Kennedy, Chafee Could Face Off in R.I.

AP on Yahoo ^ | 3/26/05 | Lolita C. Baldor - AP

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON - It would be the battle of the dynasties: Kennedy versus Chafee. The son of a Democratic icon against the son of a revered Republican senator and governor in the nation's smallest state.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) is considering a run against Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) for the only congressional seat held by a Republican in heavily Democratic Rhode Island. The mere prospect of such a matchup next year has set tongues in motion.

"It would be a great race. The two are very evenly matched," said Brown University professor Darrell West, who has written a biography of Kennedy, 37. "Chafee is a sitting senator and people like him, but he has an 'R' next to his name in a 'D' state."

Kennedy, a six-term Democrat, initially ruled out running against Chafee, leaving the door open for his House colleague, Rep. James Langevin (news, bio, voting record). But Langevin opted out earlier this week, and now Kennedy is taking a second look.

A Kennedy-Chafee race could thrust Rhode Island into the national political spotlight.

Last year, Republicans gleefully showcased Kennedy's father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., in ads for GOP Senate candidates — hoping the liberal lightning rod would energize conservatives to vote against him.

"If Kennedy runs, every group that hates the Kennedys will try to influence the Senate race," said West.

Meanwhile, Democrats are equally eager to put the power of the Kennedy family on the Senate ballot in a friendly New England state. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record) of New York already has talked to Patrick Kennedy.

The younger Kennedy, 37, will say only that he has "been asked by people I respect and admire to consider running for the United States Senate." He said he has to balance that against his desire to continue to work on the House Appropriations Committee, where he can bring federal dollars back to the state.

Kennedy has been talking and meeting with family members, friends, staff and supporters, and may be readying a poll to gauge his support statewide.

Chafee, who turned 52 Saturday, is considered vulnerable. He was appointed to fill the vacancy left when his father, Sen. John Chafee, died in 1999. He won the seat in 2000 with 57 percent of the vote.

He has battled the GOP leadership, openly declared he did not vote for President Bush (news - web sites), and voted against the president on key war and budget issues. At the same time, he can attract some Democratic and independent voters with his strong support for environmental and abortion rights issues.

Chafee readily acknowledges the difficulties of being a red senator in a blue state. After the election last year, he said he will try to be as supportive as he can of his GOP leadership as he heads into the 2006 election cycle.

"If I need their help occasionally, I'm going to have to help them," he said. "But my convictions are dear to me and I think my state likes me to be independent."

A Brown University poll taken before Langevin dropped out showed him leading Chafee, 41 percent to 27 percent.

Kennedy's chief of staff, Sean Richardson, said a decision to run against Chafee is "not a decision that's going to be driven by polls. It's about where he believes he can do more for his constituents."

[HostileTerritory]

By the way, John Kerry had his advantages in life, but politically he was a total outsider in Massachusetts and still managed to climb to the top. I give him a lot of credit for that. Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, and Olympia Snowe were not born into illustrious families either, and none of them had a name that was going to carry them into office.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

So what is the problem, a ultra liberal RINO, or a ultral liberal demoncRAT? No one will notice the end result when it comes to the way they legislate.

[Jim Noble]

Is there anyone who lives in RI who's Daddy wasn't important who could run?

Oh, and, BTW, just how many of our 435 Congressmen and 100 Senators are second-generation?

[ran15]

I'll give you that, its infested all over the country. I mean some of these states have 10 million people.. and for their leader they pick the son of the last leader. What are the chances that person is going to be the most talented?.. 1 in 10 million.. so its all just connections.

And worse then that, all these people who've grown up in these powerful families also grew up in incredible wealth. So have no real connection to the general population. They went to an elite private school, then an elite university.. then into a law firm ran by friends of the family.

They've never had a real job, been tight on money, waiting in line for healthcare.. some have even rarely driven a car themselves.

[Radix]

If I had to choose between them (if I lived in RI) I'd pick Chafee.

Patrick is a shrill moronic self centered POS and Chafee seems to keep a low profile. We do not want another Kennedy in the senate. I sincerely wish that the Kennedys would simply go away.

[Radix]

You didn't mention the Rockefellers.

[Cicero]

How about we run somebody against Chaffee in the primary? Patches is a drunken, drugged out, brain-dead scum, but Chaffee isn't a while lot better.

For what it's worth, I think the Kennedys have about run out their string, except in Massachusetts. The defeat of Caroline Kennedy Townsend in Maryland was huge, and other Kennedys have been defeated in recent elections as well.

[Lunkhead_01]

The only difference I see between "Patches" "Don't you know who I am?!" Kennedy and Lincoln "Don't you know who I am?!" Chafee is that Chafee's IQ is slightly higher than his body temperature whereas no Kennedy since RFK can legitimately make that claim.

[PAR35]

The defeat of Caroline Kennedy Townsend in Maryland was huge, and other Kennedys have been defeated in recent elections as well.

The Kennedy clan might have lost Maryland, but they picked up a bigger prize in California.

[UltraKonservativen]

too bad they both can't lose...
HOW TRUE!

Kennedy is a left wing nut that periodically goes off his meds and physically attacks people.
Chaffee is a left wing nut with no cojones that consistently vote with the leftist Deaniacs.
This sorry excuse for a state gets what it deserves for voting for these jerks...High Taxes, bad roads, misery and corruption as far as the eye can see (which in Rhode Island is not very far).

[sofaman]

6 of one...half a dozen of the other.

[RJL]

Was it "Patches" Kennedy who roughed up the woman airport security worker?

[Kuksool]

If Kennedy runs for the Senate, Chafee will no longer be the MSM's favorite Republican. Watch for the MSM to portray Chafee as a far right reactionary by showing pictures of him shaking hands with Dr Coburn of OK. Chafee may even appear on Rush and Hannity to beg conservatives to donate to his campaign.

[BillyBoy]

---

>> Too bad they can't both lose... HOW TRUE! <<

Maybe they CAN both lose. I hope the ballot comes down to Mayor Steve Laffey (R-Cranston) vs. little Patrick Kennedy, at which point a REAL Republican would come out swinging against Patches and beat the tar out of him. Linc could even throw a temper tantrum over losing the nomination and run as a "third party" candidate, all he'd do is take away liberal votes from Kennedy.

The GOP is not going to have much luck running a blue-blooded snooty liberal moron to stop a blue-blooded snooty liberal moron.

Thankfully, Linc is very likely to face a primary challenge and go down in flames BEFORE the general election.

RINO Chafee to face primary challenge in 2006?

>> Too bad they can't both lose... HOW TRUE! <<

Maybe they CAN both lose. I hope the ballot comes down to Mayor Steve Laffey (R-Cranston) vs. little Patrick Kennedy, at which point a REAL Republican would come out swinging against Patches and beat the tar out of him. Linc could even throw a temper tantrum over losing the nomination and run as a "third party" candidate, all he'd do is take away liberal votes from Kennedy.

The GOP is not going to have much luck running a blue-blooded snooty liberal moron to stop a blue-blooded snooty liberal moron.

Thankfully, Linc is very likely to face a primary challenge and go down in flames BEFORE the general election.

RINO Chafee to face primary challenge in 2006?