Chafee says he will vote against Alito

[HardRCafé]

Sen. Lincoln Chafee said Monday he will vote against Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, making him the first Republican to say he'll reject President Bush's nominee.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/APN/601300686&cachetime=3&template=dateline

[MasterJedi]

Crap, well that will suck for him in the future.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

good for him!

[minionofmidas]

He has also said he won't filibuster.

[HardRCafé]

And Laffey finally felt relevant.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Go ahead, nominate Laffey and lose the seat.

[HardRCafé]

I think they both lose now.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I really doubt the 59% of Rhode Islanders who voted for Kery support a far righ winger like Alito.

[Speed of Sound]

Hooray for Chafee! I knew there was a reason he was my favorite Republican.

[opebo]

Crap, well that will suck for him in the future.

What possible negative effect could this have on Chaffee?

Oh yes good for him btw, but he should've switched parties as well.

[MasterJedi]

Still 56 people still definitly voting for (53 Republicans and 3 Democrats) with the possiblity of 2 more Repubs. and maybe one or two more Dems.

[A18]

If 53 Republicans have announced yes votes, there's only one more possible Republican.

[WalterMitty]

im disappointed in chafee.
but he is still my favorite senator.

[nini2287]

Crap, well that will suck for him in the future.

What possible negative effect could this have on Chaffee?

He's facing a tough primary challenge from a conservative.

I would have preferred a yes vote from him, but he's still a freedom fighter.

[A18]

I'd still vote for him in the primary and general election.

Chafee voted for Janice Rogers Brown.

[nini2287]

I'd still vote for him in the primary and general election.

Chafee voted for Janice Rogers Brown.

Rogers Brown seems like a complete conservative ideologue, the Republican's Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

That being said I'd also vote for Linc in the primary and general as well.

[nlm]

If Chaffee is voting based upon what the folks in Rhode Island want, then good for him. It's not his job to represent some national political party, it his job to represent Rhode Island.

So two questions

Why should Chaffee not represent the people of Rhode Island? (for the GOP)

Why should Nelson not represent the people of Nebraska? (for the Dems)

[nini2287]

Why should Chaffee not represent the people of Rhode Island? (for the GOP)

I don't numbers for RI, but in neighboring CT, Alito's supporters outnumber his opposers by 20 points (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/January%20Dailies/Alito%20Confirmation%20by%20State.htm), so with RI being a slightly more liberal state, I'd expect around a 15-pt. margin for Alito there.

[angus]

"Chafee's unwillingness to toe the party line complicates his chances at reelection this fall. His "no" vote on Alito provides Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R) considerable fodder for his challenge to Chafee in the state’s Sept. 12 primary. Republicans and independents can vote in the primary, but not Democrats. Laffey has already come out in support of Alito and called on Chafee to follow that lead."

from Chriz Cilliza's blog today.

Cilliza also calls Chafee the only Republican to publicly declare that he will vote against alito.

In an earlier blog, Cilliza wrote:

Chafee faces a primary challenge from Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R). Should he get through that race, he will face off against either former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse (D) or Secretary of State Matt Brown (D) in a state that went for the Democratic presidential candidate by 20 points in 2004.

A Chafee vote for Alito will make for considerable fodder for either Brown or Whitehouse. But a vote against Alito could give Laffey the GOP nomination.

Asked about the seeming conundrum, Chafee campaign manager Ian Lang said that "from a purely political standpoint this is a lose-lose situation."  Lang said Chafee will put aside political interests, however, and make a decision that is in the "best interests of the country and the best interests of Rhode Island."

Laffey, who is running as a populist outsider and to Chafee's ideological right, has already sought to make the senator's indecision on Alito an issue in the campaign. "As long as we have known Senator Chafee he has shied away from taking a firm stance on the critical issues of the day," Laffey said in a recent news release.  The release also noted that Chafee didn't vote for President George W. Bush in 2004, recalling Chafee's decision to cast a symbolic vote for former President George H.W. Bush instead.

A source close to Laffey said "voting against Alito, and doing so in the indecisive manner in which [Chafee] is conducting himself, underscores exactly what Rhode Island Republicans most dislike about Chafee -- he sides with the liberals on all the big issues, and he's weak and can't make up his mind."

not sure what to make of all that.  I don't follow the RI newspapers closely enough.  But it all seems like fairly objective analysis.  I think he's right about one thing:  chafee will have to answer for a yes vote on alito; chafee will have to answer for a no vote on alito.  Either will complicate his re-election bid.  It just ain't easy being a GOP senator from Rhode Island these days, I guess.

[A18]

Rogers Brown seems like a complete conservative ideologue, the Republican's Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

From what I've read, her judicial views are quite sound and reasonable.

[nini2287]

Rogers Brown seems like a complete conservative ideologue, the Republican's Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

From what I've read, her judicial views are quite sound and reasonable.

She seems to base her judicial views off of her personal poltics.  A judge should not go around calling the New Deal a "socialist revolution", that's the job of a legislator to do that.

[minionofmidas]

CT figures are comparable to PA figures... makes sense I guess. While CT is all in all more "liberal", it's also less polarized between the parties. Rhode Island is both a good bit more "liberal" and a good bit more partisan democrat, though, so I doubt Alito would lead in double digits in a comparable Rasmussen poll. Might be wrong of course.

[nlm]

Polling is fun and all, and can be interesting to look at and can tell part of a story to people that know how to read them, but that certainly wasn't the end all be all of what I'm talking about when I say "represent the people of...".

Angus got this one about right, he has political issues which ever way he votes. If he set those aside and actually is doing what Ian Lang said Chaffe was going to do (see the post by Angus) - then good for him. That is, of course, not saying that I believe any of our Senators have the ability to set aside the political calculus of matters and how issues can be spun to gain support from their partisans or those that simply don't pay attention.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Hooray for Chafee! I knew there was a reason he was my favorite Republican.

Yeah, I hope it encourages Dems to try to block Alito.

[minionofmidas]

Not gonna happen anymore, with 56 or whatever announced aye votes and over half a dozen announced nay, but won't filibuster votes (including Chafee's own).