WEST WARWICK, Rhode Island (Reuters) - Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee has run into a political "perfect storm": voter discontent with America's direction, a yen for a new face and a record too liberal for the party of President George W. Bush.
The last has prompted a challenge from his right in next Tuesday's Rhode Island Republican primary by Stephan Laffey, a conservative mayor, in a race that could prove crucial to Democratic hopes of recapturing the Senate.
"It's a general discontent with the Republican Party," said Jamey Morrill, 36, a voter in the working-class city of Pawtucket in northern Rhode Island.
The tight race highlights the dangers facing many incumbents in a turbulent 2006 election year, and has parallels with last month's primary upset in neighboring Connecticut that drove Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the 2000 vice presidential candidate, out of the Democratic Party.
Full article:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-09-07T201527Z_01_N06260645_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-POLITICS-RHODEISLAND.xml_____
Funny how this gets ZERO coverage in the M$M.
Carl Sheeler, who posts here from time to time, is running the the Dem primary.