Clinton is a Bush Enabler says Lincoln Chafee

Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, the lone Republican senator to vote against the Iraq war, calls Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton one of the "Democratic Bush enablers" who failed to stand up to the president.

In a new book, Chafee, who is backing Clinton rival Sen. Barack Obama, skewers Clinton and other Democratic White House hopefuls who said they were duped by Bush into voting for the war.

"Being wrong about sending Americans to kill and be killed, maim and be maimed, is not like making a punctuation mistake in a highway bill," Chafee writes. "They argue that the president duped them into war, but getting duped does not exactly recommend their leadership. Helping a rogue president start an unnecessary war should be a career-ending lapse of judgment, in my view."

http://news.aol.com/...

I have had the wonderful opportunity of once meeting Senator Chafee and is genuinely a principled, good and thoughtful man.  He was a Republican because he was born into a family with a very long history with the Republicans.  Senator Chafee changed his voter registration from Republican to Unaffiliated in 2007 and has endorsed Barack Obama.

•  Linc Chafee should be on an Obama cabinet

  by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:26:48 PM PDT

  •  Most likely (ex) Republican

    Appointment imo.

    by marcvstraianvs on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:29:09 PM PDT

    •  He's a registered Independent now n/t

      by boofdah on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:29:31 PM PDT

      •  In RI, it is called

        an unaffiliated voter

        by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:37:49 PM PDT

        •  Gotcha. n/t

          by boofdah on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:41:20 PM PDT

•  Chafee

  One of the last remnants of what the Republican Party was pre-Reagan.  Had the opportunity to leave it and save his seat, but chose the latter...kinda shows he must of not liked being a Senator too much.

  by marcvstraianvs on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:28:23 PM PDT

  •  a man of conviction

    to leave the Republican party was to turn his back on his family's history.  That's a lot to ask for a man whose family dates back to Colonial Rhode Island.

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:30:23 PM PDT

    •  Sorry, when he became a Senator

      he had a duty to uphold the Constitution and he knew damn well what the GOP was doing to it and this country.  Therefore, by not leaving the GOP he functioned as another Bush enabler.

      by Marie on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:34:34 PM PDT

      •  He voted against the war

        He's voted with Dems on many occasions. Do you expect that the handful of moderates in the GOP at the time could have done much about the GOP?

        by valadon on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:38:03 PM PDT

        •  I'm talking about power, not

          his votes which were mostly better than those of many DEM Senators.  Had Chafee bolted like Jeffords in '01, Daschle would have had a bit more power and that might have been enough to hold back the venality spewing out of the WH.  

          by Marie on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:55:08 PM PDT

          •  He could still be a Senator...

            ...if only he had left the GOP before 2006.

            If he had left then, we also might have 52 or 53 seats in the Senate, becuase we likely wouldn't have had to spend as much money in RI.  Not only would that be better for us in general, it also would have meant that we could tell Turncoat Joe to "go Cheney himself," because, frankly, he just wouldn't have mattered.

            by WayneNight on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:59:00 PM PDT

          •  Debatable Marie

            but not a bad point...

            by valadon on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:12:23 PM PDT

            •  But we never know which straw

              will break the camel's back, which one is the "hundredth monkey" -- IOW what/who produces the tipping point.  Jeffords could be blown as as just one -- with Chaffee, the message would have been more than two.

              (Plus Lincoln wouldn't have had to sully his soul for five years by meeting with his GOP colleagues.)

              by Marie on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:34:21 PM PDT

              •  yes, I hear you

                Did you ever see him in the Foreign Relations committee? For some reason he always seemed terrified to me.

                What do you think his chances would have been had he gone Independent and then faced re-election? Do you think he could have run in RI like Jeffords did in Vermont? I wouldn't have minded him on our side. The Reps can have Lieberman...

                by valadon on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 08:42:39 PM PDT

  •  New England Republicans are generally...

    a decent lot of people. At least you can talk to them, which is not really all that bad to have in an opposition party. After all, conservatives do have a good idea every now and then.

    by Jimdotz on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:31:41 PM PDT

    •  New England Republicans

      are not neoconservatives.

      They are the last remnants of the old-time Progressive Republicans of Theodore Roosevelt from a century past.

      by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:34:01 PM PDT

•  Chafee was the one Republican defeat...

  I almost felt bad about... almost

  by Jimdotz on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:29:06 PM PDT

  •  Hell, I did feel bad about it

    it was one of the most difficult votes I have had to make.

    He may be back as a Dem pol in the near future.

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:32:07 PM PDT

    •  That would be a good thing.

      William Cohen was obviously someone who could be worked with, even if he never did come all the way over.

      by Jimdotz on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:33:20 PM PDT

      •  a Mainer

        He was a decent one too

        by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:34:49 PM PDT

    •  Just checked his wiki page.

      This guy was a republican???

      by retriever on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:33:21 PM PDT

  •  I feel bad about it...

    ...becuase we had to dump money into RI that could have gone elsewhere.

    That's why I find it tough to like Chafee.  Instead of pulling a Jim Jeffords when it would have actually counted, he waited until after we had to spend a shitload of cash taking him down.

    by WayneNight on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:43:31 PM PDT

    •  Exactly

      He'd still be in the Senate today if his resignation from the Republican Party had been a bit more timely.

      Anyway, as someone said above, he'll make a good cabinet secretary in the Obama Administration.

      by livosh1 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:49:20 PM PDT

      •  If he didn't want to...

        ...become a Democrat directly, I wouldn't have had a problem with having another Independent who caucuses with us.  He'd certainly fit in, based on the issues.

        Such a lost opportunity.  If only he had taken it...

        by WayneNight on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:51:10 PM PDT

        •  It's ok

          He'll be a valuable member of the Obama Administation.

          by livosh1 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:00:51 PM PDT

  •  Me too

    I was happy he lost because we took back the Senate, but I did feel that he was the one Republican who did not deserve to lose his seat.

    by democrattotheend on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:44:34 PM PDT

•  old story diaried multiple times n/t

  by teacherken on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:30:01 PM PDT

  •  Teacherken,

    check out my diary yesterday.  I would love your input on that one.

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:37:34 PM PDT

  •  here it is

    http://www.dailykos.com/...

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:38:33 PM PDT

•  I always liked Chafee

  he always seemed so humble and sincere.  I felt sorry for him when he lost.

  by TNforkerry on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:33:45 PM PDT

•  And what party's leadership

  did Chaffee caucus with all those years that he and his father were in the Senate? Chaffee has no room to talk on this issue.

  by oceanstar17 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:36:43 PM PDT

  •  and how many DLC Dems have turned out

    to be stinkers for us?

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:50:10 PM PDT

    •  That misses the point

      Chaffee caucused with the GOP throughout his Senatorial career. So he has no room to talk.

      by oceanstar17 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:57:43 PM PDT

      •  He wanted the GOP to return to its roots

        not leave it to the neocons

        by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:10:37 PM PDT

        •  He still enabled them

          in the most crucial way. He could have left the GOP but chose to remain, so I find his criticism of HRC to be hypocritical.

          by oceanstar17 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:15:10 PM PDT

          •  He eventually did

            and wrote a tell-all book about it

            by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:18:59 PM PDT

            •  But he did a great deal of enabling,

              more so than HRC. So he really has no room to talk.

              by oceanstar17 on Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 03:10:32 PM PDT

              •  The DLC has enabled the Conservative movement

                for far too long!

                by aaraujo on Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 04:11:20 PM PDT

                •  That's not the point

                  We are talking about Chaffee and the DLC's influence in the party has waned anyway. I used to support the DLC because they were relevant in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. They achieved their mandate in making the Democratic Party attractive to white suburbanites who had left after 1968. After they achieved that goal, however, they were unable to remain relevant.

                  by oceanstar17 on Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 04:13:00 PM PDT

                  •  Hillary is the de facto head of the DLC

                    Barack is the resurgence of the liberal movement that dominated the American political landscape from 1933 to 1968.

                    That's the point.

                    Chafee represented the old progressive Republicans of Theodore Roosevelt.

                    This is not a fight between R's and D's it is an overall fight between the left and right that transcends parties.

                    by aaraujo on Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 04:29:21 PM PDT

•  Chafee calling anyone an enabler . . .

  . . ., considering his record during the Bush era, is the pot calling the kettle black.

  (Racism accusation in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .)

  by raatzie on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:36:55 PM PDT

  •  What is wrong with this statement?

    Helping a rogue president start an unnecessary war should be a career-ending lapse of judgment, in my view

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:41:58 PM PDT

    •  Evertyhing.

      Coming from a man who enabled just about every other facet of the Bush agenda.

      by raatzie on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:43:01 PM PDT

      •  He was the LONE Republican

        to stand up and vote NO on AUMF 2002

        by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:43:55 PM PDT

        •  Yet he stuck with the Republicans...

          ...and forced us in 2006 to dump cash into RI that could have been going elsewhere.

          by WayneNight on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:46:55 PM PDT

          •  It was the GOP Primary that hurt him

            neocon nutjob Steve Laffey's primary bid that hurt him

            by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:55:20 PM PDT

        •  He was also the only (R) to vote against Alito's

          confirmation, for which I admired him greatly.

          by boofdah on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:31:29 PM PDT

  •  He voted against the war

    by democrattotheend on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:44:56 PM PDT

•  This from a man...

  ...who stuck with the GOP, despite disagreeing with them on nearly everything.  And, who forced us to dump God knows how much money into unseating him.

  I'm glad he's no longer a Republican, and that he endorsed Obama.  I just find it hard to like him, though.  Had he switched parties while still in the Senate, we likely wouldn't have had to spend the same amount of money in RH, and, instead, we could have used it elsewhere.  Perhaps we'd have 52 seats instead of 51.

  by WayneNight on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:41:36 PM PDT

  •  Harold Ford in TN?

    maybe

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:43:11 PM PDT

    •  Or Peterson in AZ..

      ...although I understand he was something of a tepid campaigner.  Perhaps, with more money, even Carter in NV could have taken off.

      We'll never know, though, because Chafee wasn't there for us when it counted.  Instead, he forced us to go up against him.

      A pity.  With Chafee on our side, we could have maybe picked up an extra Senate seat or two.  And, He'd still be a U.S. Senator, only as an Independent aligned with the Democrats.

      by WayneNight on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:46:08 PM PDT

  •  Sometimes you have to put on another's shoes

    Chafee hated what these people were doing to his party and wanted to stick it out to try to bring it back from the fringes.  While it proved to be an impossible, it must have been hard affiliating with a group the group of idiots who had tarnished and tattered a party that he once loved.  He took a lot of heat from the rethugs, because he voted with the dems more often than not.  It takes some pretty big stones to stick it out and fight.  Leaving/switching is a much easier choice.

    by glazeone on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:54:20 PM PDT

  •  In defense of Chafee, I will say this:

    we need more Republicans like Lincoln Chafee, not fewer!  Personally, I want to see both the Democratic party and the Republican Party shift to the left.  Such a shift in both parties is necessary if we are going to get anything accomplished, since it is unlikely that we are ever going to get any substantial legislation passed without at least a small amount of bi-partisan support.  Ideally Chafee would be a mainstream Republican, Dennis Kucinich would be a mainstream Democrat, and I would be a swing voter.

    by bhouston79 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:03:35 PM PDT

•  Chaffee is a great man

  and he is right on that.  I will buy his book.

  by Blue Wind on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:51:00 PM PDT

  •  too right

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:59:33 PM PDT

  •  I'm looking forward to buying and reading it.

    by boofdah on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:28:50 PM PDT

•  I AGREE WITH HIM 100%!!!

  by Hope Monger on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:56:01 PM PDT

  •  so do i

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 05:59:10 PM PDT

•  And this guy was a REPUBLICAN?!

  Wow!

  The question isn't why he let the GOP, but why he didn't become a Dem long ago.

  by ScottyUrb on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:01:45 PM PDT

•  Hillary praises Patraeus

  First Hillary praises McCain, now she praises Patraeus. Who's side is she on?

  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a relatively rare shout-out to the military's top man in Baghdad, General David Petraeus, calling him "an extraordinary leader and a wonderful advocate for our military."

  The commanding general, who has been a target of antiwar opponents and liberal groups like Moveon.org, has been a strong supporter of the escalation of American troops in Iraq

  http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...

  

  by William Domingo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:04:26 PM PDT

  •  Would you expect anything less

    from the leadership of the DLC?

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:06:37 PM PDT

•  He should be considered for VP.

  by Liberal Lion on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:11:49 PM PDT

  •  I like Jim Webb for VP

    Strong military figure that neutralizes John McCain

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:20:18 PM PDT

•  Senator Chafee

  Senator Obama campaigned for Whitehouse who defeated Chafee, and yet he still endorses Senator Obama.  That says a lot for the man. But not for Whitehouse who endorsed Hillary.   Senator Chafee would be an excellent choice for a cabinet position.

  I was also thinking about who should be the Attorney General nominee today after reading Rep. John Conyers great blog about Senator Obama's speech on race yesterday. It is at Huffington Post.  Should read it. It's very good.  And I thought about him as the AG, but due to his age, maybe not.  Then I thought about someone who's on the House Judiciary Committee and also an Obama supporter who might be good, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez of CA.  What do you think?

  by CGrace on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:34:07 PM PDT

  •  What happened to John Edwards for AG

    the longer he rides the fence the quicker he is disappearing from the radar.

    he should endorse Barack Obama and get back on the campaign trail.

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:40:41 PM PDT

•  I love Chafee

  He's probably my favorite politician. I've voted in one election in my life, and it was for Chafee in 2006. I don't regret it at all. Sheldon Whitehouse has done nothing.

  by jackbauer8393 on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:35:33 PM PDT

  •  Scathing indictment

    Chafee says top Democrats put their political ambitions first in the fall of 2002 and not the country's.

    by aaraujo on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 06:49:48 PM PDT

•  Chafee could not believe how Dems folded

  This is not a sudden itnervention in the campaign. Chafee has been saying this for some time, and his comments are damning for any of the Democrats who voted to enable the war.

  by Historian on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 07:30:35 PM PDT

•  Wow!

  by bethcf4p on Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 01:57:34 PM PDT