Lazy Gopher Pachyderm

Lincoln Chafee has jumped with both feet into the Terrorist Rights Movement. Not only was he one of four GOP Senators to vote in favor of the Specter-Leahy amendment (which would endow terrorist and military detainees with unprecedented habeas corpus rights), but he was the only Republican to vote against the final bill. This places him fully outside the GOP ‘Big Tent’ and squarely in the Leahy-Kennedy-Kerry segment of the political spectrum. It’s especially egregious since this is the most important issue of our time, the General War on Terror.

As for perspective on his re-election, Michael Barone observes that “Sen. Lincoln Chafee won his GOP Senate primary in Rhode Island by a 54-to-46 percent margin over Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey. That's an unimpressive margin for an incumbent senator.” Polls show that Democrat challenger Whitehouse is still edging out Chafee. Any surprise may very well be based on how many disgusted Republicans cross over to vote for Whitehouse.

Read his whole article on Chafee’s race and also discover why the National Republican Senatorial Committee has been raising ire rather than funds from the base.