lincoln chafee?

[WalterMitty]

wonder who he will vote for? bush or kerry?

[dazzleman]

Probably Kerry

[Rococo4]

wonder who he will vote for? bush or kerry?

it will be in Rhode Island, so it wont really matter.  

[WalterMitty]

id like to see bush get some of the northeast moderates out campaigning  for him.  

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I doubt he will make his actual vote public.  But if there is no electoral college majority, Chafee would probably vote for the Democratic VP in the Senate vote.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

I couldn't disagree more.  Chafee would vote for the GOP VP barring an extreme choice.

I think it depends on the personal stuff - and I'd suspect that although Chafee has opposed Bush on a number of things - perhaps they have a closer personal friendship and maybe he would vote for him on tha basis.  

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Lincoln gave money to President Bush in 1999.  His contributions for the 2004 cycle have mostly been to the Rhode Island Republican Party so far.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I couldn't disagree more.  Chafee would vote for the GOP VP barring an extreme choice.

I think it depends on the personal stuff - and I'd suspect that although Chafee has opposed Bush on a number of things - perhaps they have a closer personal friendship and maybe he would vote for him on tha basis.  

In the case where the election goes to the Congress, there would be a lot of pressure on members to vote the way their state or district did.  Chafee would not be voting for himself but as a representative of RI.  A lot of Dems in Western and Southern states would probably vote Republican.

For instance, in 2000, my Congresswoman Connie Morella (a Republican) said she would vote for Gore should it come to a House vote b/c here district voted 2/3 Democratic.

[WalterMitty]

maybe bush will give chafee a cabinet post in a (god willing) bush second term.  that way, hed be out of the senate. where all he does is vote against the bush agenda.

[TeePee4Prez]

id like to see bush get some of the northeast moderates out campaigning  for him.  

You're in luck.. Arlen Specter is camapaigning thanks in part to a $10 million hemmorhage of the war chest to save his wrinkly old a$$.   I as a Dem was actually going to vote for him until I found out this and the fact that Hoeffel is doing a lot for NE Philly!

[angus]

His votes for senate majority leader and whip are on record, and his committee assignments are not something he complains about.  I think it might be fair to assume he'll be voting with his party for president as well, then.  I do not think he has acted like James Traficant in that sense.  One does not have to be predisposed according to Bush's legislative agenda in order to be preordained to vote for Bush.  I am absolutely certain about that.

[Nation]

I remember seeing on one of those "rating scales" for liberalness/conservativeness on senators -- and even Chafee wasn't more liberal than the most conservative Democrat, with the exception of Breaux, so I don't see why he would cause the GOP any trouble.

[WalterMitty]

i would advocate that bush appoint chafee to his father's old post of secretary of the navy, however, his casting the lone dissenting senate republican vote on the iraq war kind of disqualifies him.

[© tweed]

bush

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Bush appointing Chafee to his adminstration would be handing the Dems a Senate seat.  Chafee is young and can win the seat for 30 years, but he's the only Republican who can hold it.  No matter how much trouble he causes, I'm sure Bush is happy to have him there.

[The Vorlon]

Bush appointing Chafee to his adminstration would be handing the Dems a Senate seat.  Chafee is young and can win the seat for 30 years, but he's the only Republican who can hold it.  No matter how much trouble he causes, I'm sure Bush is happy to have him there.

There are some "odd" Senators, are there not in terms of being elected in unlikely places.

Collins/Snowe in Maine
Santorum in Pennsylvania
Dachle in South Dakota
Any Dem in the South
Chaffee in RI
Jeffords (when he was GOP) In vermont

lot more, but thats a quick list

[angus]

Bush appointing Chafee to his adminstration would be handing the Dems a Senate seat.  Chafee is young and can win the seat for 30 years, but he's the only Republican who can hold it.  No matter how much trouble he causes, I'm sure Bush is happy to have him there.

There are some "odd" Senators, are there not in terms of being elected in unlikely places.

Collins/Snowe in Maine
Santorum in Pennsylvania
Dachle in South Dakota
Any Dem in the South
Chaffee in RI
Jeffords (when he was GOP) In vermont

lot more, but thats a quick list

collins/snow not odd at all.  small government gop types go over very well in all of sagebrush country.  Santorum?  Are you kidding?  Santorum is mullet-country material for sure.  Daschle, well, I've never been to SD, but I'm guessing his face will never be carved into its stone.  Any Dem in the south.  If you were old enough you'd say "any republican in the south."  I still think its very odd, and if the Dems ever go back to being the party of the poor instead of the party of the snobs, the South will come back.  Jeffords - vermont has a rather high per capita GDP, no real cities, and a fondness for the outdoors and an even greater fondness for bucking trends.  A republican who votes with the democrats seems perfect for them.

Chaffee.  Actually he belongs on this list.  the others are reasonably predictable, imho.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

At least the Senators from North and South Dakota (including Tim Johnson when he ran for House) were originally elected in an era when ND & SD were marginally swing states.   They've swung to the right in the past 15 years.  Compare the election results from 2000 to 1988...Dukakis lost them by less than the national average.

I would say all four of those seats would go GOP when the incumbents retired, but with Stephanie Herseth waiting in the wings, who knows?  

[classical liberal]

Most of the Dems from the South were elected before the massive shift to the GOP too.

[opebo]

Chafee's not such a bad guy.  Anyway much better than we have any right to expect out of Rhode Island.  I dislike Specter more.

[Dave from Michigan]

he'll vote for Bush.  We need him in the senate, if he were to leave a democrat would win his seat.

How do you pronounce Chafee is it how it sounds

[Nation]

Chay-fee

[Dave from Michigan]

Chay-fee

thank you

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Chafee's not such a bad guy.  Anyway much better than we have any right to expect out of Rhode Island.  I dislike Specter more.

Specter is by all accounts an asshole (on a personal level).

[Ben.]

 Any Dem in the south.  If you were old enough you'd say "any republican in the south."  I still think its very odd, and if the Dems ever go back to being the party of the poor instead of the party of the snobs, the South will come back.  

Your dame right!

Most Liberals (and many conservatives for that matter, in fact all partisans to some degree, but most regularly on the left) like to talk a lot about “ordinary, decent, hard working people” and assume that these hardworking people share their values and that “oh if only I could have a little chat with them they’d learn to love social liberalism and high taxes” (in the case of liberals)… I had the argument with Kucinich supporters loads of times, they talk about “representing ordinary Americans” and then I suggest that ordinary Americans don’t believe what they believe and they never have an answer, unswerving dogma is a terrible and impractical thing…

Its my view that while your values remain the same your methods must change and you most move with your natural supporters and adapt to their changing attitudes and aspirations… that is the critical argument of the “new left” or “third way”… now I don’t go a long with the philosophy of the “third way” all the way (pardon the pun ) but I accept the electoral argument about adapting to appeal to your natural base of supporters, the middle class and the independent voters… it is a self evident fact that the right has know for a long time while most on the left ignored it for much of the last century being in fact far more conservative than those on the right!  IMHO