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Former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey back in the spotlight last night rolling out his 10 point plan to a Tea Party event in North Kingstown. Pretty interesting move from a guy NOT running for Governor. The thought of Laffey running for Governor has our viewers talking. ABC6 Anchor John Deluca has more in this Raw segment...

Lincoln Chafee, the man who less than a year ago served as the Republican Senator from Rhode Island, is apparently no longer a Republican today. That’s right, he recently dropped his affiliation with the party to become an independent. “It’s not my party anymore,” he says. “Anymore?” When exactly was it ever your party? It is extremely tempting to point at Chafee’s official change of affiliation and remind President Bush, Karl Rove and the rest of the Republican establishment just how wrong they were. You see, although they all knew how liberal Chafee was, they poured money, effort and endorsements...

Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R) beat back a strong primary challenge from Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R) tonight, a victory for which national Republicans deserve considerable credit. The Republican National Committee, White House and National Republican Senatorial Committee coordinated on a vast voter identification effort on Chafee's behalf that, combined with sophisticated microtargeting and a big get-out-the-vote operation, won the day for the senator....

Moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, his political career at risk from a more conservative challenger, led in early returns Tuesday in a contest that could be crucial in the larger fight for control of Congress. With 3 percent of precincts reporting, Chafee had 2,735 votes, or 55 percent, to Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey's 2,241 votes, or 45 percent. The last big day of primaries before the November elections also brought intriguing Democratic contests for Senate in Maryland and a House seat in Minnesota. In all, nine states and the District of Columbia voted, with the other states...

by Mark Finkelstein September 12, 2006 - 20:16 What would you call someone who within the last six years has received a 100% rating from NARAL and Planned Parenthood and a 0% from the National Right-to-Life Committee? A 100% rating from the ACLU. A 0% rating from Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum. A 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters and a 0% rating from the conservative Family Research Council? Oh, and someone who voted against George W. Bush for president in 2004, against the confirmation of Sam Alito to the Supreme Court, and who demands the withdrawal of US...

Rhode Island's independent-minded Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) confronted stiff opposition Tuesday in his bid for a second term, the latest race with a moderate targeted by his own party's hard-line critics. Nine states and Washington, D.C., were holding primary elections Tuesday, but Chafee's race has drawn the most attention as another test of the depth of anti-incumbent sentiment and the erosion of the political middle ground. Chafee has a remarkable amount of support from national Republicans, especially for a senator who has often been at odds with the party, bucking the administration on tax cuts, civil...

On Tuesday, the GOP primary in Rhode Island pits Sen. Lincoln Chafee against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey. Whatever else may be said about Chafee, he has been a very reliable vote against obstructionist filibusters of judicial nominees. He's voted for cloture all 25 times (see details below the fold). According to Rasmussen, Chafee has pulled to within two points of Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse in his bid for re-election (i.e. 44% for Whitehouse and 42% for Chafee). Whitehouse previously had a six point lead. But Chafee must first face off against Laffey, on Tuesday. Rasmussen has Whitehouse leading Laffey 58%...

With a barrage of television advertisements and the mobilization of its get-out-the-vote machine, the national Republican Party has lined up in Rhode Island to beat back a conservative primary challenge to the most liberal Republican in the Senate, Lincoln Chafee. The outcome on Tuesday could help determine whether Democrats have a shot at taking back the Senate. In an extraordinary pre-emptive announcement, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has said it will concede Rhode Island to the Democrats should Stephen Laffey, the mayor of Cranston, defeat Mr. Chafee in the primary.

Few incumbents have been as besieged in this year’s campaign season as moderate Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), who faces a threatening challenge from conservative Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in the Sept. 12 primary. And the final days of that contest have been as rough on Chafee as what came before: He has found himself obliged to disavow some of his own side’s hard-hitting negative ads aimed at Laffey, and facing criticism from Laffey and allied conservatives concerning his indecision over whether to support Senate confirmation of John R. Bolton, President Bush’s confrontational appointee as...

September 3, 2006 Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee (R ) has pulled to within two points of challenger Sheldon Whitehouse in his bid for re-election. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll in Rhode Island shows Whitehouse earning support from 44% of voters while Chafee attracts 42% (see crosstabs). Whitehouse had a six point lead last month. Based upon this poll we are shifting the Rhode Island Senate race from “Leans Democrat” to “Toss-Up” in our Senate Balance of Power ratings. Rhode Island is the fifth race in the Toss-Up category. Though he has his sights set on Whitehouse,...

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 3rd, 2006 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and his Democratic challenger, state treasurer Robert Casey. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., and his primary challenger, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey; actress and animal rights activist Bo Derek. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Rep. Christopher Shays,...

Preview and Analysis of the Weekend Talk Shows for 9/2 and 9/3/06It's Labor Day weekend!  The press can now concentrate (without feeling silly) on the Fall elections.  Who cares if there's actual news that might affect the future of human existence, let alone the fortunes of the United States and all Americans?  They get to report on the horse race!Meet The Press starts off the Sunday shows in my area, so I'll talk about them first.  Lil' Timmah is back and he's got a signature MTP event - live debates.  He'll get to sit upright to ask questions of Casey...

U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee may lose his seat to challenger Steve Laffey, according to a new statewide Republican primary voter poll released today by the Bureau of Government Research and Services at Rhode Island College. The survey was conducted August 28-30, 2006, at Rhode Island College by Victor L. Profughi, director of the Bureau of Government Research and Services. It is based on a statewide random sample of 363 likely Republican primary voters in Rhode Island. The sample was proportioned among the state’s geographic regions to reflect the likely voter contribution from each portion of the state. Overall, the poll...

COVENTRY, R.I. -- It was getting dark, but Stephen Laffey removed his cap, wiped his sweaty brow and sprinted across the lawn to greet one more voter. Glenn Myers, stocky and middle-aged, opened the screen door to shake hands with the 44-year-old Cranston mayor. "I believe in you," he told Laffey, who was barnstorming the neighborhood with his wife and five kids and various high school friends. "And I hope you beat the pants off of Lincoln Chafee." The Laffey-Chafee Republican showdown Sept. 12 is the next chapter in the turbulent 2006 election saga. A spate of primary upsets --...

Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey sparred over how to handle the war in Iraq, the benefits of embryonic stem cell research and the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice in their first televised debate Wednesday night. Supporters gave both candidates a standing ovation and chanted their names as they emerged from their dressing rooms before the debate. Polls have shown them running neck-and-neck in a Senate race that has gained national attention, and both are looking for an edge as the Sept. 12 primary approaches. The candidates and their parties are putting millions of dollars into the...

WARWICK, R.I. Senator Lincoln Chafee and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey will meet tonight in their first televised debate. The two Republicans have sparred over taxes, immigration, national security and personal character during radio debates held during the past two weeks. They are scheduled to appear tonight before a live audience at Toll Gate High School in Warwick, where Chafee once served as mayor. The candidates face each other in the September 12th Republican primary. The race has gained national attention as Republican leaders consider Chafee's seat crucial in keeping their slim majority in the Senate. The winner of the Republican...

Is there room left in the Senate for a courageous moderate Republican? Not if Steve Laffey, who wants to oust Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island, has anything to say about it "I just saw you on television," the elderly woman is saying from behind her screen door. "Were they attacking me, or was I talking?" Steve Laffey, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island, asks. It was an ad, the woman says. About your parents. Alzheimer's, she says. Laffey's father has Alzheimer's. The ad is about the working-class modesty of the Laffey family. The candidate is going...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Fresh off their first victory over a Republican incumbent, GOP conservatives seeking party purity on taxes and spending are focused on ousting moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) of Rhode Island. The Club for Growth and its 36,000 members spent around $1 million to help challenger Tim Walberg unseat first-term Rep. Joe Schwarz in Michigan's Republican primary on Tuesday. The win came despite Schwarz's support from President Bush and the National Rifle Association. Since its inception in 1999, the group has spent millions to help dozens of conservative Republicans win seats in Congress —...

It is hard to imagine two politicians less similar than Steve Laffey and the man whose job he’s trying to take, Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Laffey and Chafee both carry the Republican label. The similarity ends there. Laffey, the mayor of Cranston, R.I., and the challenger in the Sept. 12 Republican primary, is a hyperkinetic, fast-talking son of the working class. “My father was a tool maker, he never went to college. I’m the only Laffey in the history of Laffeys who ever went to college,” he said. He graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Business School, before...

U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee is locked in a close race with Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse in the Senate general election, according to a new statewide survey conducted by researchers at Brown University. The survey was conducted June 24-26, 2006, at Brown University by Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy and the John Hazen White Sr. Public Opinion Laboratory. It is based on a statewide random sample of 719 registered voters in Rhode Island. Overall, the poll had a margin of error of about plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. If the general election is held today,...