Sources: Lincoln Chafee to Switch Parties, Become Democrat.

[JaneyVee]

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has notified senior Democratic Party officials that he intends to switch his party registration and join the Democratic Party, multiple sources familiar with Chafee’s decision told POLITICO.

Chafee, a former GOP senator elected as an independent in 2010, has struggled with low approval ratings and faces a difficult reelection fight in 2014.

But the ex-Republican campaigned for President Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012 and earned praise from Obama during his third-party bid for governor in 2010.

He ultimately won a three-way race with 36 percent of the vote.

Chafee “absolutely intends to switch his party registration” ahead of 2014, one national Democrat said.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/lincoln-chafee-to-switch-parties-sources-say-91994.html#ixzz2Uhcr3ulR

[hrmjustin]

1. Glad to hear it!

[MattBaggins]

2. So am I

Like to hear about opportunists so I can avoid voting for them.

[hrmjustin]

3. I have always liked him. He stood up for gay marriage in the senate as a republican

during Bush's term.

[BlueCaliDem]

5. That took a LOT of guts. He also voted against the Iraq war. Too many Democrats didn't. eom

[gaspee]

20. During the BUsh years, he

was a better D than a lot of Democrats. When he lost to Whitehouse, he said the RI people did the right thing.

He's more of an FDR Democrat than a lot of Democrats are.

I think he stayed a republican all those years because of family ties more than for any other reason.

[rtassi]

36. +1

[hfojvt]

4. I think that is unfortunate

much as I kinda like Chafee.

One, it just adds to the notion that "moderate Republicans are really Democrats"
Two, it just makes the Democratic party that much more conservative.

Also, what is the reason for his low approval ratings? What has he been doing as Governor?

Maybe I, and the rest of Rhode Island, would rather have a liberal Democrat as Governor than a Conservadem.

[bunnies]

7. Or maybe it means that there arent any moderate republicans anymore.

The more like this that leave... the further the Rs go to the right and the less electable they become. Works for me.

[hfojvt]

13. I still see that as a loss

1. because many of these supposedly unelectable fringe candidates end up winning and they pull the conversation to the right

2. even when they lose they win

instead of moderate Republican vs. liberal Democrat
or
far right Republican vs. liberal Democrat

it becomes

far right Republican vs. moderate Republican (running as a Democrat)

and thus even when "we" win, we still lose. Anything liberal is "off the table". There is NO candidate espousing liberal ideas and liberal points of view.

It's like the Bush tax cut debate. Our false choice was between
a. keep 100% of the Bush tax cuts
or
b. keep 78% of the Bush tax cuts

So they "compromised" at keeping 85% of them - a total win for Bush.

The idea of
keep 0% of the Bush tax cuts

was not even a possible option. Proposing that would have been seen as about as sane as proposing the idea that we flap our arms and fly to Mars. It was unthinkable. Beyond the pale.

Chafee is not just a voter switching parties. When he switched parties, the HE, is becoming THE STANDARD BEARER, the voice, of the Democratic Party. When otherwise we could have another Sheldon Whitehouse in that position. We don't NEED conservadems to win in Rhode Island. Liberal Democrats should be able to win there.

[bunnies]

15. Im trying out this new thing called...

attempting to find the good in everything. Ugh. Reality is fighting me all the way on my little quest though.

And in this case, off course, the 'establishment' will support the rightest of the left against any real left. Looks like a nasty primary ahead. sigh. He's at least anti-war and pro-equality... correct? (Rose-colored glasses back on). Any chance he'll really come over to the light side?

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Where else are moderate Republicans going to go?

Do you think the Koch-addled GOP as a big tent? It most certainly is not.

I'm not talking about the rank-and-file Republican who's idea of conservatism is unobtrusive government and low taxes, not no government or no taxes. What's left of the GOP is people who think that all taxes are evil, that we don't need anti-trust laws because it is unpatriotic to distrust a corporation with elephantiasis, that blacks and Latinos are lazy, stupid people who should not be allowed to vote and perhaps not collect wages on their own labor, that Muslims and scientists should be burned at the stake and that any woman who doesn't have Stockholm syndrome is a slut and needs a strong man to beat the inner Joan of Arc out of her.

That is a party that doesn't have a lot to offer anyone who isn't a sociopath. Moderate Republicans could break off and form their own party, but for politicians, especially one like Chafee who is at the twilight of his career and needs to be concerned with winning one more election, that's too slow. This is the right move for him.

[cali]

19. he's a liberal. More liberal than the majority of dems. always was

[rhett o rick]

52. Let me see if I got what you said. By moving the Democratic Party rightward the Republicans

have a harder time getting elected. Of course they are, the Democrats are now offering what Republican did in the past. We dont want one big conservative party. We need two healthy parties with the conservatives on one side and the liberals on the other.
Sounds like you'd be happy if Jeb Bush runs for president on the Democratic ticket.

When Republicans come to the Democratic Party, they bring their conservative ideology with them.

[cali]

16. Conservadem, my ass. It does not make the dem party one iota more conservative

He's far more liberal than the vast majority of dems in Congress and in statehouses. Always was. Please do comment on his political positions and history and tell me just what makes him a conservadem.

Abortion

Chafee is pro-choice.[26] In 2003, Chafee was one of the three Republican Senators to oppose the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. His 2005 senatorial re-election bid was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America.

While Senator, Chafee was a member of the Republican Majority for Choice and Republicans for Choice.
Church and state

On December 20, 2010, Chafee's spokesman Michael Trainor told Providence Journal that Chafee would skip Episcopalian services on January 4, 2011, to be at home with his family. Trainor elaborated, saying: "His point of view is that his Inauguration Day needs to respect the separation of church and state. Separation of church and state is an important constitutional principle."
Death penalty

Chafee opposes the death penalty, and has consistently voted against limiting death penalty appeals in federal cases. He has also favored including racial statistics in death penalty appeals, and making DNA analysis a prerequisite for any federal-level, criminal executions.

In May 2011, Chafee resisted turning over a case to the U.S. Supreme Court due to his views on the death penalty. In regards to the case, which would likely result in a capital punishment ruling, Chafee said: "The State of Rhode Island must seek to protect both the strong states' rights issues at stake, and the legitimacy of its longstanding public policy against the death penalty."[27]
Education

Chafee opposes charter schools, saying, "I am wary of charter schools undermining and cherry picking and skimming off the top of our public school system."[28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Chafee#Political_positions

Chafee is "wary" of Race to the Top, "because Race to the Top includes money for charter schools".[28] He says he would ask federal officials "what kind of flexibility we might have" to alter Race to the Top, were he elected Governor.[29]

On "education reform" in general, Chafee does not believe the politically and publicly popular presumption that America's schools are failing, saying:

This notion of all these failing schools, if this were true, how did America get to be at the status where we are in the world if it were that bad? So I don’t buy into the trashing of our public school system. Somehow Brown University, and University of Rhode Island and Bryant University, Providence College are full of public school students that are doing very, very well and leading America in many fields. Yes, there's room for improvement, I don't deny that and I want to be part of the improvement. But the notion that our public school systems are in disarray and failing, I don't buy that.[28]

Environment

Chafee was one of the few Republicans to vote against allowing drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and was a member of the Republicans for Environmental Protection. He has been endorsed throughout his career by the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.
Gay rights

Chafee is a supporter and was one of three Republican senators to come out for same-sex marriage. On May 1, 2013, Chafee signed a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.[32]
Iraq War

Chafee was the only Republican in the Senate to have voted against authorization of the use of force in Iraq. On June 22, 2006, he was the only Republican to vote for the Levin amendment calling for a nonbinding timetable for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.[33]

Chafee voted against the Kerry-Feingold amendment calling for a binding timetable.

srael

Chafee is now involved in the J Street project, a liberal Jewish group that calls for Israel to withdraw from all occupied territories and advocates for a "two state" solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Tax policy

Chafee opposes eliminating the federal estate tax. Chafee also voted against both the 2001 and 2003 congressional budget bills that cut and/or rebated individuals' federal income taxes. He pointed out that tax cuts reduce revenue to the federal government, thereby worsening the federal budget deficit and increasing the amount of money it has to borrow in order to operate.

On November 17, 2005, he was the only Republican to vote in favor of reinstating the top federal income tax rate of 39.6% (which last existed under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s) on the highest-income taxpayers.

A 2012 Poll showed that some of Chafee's proposed tax increases, intended to move the state from budget deficit to surplus status, had received negative feedback from Rhode Island residents. The majority of constituents opposed Chafee's proposed increase in driver's license and registration fees (67.5 percent), restoring tolls on the Sakonnet River bridge (57 percent), and raising the restaurant meals-and-beverage tax by two cents (80.3 percent).[34]

[hfojvt]

34. interesting, thanks

but that's mostly a long list of social issues.

I consider that to often be a hallmark of DLC types. Liberal on social issues, conservative on economic ones.

[cali]

38. really? His position on taxes, on the Iraq War

mark him as being NOT a DLC type.

sorry, economically, he's more liberal than the majority of dems. sadly.

[Politicub]

29. We are not the party of brain dead tea party know nothings

Nor do we aspire to be mindless automatons who wait for our marching orders from a single media outlet.

There is room in the dem party for differences in approach and opinion. We may not agree on everything, but diverse backgrounds and viewpoints strengthen our party.

One of the things I love about our party is the diversity represented in our ranks. We don't have to fake it like the GOP does at its convention every four years.

[ScreamingMeemie]

47. Chafee was more Democratic than most Democrats these days.

[JI7]

59. you know nothing about Chafee, he is a liberal, more so than many Democrats

[CatWoman]

6. Welcome Lincoln

[dmr]

8. I've always liked Chafee, especially during Senate hearings,

which is where I got to know him (via CSPAN).

Of all the Republican Senators to lose their seat, I was sorry for his loss, except ....

I like Sheldon Whitehouse much, much more.

[SCantiGOP]

9. He's in big trouble

fivethirtyeight.com (Nate Silver) had a poll of polls for all governors running in 2014, and he had the largest margin of disapproval rating of any at minus 40%. The Dem Gov of Illinois was second, but the rest were of the nine with disapproval ratings were all GOP.
By the way, Hickenlooper of Colorado, who has championed gay rights and legalizing pot, is sitting with a very comfortable 33% more approving than disapproving.

[joeybee12]

11. More of a Democrat than the democratic governor before him...good news...knr

[bvar22]

12. Hooray!... Now the Democratic Party is even MORE Conservative.

The New Democrat Centrist Party has moved so far to the Right on the Political Spectrum
that mainstream, loyal Conservatives and advocates for the 1% like Lincoln Chaffe and Arlen Specter feel Right-at-Home, without changing anything except the letter after their name!
They even get endorsements from the White House when running against real Democrats in Democratic Primaries.


Old Democrats who still uphold the antiquated Working Class Democratic Party Values of FDR, HST, LBJ and The New Deal are marginalized as "Fringe Leftists".
Which Way to the Victory parade?




[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]




You will know them by their WORKS.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[cali]

17. bullshit.

Abortion

Chafee is pro-choice.[26] In 2003, Chafee was one of the three Republican Senators to oppose the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. His 2005 senatorial re-election bid was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America.

While Senator, Chafee was a member of the Republican Majority for Choice and Republicans for Choice.
Church and state

On December 20, 2010, Chafee's spokesman Michael Trainor told Providence Journal that Chafee would skip Episcopalian services on January 4, 2011, to be at home with his family. Trainor elaborated, saying: "His point of view is that his Inauguration Day needs to respect the separation of church and state. Separation of church and state is an important constitutional principle."
Death penalty

Chafee opposes the death penalty, and has consistently voted against limiting death penalty appeals in federal cases. He has also favored including racial statistics in death penalty appeals, and making DNA analysis a prerequisite for any federal-level, criminal executions.

In May 2011, Chafee resisted turning over a case to the U.S. Supreme Court due to his views on the death penalty. In regards to the case, which would likely result in a capital punishment ruling, Chafee said: "The State of Rhode Island must seek to protect both the strong states' rights issues at stake, and the legitimacy of its longstanding public policy against the death penalty."[27]
Education

Chafee opposes charter schools, saying, "I am wary of charter schools undermining and cherry picking and skimming off the top of our public school system."[28]

Chafee is "wary" of Race to the Top, "because Race to the Top includes money for charter schools".[28] He says he would ask federal officials "what kind of flexibility we might have" to alter Race to the Top, were he elected Governor.[29]

On "education reform" in general, Chafee does not believe the politically and publicly popular presumption that America's schools are failing, saying:

This notion of all these failing schools, if this were true, how did America get to be at the status where we are in the world if it were that bad? So I don’t buy into the trashing of our public school system. Somehow Brown University, and University of Rhode Island and Bryant University, Providence College are full of public school students that are doing very, very well and leading America in many fields. Yes, there's room for improvement, I don't deny that and I want to be part of the improvement. But the notion that our public school systems are in disarray and failing, I don't buy that.[28]

Chafee easily won the endorsements of all major public school teachers unions, including the Rhode Island affiliates of the National Education Association[30] and American Federation of Teachers[31] in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
Environment

Chafee was one of the few Republicans to vote against allowing drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and was a member of the Republicans for Environmental Protection. He has been endorsed throughout his career by the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.
Gay rights

Chafee is a supporter and was one of three Republican senators to come out for same-sex marriage. On May 1, 2013, Chafee signed a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.[32]
Iraq War

Chafee was the only Republican in the Senate to have voted against authorization of the use of force in Iraq. On June 22, 2006, he was the only Republican to vote for the Levin amendment calling for a nonbinding timetable for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.[33]

Chafee voted against the Kerry-Feingold amendment calling for a binding timetable.
Israel

Chafee is now involved in the J Street project, a liberal Jewish group that calls for Israel to withdraw from all occupied territories and advocates for a "two state" solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Tax policy

Chafee opposes eliminating the federal estate tax. Chafee also voted against both the 2001 and 2003 congressional budget bills that cut and/or rebated individuals' federal income taxes. He pointed out that tax cuts reduce revenue to the federal government, thereby worsening the federal budget deficit and increasing the amount of money it has to borrow in order to operate.

On November 17, 2005, he was the only Republican to vote in favor of reinstating the top federal income tax rate of 39.6% (which last existed under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s) on the highest-income taxpayers.

A 2012 Poll showed that some of Chafee's proposed tax increases, intended to move the state from budget deficit to surplus status, had received negative feedback from Rhode Island residents. The majority of constituents opposed Chafee's proposed increase in driver's license and registration fees (67.5 percent), restoring tolls on the Sakonnet River bridge (57 percent), and raising the restaurant meals-and-beverage tax by two cents (80.3 percent).[34]

[BlueStreak]

21. Sounds like he's more progressive than 90% of the Democrats sitting in Congress today.

Must have been very lonely at any Republican events he attended. The GOP has gotten to the point that there aren't even a few sane people who can go off in a corner with a stiff drink and commiserate the fact they are surrounded by idiots.

[bvar22]

23. I will grant you that he is more moderate that many of today's Democrats,

but that doesn't say anything about Chaffe.
It only demonstrates how FAR to the conservative Right our Party has moved.

If I liked Republicans,
I would vote for them.

[cali]

24. more moderate? no, more LIBERAL

far more liberal.

[bvar22]

25. Chaffe is NO "Liberal",

...and it is hilarious beyond the absurd that you would try to brand that old Republican as "Liberal",
and again,
only proves how FAR to the Conservative, Big Business Right the Democratic Party has lurched.


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[cali]

28. bullshit

Chafee opposes eliminating the federal estate tax. Chafee also voted against both the 2001 and 2003 congressional budget bills that cut and/or rebated individuals' federal income taxes. He pointed out that tax cuts reduce revenue to the federal government, thereby worsening the federal budget deficit and increasing the amount of money it has to borrow in order to operate.

On November 17, 2005, he was the only Republican to vote in favor of reinstating the top federal income tax rate of 39.6% (which last existed under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s) on the highest-income taxpayers.

Environment? Liberal

Taxes? More liberal than the majority of dems

Women's Rights? Liberal

LGBT Rights and marriage equality? Liberal

Foreign Policy? Voted against the IWR

[bvar22]

50. Thank You, Cali.

Your post is a PERFECT illustration of EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

You Praise Chaffe, and call him a "Liberal" because he voted
[font size=3 color=red]"in favor of reinstating the top federal income tax rate of 39.6%"[/font],
and you proudly list this as some kind of Liberal credential.

Do you realize that 39.6% is a historically LOW rate for the top income bracket?
That it is only 3.5% more than under Bush?
So because Chaffe supports the Reagan Tax Rate, you are going to call him a Liberal?
Oh Dear.

...but because the "Centrist Democratic Leadership" was FOR this rate LOW rate,
and because the Democrats got to play the role of Tax Raisers in the Kabuki Theater of Campaign 2012,
YOU assume that that must be a LIBERAL position.

Hell, 39.5% is WAY BELOW what traditional Pre-Reagan Republicans considered a fair rate of the very RICH.
Didn't your find it the least bit surreal that TODAY'S Centrist Democratic party was fighting FOR LOW TAXES on the very RICH,
or did your commitment to the Blue Team winning the BIG Homecoming Game
BLIND you to that fact?

Raise Taxes to 39.6%?
A return to Reaganism?
a "Liberal" position?

Eisenhower, a Traditional Republican,
set taxes on the RICH to 91%
and insisted that they must do their share to pay off the debt.


The rest of your "facts" are nibbles around the edges of our Tax & Economic Policies.

I will concede that Chaffe is not as Hard Core Bigoted Conservative on the some Social Issues, but that is not enough to call him a "Democrat"....only an intelligent Republican.

The problem I have with Republicanization of the Democratic Party is the biggest Social Issue of them ALL:

Half of America is in poverty, and its creeping toward 75%
http://www.alternet.org/economy/real-numbers-half-america-poverty-and-its-creeping-toward-75-0

Wealth gap widens as labor's share of income falls
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wealth-gap-widens-labors-share-income-falls-1B6097385

As the Economy Recovers, the Wealth Gap Widens
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2013/03/11/as-the-economy-recovers-the-wealth-gap-widens

Top One Percent Captured 121 Percent Of All Income Gains
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/top-one-percent-income-gains_n_2670455.html

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/03/1270541/corporate-profits-wages-record/?mobile=nc

The above doesn't happen by accident.
Republicans aren't going to help us do something about THAT problem,
but they will be happy to join the big party,
and help our Party Leadership celebrate the Recovery of Wall Street and RECORD PROFITS for the RICH!
Happy Days are here Again ...for "them",
and another RICH Republican joins what used to be the Working Class Party to help the Centrists celebrate!




I'm working on an OP that I hope to post tomorrow:

How the Republicans STOLE the Democratic Party while Democrats Cheered.
The 20 Year Plan.[/font]


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]


You will know them by their WORKS.

[rhett o rick]

54. It's a brilliant strategy. Push the Republican Party off the cliff

and encourage the moderate Republicans to become Democrats. Then there will be just one big happy party. The conservative DEmocratic Party. Pres Obama couldnt wait until his Oath of Office cooled down to start throwing liberals under the bus. Almost all of his appointments have been hard line conservatives. This might alienate the left but who needs them when you have the moderate Republicans voting for you.

Chaffe is a perfect example. We dont need him as a Democrat we need him as a good decent Republican that we can work with. It's fun to say we want to see the REpublican party die, but it's not healthy for our democracy.

[bvar22]

61. Brilliant....and effective.

The Working Class is Gasping its Last Dying Breath,
while "Democrats" are celebrating another Republican sitting at our table.
WooHoo...just hit me in the head with a hammer. I'm Soooo Happy.


...and THEN they wonder WHY the Democratic Party can't do anything "Democratic" even with LARGE Majorities in BOTH Houses,
and a "Democratic" President in the White House.

I KNOW!!!!
We need MORE Republicans inside the Democratic Party!!!!
That'll Fix EVERYTHING!



[font color=firebrick][center]The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR. [/font][/center]

[cali]

64. I hate to break this to you, but most elected dems don't even support that.

sorry, but he's to the left of most dems in Congress.

[cali]

32. It's pathetic as hell that you can't actually respond to his positions

which I've posted for your convenience, and point out what makes them NOT liberal. do try.

Sorry, but his voting record and his positions are more liberal than the vast majority of dems.

[SunSeeker]

27. You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it.

You can give people the facts, but you can't make them accept them. Nonetheless, I appreciate your detailed post. I totally agree with you.

[Jim Lane]

30. Chafee was an old-line New England Republican by family heritage.

His father, John Chafee, was also the Governor and a U.S. Senator -- elected as a Republican. It was quite natural for Chafee to enter politics as a Republican, even though, as cali has documented (see also posts #3 and #5), he was ideologically out of place in the Republican Party from day one.

I don't reject him, or assume him to be a conservadem, just because of his background.

Chafee is the mirror image of the white racist Southern Democrats who grew up in the one-party South, whose parents were always proud yellow-dog Democrats ("I'd vote for a yellow dog if it ran on the Democratic Party line&quot , who entered the Democratic Party without even really thinking about it, but who finally became Republicans in reaction to the Democratic Party's support for civil rights. They're now welcomed in the party where they belong. Chafee will now be in the party where he belongs and we should welcome him.

[opiate69]

42. As somebody who was raised in New England,

I've always maintained politics, and the general ideologies of both parties there, are far different than other parts of the country. By and large, (with some obvious exceptions), pols from both parties tend to exhibit what I consider the New England pragmatism.

[cali]

43. funny, I think New England has a history of pols who demonstrate liberal idealism

not that that makes them not pragmatic.

[opiate69]

44. Agreed. Ultimately, I suppose I was talking more about Republicans from N.E.

Generally speaking, we don't see many Santorum/Bachmann/Gohmert types coming from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island etc. At least on the national stage.. my mom's local town finance board has essentially been taken over by a teabagging witch, and as I understand it, her husband (the head of the finance board) is a Democrat, who has run a corrupt crony network of local government for years...

[A Simple Game]

31. So after reading your post does this mean that

you don't vote for Democrats either?

It only demonstrates how FAR to the conservative Right our Party has moved.

If I liked Republicans,
I would vote for them

Or does it mean that you do vote for Republicans?

[gaspee]

22. He should have become a Democrat years ago

I don't agree with all of his economic policies, but he's still to the left of a lot of Democrats.

I want to move the party left and give people like Chaffee a nice centrist party of Republicans to join, but at this stage of the game, it's a pipedream.

[cali]

49. Which of his economic policies don't you agree with?

[Marr]

53. +1

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

[mnmoderatedem]

26. "They shot the wrong Lincoln"

was Ann Coulter's quote, when Chafee leaned left on certain issues in the past.

Oh that Ann. What a cut up....

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

33. As I said in another thread, a lot of people need to do some research

Lincoln Chafee is more liberal than 90% of the Democrats who hold high office and in the assembly in this state. He was certainly more liberal than his Democratic opponent last time out, and there's a good chance he'll be more liberal than his primary opponent this time too.

[DonCoquixote]

35. Normally my radar would go off

But it seems that he is solidly to the left of many Democrats, even those not of the Blue Dog variety. I am not saying he is Bernie sanders, but it seems that he did not just decide to jump off the sinking ship at the last moment.

[cali]

37. As a republican he was in the Jim Jeffords mold.

Both came from old fashioned New England liberal repub backgrounds. Chafee's father was, of course, a former governor and Senator, Jeffords father was Chief Justice of the VT Supreme Court.

Both had liberal voting records in the Senate. Both reluctantly came to understand that the repub party was hopeless and left it.

[DonCoquixote]

40. thus my point

That he was a loose tooth in the GOP mouth long before it became fashionable or expedient.

[Shankapotomus]

39. I never thought of this before but

How do the parties know politicians who switch parties aren't "spies"? When you switch parties does that automatically make you privy to all inner party secrets and strategy plans?

[cali]

41. that's a little silly. And in the case of Chafee, it's absurd

Chafee has a long record and it's decidedly more liberal than that of the majority of dems. Furthermore he quit being a repub several years ago.

There are easier ways of getting information.

[bvar22]

45. Chaffe is no spy.

He is an Out and Out Traditional Republican
who is smart enough the realize that the Democratic Party has moved far enough to the Conservative Right to be consistent with his Traditional Republic position on the Issues.
So he is willing to change the letter after his name,
but has had no Epiphany,
and hasn't recanted his position on any of his Traditional Republican Values.

After all the Window Dressing and some moderate positions on Social Issues (which is OK in the Old Republican Party),
He is Of, By, and FOR the 1%,
and getting Big Government off the backs of the Job Creators.


If I wanted Republicans to represent me,
I would VOTE for Republicans.

[cali]

46. lol. more ridiculous bullshit misinformation from YOU. fuck. stop it.

He isn't even close to being a traditional republican. Unless you're talking about a republican from 50 years ago. Let me inform you, dear:

27 Senators out of 100 voted against the IWR. He voted against it. 20+ DEMOCRATS voted for it.

Name one of his traditional repub values, instead of braying on about how he has them and fucking refusing to name them.

He is a strong union supporter. Is that a traditional repub value?

He is against eliminating or reducing the estate tax. Is that a traditional repub value?

He is FOR substantially increasing income tax rates on high earners? Is that a traditional repub value?

He is strongly opposed to Charter schools? Is that a traditional repub value.

Please note that these are NOT FUCKING SOCIAL ISSUES, genius.

What you are doing is contemptible. Making assertions without any fucking facts whatsofuckingever. And refusing to respond to facts.

It's so republican like.

[bvar22]

51. Take a break. Calm down,

...and come back when you can discuss the issues like an adult.

[cali]

55. uh, you don't get to dictate shit to me. and you're obviously just obfuscating

you can't refute one fucking fact that I've posted so you squirrel around. cute, hon.

[bvar22]

60. I refuted your ridiculous claim that Chaffe is a "Liberal" upthread.

I expressed my opinion clearly,
supported it directly,
and gave your claim all the time that it merited.

Can you see the humor and irony in THIS statement?
[font size=3 color=red]

"you don't get to dictate shit to me"

[/font]...and at the same time, attack me for not immediately responding to what you claim are "facts"?

Fortunately, I HAVE a rewarding and demanding life outside of DU,
so I don't have the luxury (or curse) of hovering over the keyboard, responding to your demands, or baby sitting your tantrums.
You will just have to get along without me sometimes.


The Democratic Party HAS drifted dangerously to the conservative right over the last 25 years. THAT is undeniable.
Part of this Rightward Drift is opening the door to Republicans,
giving them a seat at our table,
and a vote in our Party.
NOw, some can't seem to figure out why we can't seem to pass even the most remotely Democratic Policies like a simple Public Option....in our OWN Party,
but lets all party for the New Republican!!!!
Well DUH!

So I'm not joining the parade welcoming another Republican into our Party,
giving him a seat at the table,
and a vote on our Policy.
You, of course, are perfectly within your right to celebrate another Step to the Right.
That doesn't ruin my day or precipitate a childish keyboard tantrum.


We disagree, one of us politely.
--bvar22
A mainstream-Center FDR/JBJ Working Class DEMOCRAT who knows WHY he is a Democrat


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[cali]

48. how about Elizabeth Warren? Gonna dump on her? Please, be consistent.

Warren voted as a Republican for many years saying, "I was a Republican because I thought that those were the people who best supported markets." She states that in 1995 she began to vote Democratic because she no longer believed that to be true, but she says that she has voted for both parties because she believed that neither party should dominate.[15]

[DCBob]

56. Great news!

I love converts!

[Honeycombe8]

57. Great! I like him. Takes a lot of guts to leave the Republicans. The story I read....

was that Cheney and someone else with Chafee shortly after they won the election in 2000. Cheney started with his agenda based on a supposed landslide victory (which it wasn't). Chafee was so aghast at the hubris, that they wouldn't be working across the aisle and would push the neocon agenda, no matter what the country wanted, that he left the mtg and the Republican Party.

[GoCubsGo]

58. I'm surprised that it took him this long.

I always liked him and his dad, and one of the few bright spots of the Bush misadministration was when he left that miserable party to which he formerly belonged.

[Auntie Bush]

62. It's about time! Wish he did it sooner. But grateful he's doing it. nt

[FBaggins]

63. Everyone seems to be missing the real problem here.

It isn't that he is too conservative to be a democrat (that's nonsense).

It's that, as the incumbent in a comparatively large field, he's very likely to win the nomination. As a very unpopular candidate, he could very possibly lose the race.

Were he to retire, the Democratic candidate would almost certainy win. Probably so even if he stayed in and ran again as an "I".