Chafee seems intelligent and decent. Why is he not a dem?

[durrrty libby]

I don't get it. His agenda appears liberal

[gaspee]

1. Genetics

His family is republican. Chafee is a republican by birth.

[rep the dems]

2. I often wonder the same thing.

In some ways he seems more liberal than many democrats in the senate. Perhaps some day he will change his affiliation.

[Sapere aude]

3. I'm not so sure of this because I live in CA, but in the east there are

liberal leaning repubs. They are physically conservative but socially liberal.

[Pawel K]

4. He is a true conservative

not like those posers in Washington. I still disagree that he should be a democrat because of many of his policies but I do respect the fact that he is willing to stand up to the scum in his own party. If he loses this primary it really won't be that bad for us as a democract is sure to win in Rhode Island but he is still a good guy.

[gaspee]

5. Exactly

He is what the republican party used to be. And, he's a nice guy. He's actually very down to earth for a "silver-spooner."

I voted for him when he was my mayor and I've known many of his staffers.

There used to be a lot of republicans like him, especially in the northeast. They're kind of an endangered species now.

[bdamomma]

31. yea, Chafee does seem a good guy, he does sometimes

votes along Democratic line, and sometimes the only repub to do that. He strikes me as being "wimpy" sometimes. Let's see what will happen in November it ought to be quite interesting between him and Whitehouse.

[Tellurian]

36. The Chafee name has 'branding' in RI..

And for WIW, his father, before he passed away, was not a proponent of Bush 's policies.
He reviled the pressure from Sr.Republican Senators to go along, to get along. Sr. Chafee,
took a stand and said, "no, I won't do it", then subsequently handed in his resignation.
Linc's father didn't want his family's reputation ruined for all the good he had done for
the working man, all his political years in R.I.

[leesa]

25. He never bucks the Party line. He always votes with them.

Sorry, but this current state is true conservatism taken to its endpoint. It's ugly.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Same with our Maine Senators....

They are a helluva lot closer to Kerry democrats than Bush Republicans. Probably fear keeps them in the family. I wished they'd both retire.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Because his father was a republican and

he comes from a long line of republicans - the Lippitt, Chafee & Taft families are all related and are Republican back to abolitionist days.

[Warpy]

8. Check his recent voting record, he's no Dem

He's no neocon, either. He's a basically decent Eisenhower pubbie like so many in New England are. Before Reagan, I actually voted for a few who were to the left of their opponents. After Reagan, no way.

He's a reasonably decent but WRONG man who has discovered that his party has left him.

[gaspee]

9. He's definitely

Not who I would support as a dem, when it comes to financial issues. He's not as bad as the neocons, but he's no populist.

I think he has a good voting record on social issues and definitely a good record on environmental issues -- and he's been driving a hybrid car for years, so he's not a do as I say, not as I do, environmentalist.

He's definitely an Eisenhower republican. Especially in the "no foreign adventures"

If you want to know how decent Chafee is, just go read the free repuking site posts about him. They actually used the word "subhuman" about him.

I've met the man, more than once. My best friend/ex-fiance (who I'm still friends with) was a staffer of his for five years.

I would vote for Chafee for govenor and I voted for him as mayor. I can't vote for him as a Senator, but that doesn't mean I'm going to demonize him.

Most of my friends are shocked when I support Chafee. They're all "but B, you HATE republicans."

And my answer to that is, no, I don't hate Republicans. I hate the fanatical, social darwinist, crazy-assed right wing end-timers who have stolen the republican party.

I would be no happier with one-party control by the democratic party too. I don't like any form of extremism, even though I am to the left of most elected democrats.

Politics in this country is a very delicate balancing act. And we're all about to fall off the highwire with no net because the republican party has been highjacked by the nutcases.

[Samantha]

11. I agree with you BUT

regarding your last line, in some ways he has emotionally left his party, not the other way around. His announcement that he would not vote for Bush in 2004 but would write in a candidate of his own was simply STUNNING.

I cannot remember ever hearing a prominent politician announce publicly without apology he would not support his own party's POTUS for re-election (sic).

He's my kind of guy.

[Tiggeroshii]

13. He actually toyed with the idea of joining the Dems right before election

He officially announced that if the Dems come close to winning the Senate, he would switch parties. After the elction, he almost switched but the Repubs kept him in. I'm guessing if we come within a seat of a majority this year of wining the Senat, we have a good chance of this guy giving us the majority.

I'm tempted to call this a win win situation for us. If he wins the primary and general election, he's liberal enough to switch parties. If he loses the primary, it's pretty much a free seat for us.

[rep the dems]

19. I'll admit, I don't know a whole lot about his recent voting record,

but as far as his stances on issues like abortion, gay marriage, flag burning he always seemed much better than the other republicans in office. I was especially impressed that he was one of only 5 senators to openly support same sex marriage. With the exception of my Social Studies teacher last year, I know of almost no republicans who feel the same way. Figures his fellow republicans hate him for it.

[Finder]

27. Many New England repubs are socially liberal. n/t

[jody]

10. Lots of intelligent, decent people are not Dems. That's no surprise. n/t

[ProudDad]

12. Yep,

You're right, a lot of us (intelligent, decent people) are registered Green. :)

[usregimechange]

14. I don't know but I want that Red seat!

[saltpoint]

15. Posters upthread have got it just about right. Lincoln Chafee's father,

John Chafee, represented Rhode Island ably for many years and was very well respected.

It would have seemed like a personal blasphemy to Lincoln, I imagine, to switch parties, even as he realized that he was in a very Democratic state.

Lotsa Democrats in Rhode Island, and Lincoln Chafee seems to try to navigate between keeping them happy so he can retain the seat and at the same time pleasing the (national) Republicans who are always in a position to make things hot for him.

So liberals dislike him because he's perceived to cave to the administration while conservatives want his scalp for too-often voting with the Dems. He opposed Alito, for example, and the conservatives went absolutely ballistic.

Laffey enjoys support from the extreme conservative wing of the Republican Party. Lincoln Chafee is to the left of some Democrats (Ben Nelson, for example), but still to the right of Kerry/Boxer/Feingold.

So he is in a constant ideological crossfire. In an hour or so we'll see if he's good to go for another 7 weeks or if this is the end of the road. Laffey's mounting a fierce challenge. And Sheldon Whitehouse, almost surely the Democratic winner tonight, will give Chafee all he can handle in November; against Laffey, Whitehouse should coast.

[durrrty libby]

16. Thanks for the info n/t

[beaconess]

17. Either way, we win

If Chafee wins, the moderate wing of the Republicans will be strengthened, which is a good thing.

On the other hand, if he loses, the seat will likely go Democratic.

Either way, we win.

[skipos]

20. No. A vote for Chafee is a vote for a Republican senate and

more bad things for America. A Chafee win is BAD.

[Idioteque]

22. I think he would jump in a 50-50 Senate, but we can't take that chance. nt

[SaveElmer]

18. He is not far from Ben Nelson...

As far as his voting record goes. He is liberal for a Republican, but not otherwise

[Idioteque]

21. Chafee is a very good Senator and a decent man.

I'm really torn because I like him but I want to see the Democrats take back the Senate. I really wish Chafee would jump like Jeffords...he would be a damn good Democratic Senator.

[Rowdyboy]

23. Anyone who helps keeps Frist, McConnell, Santorum, Allen and Talent

in power. Enablers, however honest their motives or good their intentions allow evil to win. Lincoln Chafee, Olympia Snow, Susan Collins, and Arlen Specter enable George Bush to shame us worldwide as Americans.

Hope he loses miserably in november. Wish he had tonight.

[Chemical Bill]

24. He lives under the insane illusion...

that the repug party will come back to him. He lives for that hypothetical day when integrity and principles will mean something to them.

Bill

[oldboy101]

26. As a former Republican myself

I have a lot of sympathy for Lincoln Chafee. It is so very difficult when you have a proud family history to switch political parties. In my case, my great-grandfather was a founding member of the Republican party and an early supporter of Abraham Lincoln. (I am 70 years old.) I am also a distant cousin of Herbert Hoover so you see how deep such roots can be.

I was pleased to read the responses to this thread and see that there is such respect for Chafee even among the liberal progressives here at D.U. He is indeed a decent guy and as has been suggested, in the case of a 50-50 split in the Senate I do believe there is a reasonable chance of getting him to switch parties. Still I would not risk voting for him.

In my case, I first voted for Eisenhower, my kind of Republican. Later in 1964 I was appalled as I saw the beginnings of the takeover of the party by radical conservative nuts who shouted down Nelson Rockefeller at the convention. George Bush Sr. was right when in 1980 he said that Reagan's plan for the economy was "voodoo economics". As the Reagan administration ran up huge deficits (as have all Republicans ever since) I finally turned my back on what the party had become and I began voting for Democratic candidates.

I retired and moved to Florida in 2000 and voted for Gore. I cannot tell you how badly it pissed me off when the thugs stole the election in that state. Had it not been for that we would never have had to endure the nightmare of these last six years. Anyway, thank you all for listening (or reading) my little rant.

[durrrty libby]

29. Hi oldboy …Welcome to DU and Thank You for replying

Your post is fascinating and I look forward to reading a lot more from you

:toast:

[bdamomma]

33. Welcome Oldboy, your post was very insightful

Aren't you glad your a democrat now? We are so much more compassionate!!!

[lumberjack_jeff]

34. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tellurian]

37. Welcome, oldboy101

Great post by the way-

Just a suggestion..

If Lincoln were to lobby his own family and receive their blessing, he
wouldn't consider it a betrayal of their long history to switch Partys
in light of the Republican's progression to radicalism. If his father threw
the towel in early on knowing what lay on the horizon for the future of the
Republican Party; I think his father would approve of his going Indy or Dem.

[tigereye]

28. well Virginia, there used to be these folks called

Liberal or I suppose, even Rockefeller Republicans..... ;)

[Joey Liberal]

30. He had Laura Bush campaign for him

Enough said.

[w4rma]

32. Because he is a Republican. He supports Bush, Cheney, Frist

and the rest of the neo-cons. He votes the Party Line when they need him to and only bucks it when he can look like a "moderate" for the suckers who vote for him but wonder why he doesn't switch to the Democratic Party.

[lumberjack_jeff]

35. He's the exception that proves the rule

When the phrase "decent Republican" is used, I think of three elected offials. Three, in the whole country. That's it.

If Chafee is harmed by association, it's kinda his fault, really. Choose your associates better, Lincoln.