SALON

Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 3:02 AM UTC

With Chafee’s win in Rhode Island, the Democrats’ odds get longer

With the help of the GOP, the Senate's most liberal Republican survives a challenge from the right.

By

Topics: 2006 Elections, War Room, Sheldon Whitehouse,

The Democrats need to pick up six seats in the Senate to take control from the Republicans in November. With Lincoln Chafee’s victory in the Rhode Island Republican primary Tuesday, their job just got a little harder.

Although late polling showed the race to be closer, Chafee defeated Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey by a relatively comfortable, 54-46 percent margin. Credit the GOP’s highly touted 72-hour get-out-the-vote machine: More than 60,000 Republicans voted in the primary, more than twice as many as in the Republican primary four years ago.

Why did the GOP go all-out for the Senate’s most liberal Republican, a man who didn’t even vote for George W. Bush in 2004? Because the alternative was Laffey, a darling of the conservative Club for Growth who would have had absolutely no chance of winning a general election in a state where Bush’s approval ratings currently sit at a national low of 22 percent. Washington Republicans considered a Laffey run against Democratic nominee Sheldon Whitehouse so hopeless that they said they would abandon the race to the Democrats if Chafee didn’t win in the primary.

But Chafee did win, and that means the Democrats will have a race rather than a walk in Rhode Island this year. The good news for Chafee? The support from Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman and other national Republicans has kept him alive to fight another day. The bad news? He knows, as he told the New York Times the other day, that all that GOP help may come back to haunt him in November. “Its a double-edged sword because I need Democratic-leaning unaffiliated voters,” Chafee told the Times. “This is a very Democratic state.”

Will it be Democratic enough to elect a Democrat in November? The most recent polling shows Whitehouse with a slim lead over Chafee. If he can hold it, Democratic control of the Senate remains at least a possibility. If he can’t, it’s hard to do the electoral math in such a way that gets Democrats the six seats they need in November.

Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog. More Tim Grieve.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations