laffey won

I can't see any scenario where that douchbag could carry RI in the November election. Chafee can win it again and keep a seat for the repukes but Laffey would lose probably as badly as that weird Katherine Harris is FL.

[JABBS]

9. Is Chafee certain to beat Laffey?

I thought it was pretty close.

[stellanoir]

4. It figures. . .

". . .The negative campaign tactic is illegal in some states, but not Rhode Island."

That's 'cause we have been totally corrupt long before it became nationally trendy.

[Tellurian]

6. I don't think we can hold a candle..

to the Bush Administration. The Sopranos aren't THAT well connected!
And besides, Federal Hill is just a name! O8)

[stellanoir]

8. LOL The only candle I'll personally hold to the * "misadministration"

is the one I was given to allegedly ward off alien abductions.

[brentspeak]

5. Lincoln should have declared himself an Independent a few years ago

So despite being a good guy, he still feels obligated to vote along with the GOP when his vote matters. Dumb non-move on his part.

[Tellurian]

7. He will, if he feels it is the right time to do so..

he's threatened once to jump ship...
I don't think he's really concerned about labels at this point in time.
And he's made his position quite clear to his constituency.

before you ask:

(in a nutshell)

"Neither Republicans or Democrats get it right 100% of the time."

What I like about him is, he is not a polarizing figure and is easily accessible.

[JABBS]

10. i disagree

during his televised debate with Laffey last month (shown on CSPAN), he was asked several times whether he really was a Republican, and he laid out several reasons (he's voted for fiscal responsibility, smaller government, etc.) where he differs with the Bush Administration, but also where he differs (traditionally) with Democrats.

So, in effect, he was arguing that he would not leave the party, because he felt he represented the true defninition of Republicanism.

Take or leave it, but that was his stance.

[Tellurian]

11. Chafee will win over Laffey but..

He may not survive over Sheldon Whitehouse.

Whitehouse was a former AG in R.I. and is well known and liked within the state.
I think it was a mistake for Whitehouse to run against Chafee, unless his election
would significantly change the number of Dem Senate seats, then it's a big help.
I would rather have seen Whitehouse run against the incumbent Governor Carcieri (R)
He would have been a shoe in this time around.

Rep. Langevin is a goner, opposed by Jennifer Lawless. I won't be sad over his ouster.
His voting record is pitiful.

Well, there, you have my picks. A semantic argument re Chafee, imo, is moot at this point.

[saltpoint]

12. I would like to see push polls like this made illegal in all states.

There's a What-Might-Have-Been story with Lincoln Chafee, but it didn't materialize. The stars didn't line up quite right, and we only had him for a few votes; too many other times he bowed to the Bush juggernaut when it was going strong.

Now that it's bone-weak and cannot really help him much, he's in a jam between liberals pissed at his timidity and conservatives pissed at his moderation.

Don't have the crystal ball out for the primary in RI tomorrow, but if he loses because of a push poll, I don't like it. I want people to win or lose elections on a fair vote of an informed citizenry and not because a push poll smears them.

Birch Bayh lost to a Dan Quayle push poll on abortion in 1980. And there was the more recent McCain loss to a Bush push poll in South Carolina in 2000.

IMO push polls are a thinly veiled effort to win by cheating.

[Tellurian]

14. Chafee is a good man..

He's no match for Whitehouse, though. Linc will go back to taking care of the family fortune,
his wife and kids. I don't believe he enjoys the stress of political life.

Whitehouse, on the other hand, will be a 'voice' to be reckoned with in the Senate.
Perhaps, Sheldon's enthusiasm will adrenalize Jack Reed into a man of action.

Push polling shouldn't be a problem tomorrow.

Impressive info for Langevin's oponent

Jennifer Lawless:

http://rifuture.org/blog/?p=2132

[brentspeak]

15. I like what I read about Jenn Lawless

I disagree about Reed, though; I think he's done a pretty good job, especially in the past year.

[Tellurian]

16. I Like Sen.Reed as well..

I'm sorry, if you came away with the impression of my dissatisfaction with Senator Reed; he's a sweetheart
and very low key. What I meant by 'adrenalizing' is, if Whitehouse is elected, he may be the spur for
Senator Reed to spend more time in the public eye, becoming more vocal, than he has been previously.

[saltpoint]

17. Hi, Tellurian. I like your projections for Whitehouse, Langevin and

Reed.

We're going to be watching the returns from RI and the rest of the states tonight. I hope by tomorrow morning the landscape for Nov. 7th is looking blue, blue, blue.

If we can grab the Chafee seat in RI, we're on our way to capturing the U.S. Senate.

[Tellurian]

18. O Kaaaaaaay!

Ran by our polling place this morning at 7:30. The parking lot was full and crowds were standing in line.
People ARE really concerened where our country is going...

and...It's a 'Good' Thing!

:dem: :hi:

[saltpoint]

19. Sounds great. We'll be tuning in tonight for the outcome.

[JABBS]

20. yep

The Dems chances may become markedly better in about eight hours.

[saltpoint]

21. That gets a big loud HOT DOG from our house.

Go, Democrats.

[JABBS]

22. it's amazing

how things change in just a few weeks.

I actually wrote an item on JABBS in July saying that I could only count four or five seats the Dems could pick up -- Pennsylvania, Montana, Rhode Island and maybe Ohio or Missouri.

Now throw Virginia and Tennesee into the mix. And the Dems chances are firming in the other states.

Wow.

[Tellurian]

23. Good on you too, JABBS...

Yes, things do change, because we never give up HOPE!

"It was well for Pandora that she opened the box a second time, for the gods, with a sudden impulse of compassion, had concealed among the evil spirits one kindly creature, Hope, whose mission was to heal the wounds inflicted by her fellow prisoners."

http://www.physics.hku.hk/~tboyce/ss/topics/prometheus.html


" Hope rules a land for ever green:
All powers that serve the bright-eyed Queen
Are confident and gay;

Clouds at her bidding disappear;
Points she to aught ? - the bliss draws near,
And Fancy smooths the way." Wordsworth

[saltpoint]

24. And we'll take any seat we can get out electoral hands on, too.

I'm writing this just before 4:45 p.m. Eastern, and we're just a few hours away now from the first returns from the east coast primary states.

I'm psyched.

Your posts here have helped keep the spirit high and the blue banner brightly waving. Thank you for that.

[Ignacio Upton]

13. Go Laffey go!

...Right of a political cliff!