[Please help me circulate the following letter to any sensible, anti-Bush Rhode Island voters who might nevertheless still be considering voting for Chafee!]
In today's Providence Journal, Froma Harrop's column ("Chafee vs. Whitehouse, Purely about party") repeats the myth that "Lincoln Chafee didn't vote very much with Bush." In fact, Chafee's record shows a pattern of supporting Bush's agenda in key behind-the-scenes decisions, then taking a more moderate [citation]stand "just for show" after Bush's desired outcome had been assured. For example:
- On the Medicare drug bill which was a bonanza for the pharmaceutical companies but a disaster for seniors, Senator Chafee supported the "make-or-break" procedural vote that kept the bill alive. Later, he voted against the final bill, but by then his vote was irrelevant. [citation]
(much more over the flip)
- When Bush nominated Sam Alito, an anti-choice, anti-environment extremist to replace the moderate Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, Senator Chafee publicly renounced the Democrats' filibuster, breaking the back of the opposition led by Jack Reed and others. Chafee later voted against Alito on the final tally, but Alito's confirmation had been assured by Chafee's earlier inaction. [citation]
- IAVA, the non-partisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, analyzed 155 recent Senate votes on veterans issues. They awarded Senator Jack Reed a grade of "A-" but gave Chafee a "C". On literally dozens of bills outside the spotlight, Chafee's vote cancelled out Reed's, to the detriment of our veterans.
- During the GOP primary, the national Republican party ran a viciously racist attack ad on behalf of Chafee against Mayor Laffey. The ad associated Mexican immigrants with the 9/11 terrorists. For 10 days while the ad was running on local television, Chafee repeatedly and pointedly refused to disavow the ads. [citation] Then, on the day after the ads stopped running, Chafee changed course and condemned them. [citation]
- On the vote for President in 2004, when John Kerry's victory in Rhode Island was assured and Chafee's vote would be practically irrelevant, Chafee bizarrely chose to write in the name of Bush's father (who himself was never popular in Rhode Island, winning 44% of the vote in 1988 and 29% in 1992). But on the hugely relevant vote for who should set the agenda for the U.S. Senate, Chafee voted for Bush's henchman, Bill Frist.
It's almost as if GOP leaders give Chafee a pass to voice support for Rhode Island's values -- once it's too late for his voice to matter -- in exchange for his support on the earlier, behind-the-scenes decisions which actually count. No wonder the national GOP is spending millions polluting our airwaves with attack ads on Chafee's behalf.
The facts show that when push comes to shove, Senator Chafee is no "Independent Man", but rather George Bush's Indispensable Man.
Volunteer for the Sheldon Whitehouse campaign!