Is the White House trying to hurt Lincoln Chafee?

[MissCatholic]

Republicans scrambling to keep the Navy submarine base in New London, Conn., off the Pentagon's list of base closings next month are working to save jobs _ including their own.

The political fallout of a decision to shut down the base could be devastating to the two lawmakers who have argued that their ties to the Republican-controlled White House and Congress give them and their constituents a critical political advantage.

So, Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Rep. Rob Simmons of Connecticut, both targeted Republicans in largely Democratic areas, are making sure the administration knows how important this issue is to their re-election chances next year.

But as they lobby everyone from the Pentagon to the President's staff, one of their biggest challenges may come from Vice President Dick Cheney, who has twice taken aim at Connecticut's Naval industry, and largely missed.

"There is no bigger political issue for me," said Simmons, who will go to the White House this month and name the potential base closing as his No. 1 political concern.

State Democrats are poised to use the issue against him if the New London base is targeted for closure or realignment.

"Simmons has made the statement that he should be elected because he's on the Armed Services Committee, and he has a relationship with the president," said Connecticut Democratic Chairwoman Nancy Dinardo. "Closing the base would be devastating, and I think the voters would want to hold someone accountable."

Stretched across the eastern half of the state, the 2nd Congressional District is the nation's most heavily-leaning Democratic district represented by a Republican. According to voter registration, just 22 percent of the voters are Republican.

Chafee, meanwhile, is the lone Republican in his state's Congressional delegation, and just 10 percent of Rhode Island's registered voters are Republican.

A moderate who often breaks with his party leadership on issues ranging from the environment to taxes and the Iraq war, Chafee is a prime Democratic target.

"People in Rhode Island are parochial, and if they see a Republican U.S. senator who can't step up to the plate with a Republican president and a Republican Congress, and do something to maintain a vital industry like that, then what's the sense of having a Republican senator down there?" said Rhode Island Democratic Chairman Bill Lynch.

Simmons and Chafee met recently with Navy Secretary Gordon England and other ranking Pentagon officials to make their case for the base.

Chafee acknowledged that a decision to close the facility or any defense installation in Rhode Island would be a campaign issue and make his reelection run difficult. But, he added, "My party is firmly behind me. As irked as they may be with me, they don't want this to be a Democratic seat."

National Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Carl Forti discounted the election fears, saying that Congress members usually do a good job trumpeting their lobbying efforts on behalf of the local base, thus limiting the campaign fallout.

"I can't recall the last time that was an issue in a congressional race," he said.

The proposed list of base closures, the fifth round since 1988, will be released by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld next month. And while officials insist that military requirements and restructuring will dictate which bases are closed or realigned, lawmakers worry about White House influence on the process, while at the same time trying to exert their own political weight in defense of their bases.

Cheney _ who was defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush _ could be key. In 1992, under pressure to cut the Pentagon budget, Cheney canceled production of the Connecticut-built Seawolf Submarine.

Congress later overturned the decision, restored funding for one submarine, and has since funded the development of the new Virginia Class submarine _ also built in part at Electric Boat in Groton.

Cheney also helped shape the base closing list that was unveiled by the Pentagon in March 1993 _ just after President Bill Clinton took office and Defense Secretary Les Aspin took over at the Pentagon.

The Pentagon recommended the New London base be shut down. But three months later, after furious lobbying by state officials, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission reversed the decision and removed it from the list.

"Everybody working this issue is fully aware of the vice president's prior positions on the issue and what happened a decade ago," Simmons said. "But we're hoping that that was then, and this is now."

[ATFFL]

I expect a quid pro quo arrangement for Chaffee.  You want the base to stay open, you vote for my judicial nominees.

[TheresNoMoney]

Lincoln should really switch parties. He's a real nice guy and very moderate.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

They must be, a guy named Whitehouse is running against him.