Chafee looks to bring debate to Hillary

Former governor, who got his start in Warwick, concerned for country’s future

John Howell
Posted 4/14/15

A day after his surprise announcement he is weighing a run for president, Lincoln Chafee said the genesis of this next step in his life came during a drive to Maine with his wife Stephanie in the …

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Chafee looks to bring debate to Hillary

Former governor, who got his start in Warwick, concerned for country’s future

Posted

A day after his surprise announcement he is weighing a run for president, Lincoln Chafee said the genesis of this next step in his life came during a drive to Maine with his wife Stephanie in the summer of 2013.

He said he was considering his options, mulling what’s happening in the country and thinking back to the work he did on the Foreign Relations Committee as a United States senator.

He knew he would have an uphill battle if he were to run for re-election for governor as a Democrat.

“My father’s legacy is so associated with the Republican Party,” he said.

He said Chafee as a Republican is in the DNA of Rhode Island, and after changing party affiliations – which he did before being elected the state’s first independent governor – he felt people were asking, “What’s he doing here?’ when he attended Democratic functions.

As he tells the story, the conversation on that six- to seven-hour drive to Maine shifted to what he sees as important and what he would do next if not a bid for re-election.

In recent months, his conviction that the Democratic Party, which he joined in 2013, needs more than the voice of Hillary Clinton became all that more crystallized.

It’s a point that he has been making now that he has stepped onto the national stage, in repeated interviews that for the most part have been conducted from a studio on the East Side of Providence. He conducted interviews with MSNBC on Friday and was back at the studio Sunday morning for another one with CNN, the day Clinton used a video in a low-key announcement to formally declare she’s in the race for 2016.

On CNN, Chafee said he believes there shouldn’t be a coronation and that although it has been years, Clinton’s vote to go to war with Iraq “is a disqualifier.”

Following the segment, Chafee said he didn’t see other Democrats planning to run and that he found Clinton’s performance as Secretary of State lacking – and that “she didn’t do her homework.” He is troubled by the waning respect and influence of the United States globally. He would place greater emphasis on diplomacy and listen to the points of view offered by foreign leaders.

Technically, Chafee is putting his toe into the water and hasn’t made the decision to run. Yet, from what he says, he has his bathing suit on and is ready to take the dive.

He wants to be on the stage during the debates leading up to the primary, bringing his points of view and questioning how as a country we interact on the global scale. He doesn’t find it strange that many of his fellow Rhode Islanders would find that implausible.

His thinking about a run for president was shared with only a few. Debbie Rich, whose ties with Chafee go back to when she handled his press office during his time as Warwick mayor, has been working closely with him. Jonathan Stevens, who served as Warwick city planner when Chafee was mayor, is also a part of the inner circle, as is Kenneth Alston, who was chief of staff when he was governor.

The effort is being operated from, as Chafee puts it, “the bunker” in the Airport Plaza in Warwick. The reference is to the downstairs office, which ironically is located across the hall from Rhode Island Republican headquarters. There is no paid staff at this time. Both Rich and Stevens were present for Sunday’s live segment with CNN.

“Nothing surprises me about him,” Stevens said when asked of his initial reaction to Chafee’s thoughts.

Chafee said an element of incredulity has accompanied virtually every announcement he’s made for public office, starting with mayor. Never has that been as pronounced, however, than following the announcement of his presidential aspirations. Social media was alive with the news, which some people first imagined to be a late April Fools’ joke. But Chafee was prepared with a “Chafee 2016” website and a video outlining why he is exploring a run.

In the video, he says, “Throughout my career, I exercised good judgment on a wide range of high-pressure decisions, decisions that require level-headedness and careful foresight. Often these decisions came in the face of political adversity.”

Asked why there hadn’t been any hints about his thinking, Chafee said he deliberately kept the lid on the process.

“I want my message crafted by me,” he said.

The political pundits immediately jumped in, questioning how with such a low approval rating at the end of his term of governor a Chafee campaign for president could get off the ground; what experience his team has when facing primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire; whether he could even win the state’s four electorate votes in a contest; and how his track record as governor will play on the national stage.

Chafee feels the numbers tell the story of his governorship. He notes that when he took office, state unemployment was at 11.4 percent and four years later it was 6.3 percent.

“How can you argue against the facts?” he asks. “No one reports this…I did my job as governor, now it’s on to new challenges.”

On the top of Chafee’s list is strengthening the country’s alliances. Of particular concern are relationships with Russia, Venezuela, India, Pakistan and China.

“We have squandered what we have worked so hard for,” he said.

He’s not prepared to let voters forget how Clinton voted on the Iraq war. He said that is a vote “that you don’t put in the rear view mirror.”

Chafee has identified his immediate goal as that of being a player.

“I want to be there in the debates in November, December and January,” he said.

For the moment, with Clinton announcing her long expected bid and with some of Rhode Island’s leading Democrats already in her corner – Congressman James Langevin, who was a co-chair of Clinton’s Rhode Island campaign in 2008, left no doubt he would be supporting her again when asked Sunday – Chafee is in demand for national and local media. The question is whether he can make enough of an impact to be considered a viable candidate, or will his latest quest be written off as typically quirky Linc.

Comments

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  • allent

    dementia?

    Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Report this

  • Ken B

    Chafee will announce his candacy for president so he can take part in the primary debates. He will become known as a man with strong liberal views and he will become very friendly with Hillary Clinton. If she wins, Chafee hopes to become an ambassador. He probably will ask to become the Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Chafee wants to keep his family name in the limelight.

    Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Hilary is no liberal. Look at her track record. She is a fence sitter and needs to be exposed. Go get her Linc!

    Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Report this