RI-Gov: Chafee will not run for reelection

[NerdyBohemian]

Despite Rhode Island being very faithful to the Democratic Party in federal elections, Rhode Island is far from a liberal state. Chafee tried to run the state as a liberal and was crucified for it.

[NerdyBohemian]

Considering the composition of the Legislature, how strong is the Governor of RI really?

Rhode Island is a one party state. Many people who would run as Republicans in other states run as Democrats here. Due to that, our last governor was able to get many conservative tax policies passed. It's kind of a good situation for Republicans. They can get their agenda passed and when it fails they can blame it on the Democrats.

Hell, just last year the legislature passed a voter ID law, and that's unheard of in other states controlled by Democrats. In addition, all of the opposition to marriage equality earlier this year came from Democrats.

[NerdyBohemian]

I think Rhode Islanders are slowly becoming aware that there are many Democrats in the general assembly who are not aligned with the national party. For example, last year in Woonsocket, a Democratic rep who was pretty much a Tea Party Republican got primaried and lost once voters were made aware of his views. I have a feeling in 2014 some of the Democrats in the Senate who voted against marriage equality will have strong primary challenges after some of the poppycock that emerged from their mouths during the hearings.