NEWS & ANALYSIS: To Hold Senate, G.O.P. Bolsters Its Most Liberal (Chafee in RI)

Below is a very important and interesting New York Times article titled "To Hold Senate, G.O.P. Bolsters Its Most Liberal" in reference to Lincoln Chafee of RI. 

"Victor L. Profughi, a retired political science professor at Rhode Island College and a pollster," who is quoted in the article below is a very bright person.  He was a professor of mine and was the Political Science Department Chairman when I was a student at RI College from 1984 to 1988 where I got my BA in Political Science. 

This article shows GOP leadership discipline (as well as hypocrisy and desperation) about how they are openly supporting "its most liberal" Republican incumbent Senator over a far more conservative primary challenger in Republican Stephen Laffey because of electability.

The GOP leadership is doing this (along with not supporting their own official GOP Senate nominee in CT Alan Schlesinger) for the sole reason of keeping as much power as they can in Congress to avoid as much accountability as they can!
The GOP leadership is also defying many of their own big name activist grassroots supporters by supporting Lincoln Chafee over Stephen Laffey.  Just look at a few of the big name GOP activists who the GOP leadership is openly standing up to:

1) Rush Limbaugh:

http://www.rushlimba...

It's Time To Defeat Lincoln Chafee

July 19, 2006

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: "A couple sound bites I want to play for you here this morning, MSNBC live, David Gregory interviewed Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island who has fallen five points behind in polling. He's up for reelection; he's a RINO Republican in Rhode Island..."

2) Ann Coulter:

http://www.humaneven...

They Shot the Wrong Lincoln
by Ann Coulter
Posted Aug 30, 2006

"In addition to supporting Democrat Joe Lieberman over Republican Alan Schlesinger in Connecticut, President Bush is supporting the Democrat over the Republican in Rhode Island, too. In the Republican primary, Bush supports Lincoln Chafee -- who votes with Bush on the important issues less often than Sen. Lieberman does -- over the only actual Republican in the race, Stephen Laffey..."

3) The Club for Growth:

http://www.clubforgr...

Steve Laffey - Rhode Island Senate

"Almost thirty years later, the Republican Party is at a similarly defining moment. Once again, challengers to certain Republican incumbents are needed to help restore limited government to its rightful place at the center of the Republican agenda.

That is why we urge you to support Steve Laffey, the Republican Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, in his primary challenge against Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee. Steve Laffey is a Ronald Reagan, pro-growth Republican. Conversely, Senator Chafee epitomizes the GOP's waning commitment to limited government and economic freedom..."

Look at how blunt that the RSCC is being about how they will openly concede RI to the Democrats if Laffey wins the primary because Laffey is clearly not electable in the state of RI which is quoted in the article below:

+óGé¼+ôIf Laffey won, on Day 1 of the general election, it would be over for us,+óGé¼-¥ said Brian Nick, the communications director for the Republican Senate campaign committee. Asked if his committee, run by Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, would then concede Rhode Island to the Democrats, Mr. Nick responded:

+óGé¼+ôNo question about it. Would you play somewhere where you were down by 30 and you couldn+óGé¼Gäót move the numbers?+óGé¼-¥

What Democrats and Democratic leaders need to understand about this are two very important points that I see:

1) The GOP leadership is absolutely desperate and determined in their efforts to try and keep as much power as they can in Congress in election 2006 even if that means supporting a less conservative Chafee over a far more conservative Laffey.

2) The GOP leadership will openly stand up to their big name activists, their grassroots, and to their "netroots" to do what they think is right and to do what they know is in their own best political interests.  They know very well that Laffey is not electable in RI while Chafee is and that it would be political suicide (as well as a waste of time, money, and resources) to support Laffey regardless of the fact that their hard core grassroots activists support Laffey and hate Chafee!

These are reasons why in my opinion Democrats cannot take anything for granted in election 2006 regardless of what the polls look like and regardless of how badly that Bush is messing up in Iraq or in any other area! 

The GOP leadership is very focused on winning and they are very good at articulating their misleading message, their spin, and their rhetoric to millions of people.  Bush also does have the bully pulpit now and he seems to have the power to control and scare many of his supporters within the GOP who are not happy with him (even those disillusioned Republican activists who support Laffey over Chafee)!

Every race has to be fought as hard, tough, and smart as possible all the way up to election day with some kind of a serious effort to ask for disillusioned Republican voters (the voters who are in play and who are up for grabs in this election) to best insure that Democrats win back at least one branch of Congress in November which is the only way how some real accountability will be restored back to government and to the GOP leadership before 2008!

Please forward this on so that Democrats will not underestimate the GOP leadership, their determination to keep a fully GOP controlled rubber stamp Congress, their desperation to avoid being held to any form of serious accountability from Congress, and their willingness to openly stand up to their own party activists in what I consider to be the most important midterm election in modern history!

Mitch Dworkin

http://www.securinga...

http://www.securinga... 
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program:

An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda which will help our local candidates to win their races!

http://securingameri... 
Gen. Wes Clark's endorsement of Jim Webb against George Allen

http://www.webbforse... 

--------------------

http://www.nytimes.c...

To Hold Senate, G.O.P. Bolsters Its Most Liberal

Robert Spencer for The New York Times
Senator Lincoln Chafee, left, with Barry O+óGé¼GäóBrien on Saturday in Warwick, R.I., faces Stephen Laffey in Tuesday+óGé¼Gäós primary.

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: September 10, 2006

WARWICK, R.I., Sept. 9 +óGé¼GÇ¥ 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.

Robert Spencer for The New York Times
Stephen Laffey campaigned Saturday in West Warwick, R.I., where he talked with Jane D+óGé¼GäóAmbrosca.

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. Citing poll data, Republican leaders said they saw no way someone as conservative as Mr. Laffey could win in a state as Democratic as this; as it is, they are increasingly worried about Mr. Chafee+óGé¼Gäós hopes in a general election.

The result has been the striking sight of the national Republican Party, dominated by conservatives, using resources to save the seat of a Republican who said he voted against Mr. Bush in 2004. He chose instead to write in the name of the first President Bush.

Mr. Chafee has opposed many centerpiece Republican policies, from the war in Iraq to tax cuts to most restrictions on abortion. This week, he helped force a delay on the confirmation of John R. Bolton as the United States ambassador to the United Nations.

For all that, Republicans said they expected to spend more than $1.2 million on advertisements attacking Mr. Laffey, saturating the television stations of this state, the nation+óGé¼Gäós smallest. One advertisement lifts a line Republicans have used in countless attacks against Democrats, mocking the mayor as +óGé¼+ôtax-and-spend Steve Laffey.+óGé¼-¥

Mr. Laffey+óGé¼Gäós supporters, led by the Club for Growth, an organization advocating tax and spending cuts, have countered energetically with advertisements that have hammered the senator as a Washington insider and a Republican reprobate.

The Republican National Committee has rolled out its 72-hour get-out-the-vote program +óGé¼GÇ¥ used to great effect in 2002 and 2004 +óGé¼GÇ¥ against one of its own this year. More than a dozen trained party turnout specialists are encamped at a local motel.

+óGé¼+ôIf Laffey won, on Day 1 of the general election, it would be over for us,+óGé¼-¥ said Brian Nick, the communications director for the Republican Senate campaign committee. Asked if his committee, run by Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, would then concede Rhode Island to the Democrats, Mr. Nick responded:

+óGé¼+ôNo question about it. Would you play somewhere where you were down by 30 and you couldn+óGé¼Gäót move the numbers?+óGé¼-¥

The fight has laid bare the ideological divisions in the Republican Party as well as the difficult road it faces in the fall. The Senate seat, which Mr. Chafee took over from his father, John H. Chafee, after he died in 1999, has been held by Republicans since 1976.

Mr. Laffey, standing on his front lawn before a Saturday morning of door-to-door campaigning, said Washington Republicans were coming after him because they viewed him as a threat to their power.

+óGé¼+ôIt is really incredible to watch,+óGé¼-¥ he said. +óGé¼+ôSenator Elizabeth Dole and Karl Rove, and all those people down in Washington, they are just about power. The last thing anybody wants down in Washington +óGé¼GÇ¥ whether it is the Democratic National Party or the Republican National Party +óGé¼GÇ¥ is somebody there asking questions.+óGé¼-¥

The contest in Rhode Island, where fewer than 15 percent of registered voters are Republicans, is one of several primaries on Tuesday that will begin to set the final cast for the fall elections. It comes as President Bush has sought to shape the midterm campaigns with a new emphasis on national security.

To win the Senate, Democrats need to capture six seats, and Rhode Island is high on their target list. Both sides see Democrats as having a better shot at winning the 15 seats they need to seize the House.

Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said he was confident that the Democratic challenger in Rhode Island +óGé¼GÇ¥ it is likely to be Sheldon Whitehouse, a former state attorney general +óGé¼GÇ¥ could defeat whoever wins the Republican primary.

+óGé¼+ôWe have the inverse of what is usually true,+óGé¼-¥ Mr. Schumer said. +óGé¼+ôThe Republicans are beating each other up in the primary, and our Democratic candidate has had two months to get to know the voters.+óGé¼-¥

Mr. Chafee said in an interview that he appreciated the reinforcements from Washington, but that it could hurt the complicated juggling act confronting him in the primary and in the general election: appealing to both independent and Democratic voters. Independents, who outnumber Democrats but lean Democratic in their voting habits, are allowed to vote in the primary here.

+óGé¼+ôIt+óGé¼Gäós a double-edged sword because I need Democratic-leaning unaffiliated voters,+óGé¼-¥ he said. +óGé¼+ôThis is a very Democratic state.+óGé¼-¥

Still, Mr. Chafee appeared heartened, if slightly bemused, at the image of Washington Republicans riding to his rescue. He said he thought that was because he had taken care in how he positioned himself as a red senator from a blue state.

+óGé¼+ôI+óGé¼Gäóve taken an extra step in my rhetoric not to go over the line, so to speak,+óGé¼-¥ he said. +óGé¼+ôI have walked a fine line in how I vote and not taking it too far to alienate some people who could be helpful.+óGé¼-¥

Mr. Chafee spent his Saturday morning at a barbeque with supporters here, where he warned that a Laffey victory on Tuesday would lead to a Republican defeat in November.

+óGé¼+ôEverybody knows who has the best chance to win in this very, very Democratic state +óGé¼GÇ¥ Rhode Island might be the most Democratic state in the country,+óGé¼-¥ he said. +óGé¼+ôMy chances of winning are much, much greater than Mr. Laffey.+óGé¼-¥

In many ways, what is happening in Rhode Island is a mirror of what happened in neighboring Connecticut last month: an ideological challenge from the wings to an established senator who is seen as out of step with his party. In that case, a Democrat, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, lost a primary to Ned Lamont, who attacked Mr. Lieberman for his support of the war in Iraq and his dalliances with the White House.

The difference is that there was no serious Republican challenger in the Connecticut race, so the Democratic Party invested relatively minimal resources in Mr. Lieberman.

And the sheer intensity of the attacks in Rhode Island +óGé¼GÇ¥ both in tone and the amount likely to be spent per voter +óGé¼GÇ¥ was described by party leaders and others as unlike anything they could remember.

+óGé¼+ôI+óGé¼Gäóm searching for the right word +óGé¼GÇ¥ vicious,+óGé¼-¥ said Victor L. Profughi, a retired political science professor at Rhode Island College and a pollster who has studied the state+óGé¼Gäós politics for 40 years. +óGé¼+ôI+óGé¼Gäóve never seen a race that was anything like this in Rhode Island.+óGé¼-¥

In one advertisement, which critics have called racist, an announcer says that as mayor, Mr. Laffey agreed to accept +óGé¼+ôMexican ID cards+óGé¼-¥ as proof of citizenship, while an ominous blur of dark-skinned faces flashes across the screen. +óGé¼+ôMayor Steve Laffey accepts Mexican ID cards that can threaten our security,+óGé¼-¥ the announcer said. +óGé¼+ôWill he put our security at risk in the Senate?+óGé¼Gäó

The Republican attacks on Mr. Laffey have been met by attacks on Mr. Chafee by the Club for Growth and other groups. One advertisement belittled Mr. Chafee as +óGé¼+ôa Washington politician so out of touch he votes to waste $200 million on that Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska.+óGé¼-¥

Mr. Profughi conducted a poll for Rhode Island College at the end of August that found that Mr. Laffey would easily beat Mr. Chafee. But this is proving to be a particularly tough primary to poll because independent voters are allowed to participate, and aides to both candidates say they expected the race to be much closer.

With both sides saying the outcome would be determined by turnout, the Republican National Committee+óGé¼Gäós vaunted turnout operation could prove crucial in countering the anti-Chafee sentiment that has energized Mr. Laffey+óGé¼Gäós supporters.

+óGé¼+ôThere+óGé¼Gäós no doubt that if the primary was held only among Republicans, Chafee would lose,+óGé¼-¥ said Nelson Warfield, the Republican consultant who produced the advertisements for the Club for Growth. +óGé¼+ôHe would be repudiated by the Republicans who he has constantly repudiated.+óGé¼-¥

Mr. Laffey+óGé¼Gäós supporters said they were hopeful that should he win, Republicans would reconsider, the way Democrats have rallied around Mr. Lamont.

+óGé¼+ôHopefully, it+óGé¼Gäós just campaign bluster,+óGé¼-¥ said Pat Toomey, the president of the Club for Growth. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign, Mr. Toomey said, +óGé¼+ôwould not be that irresponsible.+óGé¼-¥

Mr. Laffey said he did not care what Washington Republicans did if he won. +óGé¼+ôLet them stay out,+óGé¼-¥ he said Saturday, huffing and puffing as he ran up a hill toward a voter+óGé¼Gäós house. +óGé¼+ôWe+óGé¼Gäóll do it without them.+óGé¼-¥

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