Lincoln Chafee?

[gwheezie]

Who saw that coming?

[delrem]

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trickster_gods

[JI7]

2. he is probably running to debate the issues , probably doesn't think he has a serious

chance of winning.

[delrem]

3. Well, he should be running as a Republican. FFS!

[JI7]

4. he is mostly a liberal including among most democrats

[joshcryer]

8. 0/100 progressive score.

I'm not sure where this is coming from. If he's a liberal then Elizabeth Warren is a conservative if you go by the record.

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. Pro Choice, pro marriage equality, pro gun control, anti drill, anti tax cuts for the wealthy...

...voted against IWR, anti death penalty.

I'm freaking thrilled, and he is (as of yet) the only candidate I would go back to knocking on doors for.

He was more progressive than most Dems when he was in the senate, and I'd be proud to back him.

[REP]

28. He has always struck me as a genuinely decent man

He seems to be a very old school Republican (government shouldn't regulate the private lives of the people) and he seems to actually believe in doing the right thing because it is the right thing.

[leftofcool]

29. So, you have no problem with his privatizing social security?

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. Outside of a stance he took in 2004, he is closer to what I believe in that anyone who voted for

IWR, is anti gun control (or apathetic), had to be dragged to marriage equality, is pro death penalty, is willing to trade off environmental issues, is willing to let women's reproductive rights be a bargaining chip...

Hell yeah, and then I'll hold his feet to the fire for that stance. Because that's what you do.

[cali]

6. why? He hasn't been a republican for years. And when he was he voted against the IWR

supported affirmative action and abortion rights, etc.

[joshcryer]

7. Would it be that Hillary Clinton got the same level of defense.

Being a lifelong democrat (since she was old enough to vote) and being a great supporter of social rights (including affirmative action, abortion rights, climate change, womens equality).

[delrem]

10. Nobody sober would seriously suggest that Hillary Clinton was a Republican.

Hillary Clinton is Democratic.

There are differences of opinion about what it means, of course, but to suggest otherwise is absurd.

Not so about this other person.

[joshcryer]

11. You know shit is fucked when Lincoln Chafee is defended...

...by self-professed posters who will never vote for Hillary Clinton edit: nevermind she clarified here.

The dude is a dyed in wool Blue Dog. It's amusing how low the bar is for Anyone But Hillary. It cracks me the fuck up.

[cali]

19. He's been praised here for years and years.

and at least he's not a fool who voted for the IWR and then defended that vote for years. And yeah, you had to be a fool or an opportunist to vote for it.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

37. +1. n/t

[cali]

13. I have never bought into the crap that Hillary was a repub. But Chafee voted against the IWR

Hillary is a hawk.

[delrem]

9. Oh for fucks sake, HE LEGISLATED AS A REPUBLICAN!

What more evidence is needed, for Dems to distinguish?

[cali]

20. I voted for Jim Jeffords when he was a republican- as did the vast majority of Vermont liberals

His voting record is way more liberal than most Senate dems.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. He voted for DOMA. As did every last one of his fellow Republicans and most Democrats.

He sure did not break away from the pack on that. So of course those who come pushing him as uber gay friendly always leave out DOMA. From Vermont, only Independent Bernie Sanders in the House voted against it. Boxer, Feinstein, Wyden, all no votes. Russ Feingold was a no vote.

[MineralMan]

32. I think it's the "anyone but Hillary" effect.

The only thing they can point to is the IRW vote. That's it.

I am not a single-issue voter. Never have been. But I've never voted for a Republican.

[KamaAina]

30. That was back when repukes, at least in New England, walked upright.

[jwirr]

21. When he was a R back when there were still some good ones most of us expected him to vote with

us. Today he is a Democrat by definition even without changing parties.

[Kalidurga]

5. I didn't see it coming

[MineralMan]

12. My question exactly.

And there are DUers already defending him. He's a freaking Republican. No, thanks. He hasn't a prayer.

[cali]

14. he is not a republican and I have long praised him here on DU.

Not a trick question: Which one voted for the atrocious IWR?

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. Last week, I was talking to another DUer about where Chafee was, so I'm thrilled with this news.

It goes beyond IWR and on to being pro gun control, pro choice, pro marriage equality (and he wasn't even forced into it)... I could go on.

[MineralMan]

18. You will do as you choose.

I will not support anyone who has voted with the Republicans. Not a chance. You will do as you choose.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Hillary voted with the Republicans. Will you support her?

See IWR vote for an example of voting with the Republicans.

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Joe Biden. Or did you mean John Kerry?

Pretending that all those years of Republican policy which lead to that IWR vote are wiped away by his voting no is delusional. Like Warren, he was a Republican during the first Gulf War who continued to vote for Republicans named George Bush for years on end. That also counts for something. He's in his 60's, always been a Republican.
I've never voted for a Republican.
I have on the other hand already voted for 3 different IWR yes voters at the executive level. One assumes you have as well.

[KamaAina]

31. So who's your candidate? Elizabeth Warren?

She was a freaking Republican, too.

[MineralMan]

33. I have no candidate for President in 2016.

After the convention, I will have a candidate. Only then.

[B Calm]

15. He ain't going no where! Privatizing social security will not win you votes!

[leftofcool]

27. + one more.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. His voting against the bloodbath in Iraq puts him a big step ahead of another candidate.

[bananas]

26. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2961768

[DemocratSinceBirth]

35. If we accept Chomsky's premise that President Obama ...

If we accept Chomsky's premise that President Obama "would have been a moderate Republican in the 80s" what does that make a moderate Republican in the first decade of the twenty first century?

Somewhere to the right of Calvin Coolidge?

[hack89]

36. Regardless of how he stands on the issues he was a poor governor.

He won one term as an Independent, became a Democrat and decided not to run for a second term because of abysmal approval ratings. We can do better.

[TheNutcracker]

38. Cooking in another room while listening to Chafee, I liked him and forgot he was a republican!

He's a real alternative for the republicans, even they don't want another Bush.

If Chafee beat Hillary in a primary and won, I wouldn't be scared shitless.

I want to know where he stands on Soc. Sec. and Medicare.

We DO know who he feels about war.

[Tarheel_Dem]

39. Thanks, but NO!