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Santorum + Jeffords = Chafee

By glanko

Just before Super Tuesday, Rick Santorum simultaneously blasted McCain and endorsed for Mitt Romney. The kicker was that Santorum begged McCain to compaign for him during his ultimately unsuccessful 2006 reelection bid. I naturally shrugged it off as another instance of the far right biting the medium right in the ass.

Now, however, Lincoln Chafee, who also had McCain stump for him in his 2006 reelction bid, has super-stabbed (yes, I made that up) McCain in the back. Not only is he supporting someone other than the Arizona Senator, but he's actually supporting a member of the opposing party...that's right, Barack Obama.

For years I have been defending Chafee, saying that Republicans in moderate-to-liberal states have it really, really tough. They walk a fine line in order to appease both their constituents and their party, much tougher I'd say, than conservative democrats. Because of the make-up of their voters, they can be easily ousted when the zeitgeist of America starts to flow in an unanticipated direction. Some of the them suck it up and stick it out the best they can. Sometime they win (Christopher Shays), sometimes they lose (Mike DeWine), but it's a whole new low to abandon your party outright, just two years after the GOP and McCain and even President Bush himself came out to campaign for you.

Never mind the fact that he's named after the founder of the party... Chafee used to symbolize to me that you could be your own man in Congress, that you didn't have to bow to the prevailing dogma of your party at each turn. Not any more, I suppose. Can't say it's even all that courageous to do this after you're already defeated.

Enjoy your retirement LC, you won't be missed.

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on February 14, 2008 (boomark / email).