Rhode Island Senate: Chafee (R) trails Whitehouse (D) by 5%

[skipos]

I hope that no progressive minded folks support Chafee in the RI Repub primary, as a Laffey (R) win would guarantee a Whitehouse (D) win in the general election. Regardless, Whitehouse may be able to be Chafee too.

Sheldon Whitehouse (D) 46%
Lincoln Chafee (R) 41%

t doesn't look good for Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee, whose support has gone from bad to worse in the latest Rasmussen Reports election poll of Rhode Island's U.S. Senate race.

Chafee now earns just 41% of the statewide vote and trails Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse by five percentage points. In June, with 44% support, Chafee was a bare two points ahead of Whitehouse; in April he had scraped a three-point advantage.

Chafee continues to be challenged for the Republican nomination by Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey as Republicans show their disaffection with the incumbent.

Now trailing Whitehouse 29% to 57%, Laffey would probably by crushed in a general election. Nevertheless, he secures higher support from fellow Republicans (61%) than Chafee does (52%).

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/July%202006/rhodeIslandSenate.htm

[woldnewton]

1. NICE!!

And this is a Rasmussen poll, to boot!

[CHestonsucks]

2. Check out Krugman's latest

column on the need for parties to be in power rather than "personalities". Trouble is, parties are abstract and most people relate much easier to personalities. Chaffee's personality is bland but agreeable. Whitehouse is the same although he's the unknown quantity. This being the case, this election may turn on party affiliation after all since it's generally agreed around the country that Republican domination of the government has been a disaster. This bodes ill for Chaffee since Whitehouse is making all the right moves and is saying precisely what real Democrats want to hear.

The original post fails to mention that only registered Independents and Democrats or Republicans can vote in their respective primaries. This means Independents can vote in both and I definitely intend to vote for Laffey in the Repub primary.

Notwithstanding that 'ol RI is a decidedly blue state, we have a tradition of patrician Republican Moderates being sent to the Senate. It seems Bush and all his surrogates have succeeded in tarnishing even this in their radical pursuit of absolute power.

[AX10]

3. Parliamentary Democracies elect parties over the individual.

As long as the party does what is right, that is all that counts. Though, it does take cooperation from the members of the party to get things done.