Stephen Laffey (R-RI) To Announce Decision On 2006 Statewide Race On Thursday

The Providence Journal ^

[Clintonfatigued]

Laffey is expected to either challenge RINO Senator Lincoln Chafee in the GOP primary or run for Lieutenant Governor.

[Clintonfatigued]

Laffey would have a better chance in the open Lieutenant Governor. But he would also be a better Senator than Chafee.

[California Patriot]

Excellent. Destroy this RINO.

[kempster]

Maybe at some point it makes sense for Freepers to pick one of these RINO's and make him or her a target and support the heck out of his/her primary opponent. If we were successful it certainly would open some RINO eyes.

[MplsSteve]

The question is: Can Laffey win the general election against Brown or Whitehouse?

I know that Rhode Island has a history of electing Republicans for various offices - but I wonder if Laffey might be too conservative for that state's electorate?

Maybe the best bet would be to run for Lt Governor, expand his name ID and try for the Senate in six years.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I know that Rhode Island has a history of electing Republicans for various offices - but I wonder if Laffey might be too conservative for that state's electorate?"

---

Frankly, I'm not sure that *Chafee* can beat Brown or Whitehouse. Chafee lucked out when pro-life Democrat Congressman John Langevin opted out of the race, but even those second-tier liberal Democrats could beat Chafee.

"Maybe the best bet would be to run for Lt Governor, expand his name ID and try for the Senate in six years."

---

The Lt. Gov. job has virtually no power in Rhode Island, and since Laffey wouldn't run in a tied ticket with Governor Carcieri (a pro-life moderate-to-conservative Republican, BTW), I don't see why Laffey would have a better chance of being elected Lt. Gov. than he would U.S. Senator (where at least he could claim that, since the GOP controls the Senate, he would be best suited to look out for Rhode Island's interests. And it's not as if Laffey is Jesse Helms or something---he's really a moderate (although pro-life), and would never be confused for a conservative if he was from, say, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire or even Maryland.

I think Laffey should run against Chafee in the Senate primary. Chafee might read the writing on the wall and switch to the GOP, which would automatically result in a net pick-up of 2 Republicans in the committees on which Chafee sits (as I explain in greater detail here: http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/2005/08/what-to-do-about-insufferable-senator.html) and which would have many other benefits for the GOP (see the link as well). It would also give Laffey a good chance of defeating Chafee (whose switch would leave a lot of RI Democrats with a bitter taste in their mouth) in the general election.

[California Patriot]

"pick one of these RINOs and make him or her a target ..."

Yes, we should. And it should be Chafee. Laffey probably can't win a general election in Rhode Island, but we'd be rid of the worst RINO in the Senate. Only the really bad ones are worth targeting in this way. Chafee is bad because 1) he is so far left; and 2) he takes up one of "our" seats on the Foreign Relations Committee, which should be held by a more or less genuine Republican.

[kempster]

It would have to be a very concentrated effort complete with everything it takes to win.

[Clintonfatigued]

"I don't see why Laffey would have a better chance of being elected Lt. Gov. than he would U.S. Senator"

The Lieutenant Governor's race is for an open seat. He won't have to face an incumbent. Also, in a state race, federal issues (like abortion) wouldn't have the same resonance as in a Federal race.

Lincoln Chafee has an appalling record, but he has even more appalling 'Rat opponents.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"The Lieutenant Governor's race is for an open seat. He won't have to face an incumbent."

---

If Laffey defeats Chafee in the GOP Senate primary, then that becomes an open seat as well, and Laffey wouldn't have to face an incumbent in the general. And if Chafee switches to the Democrats, causing Laffey to run against an incumbent in the general, I will literally celebrate. Chafee's presence in the caucus is holding back the GOP Senate majority, and the more stuff with which he is allowed to get away the more RINOs such as Collins and Snowe will move to the Left.


"Also, in a state race, federal issues (like abortion) wouldn't have the same resonance as in a Federal race."

---

That is certainly true, and it will be Laffey's cross to bear in a Senate race. But it is also true that the Lt. Gov. doesn't do much of anything, so Democrats will probably reflexively vote for the Democrat since there is no good reason to elect someone with better ideas (how do you think the Democrat Fogarty won for Lt. Gov. while Carcieri was winning 55% in the gubernatorial race?), while in a Senate race Laffey would be able to talk about issues and peel off enough moderate or conservative Democrats to win. Remember, Laffey won't campaign as a hard-right conservative, especially since he is not one. He is pro-life, but he will not promise to propose a Human Life Amendment or anything like that. I wouldn't be surprised if Laffey's only comments on abortion were to promise to support the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, just like RI Democrat Representatives Langevin and Kennedy (both of whom voted for the PBA Ban), and that he wouldn't be an "extremist" on abortion like Chafee (who voted against the PBA ban); something like 60% of Rhode Island voters are Catholic, and opposing partial-birth abortion will only help Laffey's candidacy. What I've heard about Laffey doesn't give me any confidence that he would vote against funding for embryonic stem-cell research or against abortions in military hospitals. Laffey is not my ideal U.S. Senator, but he's an ideal Senate candidate from Rhode Island.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Oops, I screwed up the link: http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/2005/08/what-to-do-about-insufferable-senator.html

[AuH2ORepublican]

You are 100% correct, Chafee takes up one of our seats on the Foreign Relations Committee, and since he votes with the Democrats more often than not it means that what should be a 2-seat advantage for the GOP on the committee is actually a committee that is evenly divided between Democrats (including Chafee) and Republicans. If Chafee switched to the Democrats, we would be able to appoint 2 additional Republicans to the Foreign Relations Committee (and the other committees on which Chafee sits) and have a real 2-seat advantage in the committee. See http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/2005/08/what-to-do-about-insufferable-senator.html

[Clintonfatigued]

I agree that, if elected, Laffey would be a good Senator, far better than Chafee. But polls right now show him trailing even the second-tier Democrats currently in the running. The latest poll shows Sheldon Whitehouse leading Laffey by 45% to 32%, and Matt Brown leading Laffey by 40% to 30%.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

RI Ping!

As we await Laffey's decision with baited breath.

If you want on or off the infrequent RI Ping List, please FReepmail me!

[AuH2ORepublican]

"The latest poll shows Sheldon Whitehouse leading Laffey by 45% to 32%, and Matt Brown leading Laffey by 40% to 30%."

---

The election is over a year away, and remember that Laffey does not have statewide name ID right now (which the others do), but will get near 100% name recognition by Election Day (especially if he beats Chafee in the primary).

And if Laffey is holding statewide-elected Democrats far below 50%, he can't be as bad a candidate as some would think. I think we should give him a chance.

Chafee is far, far worse than the other Senate RINOs. I looked at the 12 key votes of the 107th Congress selected by Barone in his Almanac, and Lincoln Chafee is far too liberal to call himself a Republican. The Episcopalian Chafee is markedly more liberal than the other RINO Senators (Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins), as well as than schizophrenic Republican John McCain and conservative Democrat Ben Nelson. The 12 votes are (1) $1.35 trillion tax cut over 10 years, (2)
expand patients' rights in dealing with insurers and HMOs, (3) campaign finance reform, (4) permit ANWR development, (5) confirm Ashcroft as AG, (6) withhold funding from schools that prohibit Boy Scouts from using their facilities due to the Boy Scouts' ban on gay scoutmasters, (7) funds for the prosecution of "hate crimes," (8) access to abortions for military personnel and their dependents stationed overseas, (9) prohibit U.S. cooperation with International Criminal Court, (10) extend trade promotion authority, (11) authorize use of U.S. military force against Iraq, and (12) excluding presidential authority to ban union membership for Homeland Security employees.

Chafee voted with the conservatives on just 3 of the 12 votes: (1) He voted for the 2001 Bush tax cut (although he was instrumental in reducing the amount of the tax cut---in fact, he was the first GOP Senator to speak out against it, even before Jeffords did), (2) he voted to confirm Ashcroft, and (3) he voted in favor of trade promotion authority. 3 out of 12 is 25%, which is 25% less than how Specter voted (Specter's 6 conservative votes were (1) tax cuts, (2) ANWR, (3) Ashcroft, (4) hate crimes, (5) trade promotion authority, and (6) Iraq War). Snowe also had 6 conservative votes: (1) tax cuts, (2) Ashcroft,
(3) ban cooperation with ICC, (4) trade promotion authority, (5) Iraq War, and (6) deny Homeland Security union. Her Maine colleague Collins had 7 conservative votes, the same 6 that Snowe had plus voting for the Boy Scouts. McCain voted conservative on 9 of the 12 votes, all but (1) expand patients' rights, (2) CFR and (3) ANWR. And Ben Nelson, in spite of facing pressure from the Democrat leadership to vote the party line, voted conservative on 7 of the 12 votes: (1) (1) tax cuts, (2) CFR, (3) Ashcroft, (4) ban on overseas military abortions, (5) ban cooperation with ICC, (6) trade promotion authority, and (7) Iraq War; had Ben Nelson been a Republican, I think he may have voted the conservative position on 11 or 12 of the 12 votes.

Kicking Chafee out of the party wouldn't have hurt the GOP in any of the 3 votes in which he took the conservative position (even though I think he would have voted as a liberal on all three had he been a Democrat), since the (reduced) tax cuts passed with 62 votes, Ashcroft was confirmed with 58 votes and trade promotion authority was approved 66-30. Unlike Specter, Snowe and Collins, who vote the conservative position half the time and can at least be counted on to support most of the President's foreign policy, Chafee is predictably liberal across the board. The only use that Chafee had to the GOP was allowing the party to "control" the Senate back when the GOP had 50 or 51 Senators, but now that we have 55 Senators there is really no need to keep him around taking up a GOP spot on three committees (even with our 2-man advantage on those committees, there are tie votes whenever Chafee votes with the Democrats, which is more often than not) and allowing the media to say that "even one Republican Senator refused to vote for President Bush" or to call some ultraliberal measure a "bipartisan bill." So I say we kick him out.

[got_moab?]

I actually find these numbers encouraging for a guy who hasn't even entered a race that doesn't take place for another year. Bottom line Laffey has enough grass roots support to destroy Linc in a primary. If there wasn't a primary on the D side it would probably be much closer as many moderate to left leaning Independent voters and assorted Union hacks would choose to vote in the R primary in an effort to knock out Chaffee or just to spite Laffey. If Laffey gets past Chaffee in the primary (assuming that on Thursday he doesn't announce his intention to run as an Independent) he will most likely enjoy the full support of an extremely popular Conservative R governor in the November election. Matt Brown is a nobody outsider and Whitehouse couldn't win the D Gubernatorial nod in 2002 even with the full support of Rhode Islands labor unions. In the end we may lose a seat, but I for one will enjoy watching Linc go down in flames.

[youthgonewild]

Laffey has no chance of winning the general election in an open race. This primary is the RI Democrats' wet dream.

[fieldmarshaldj]

By all accounts, a Conservative Republican should not be occupying the Governor's office in Providence, either. Don't count Laffey out. Republicans do better in statewide offices in RI than you might think.

[zbigreddogz]

I am usually not in favor of primary challenges to incumbents, even when they aren't conservatives. I grugingly supported Specter, even.

But Chaffee is worthless. Completely and utterly worthless. I can't think of one issue he's good on. Not one. Not on Iraq. Not on taxes. Not even on voting for GWB.

I would support Laffey if I were in RI. If he wins the primary and loses the general, there is no great loss.