I hope he doesn't let Chafee get away with his line that he is an independent man. http://www.pat-crowley.org/blog/?p=287

So Linc Chafee will be on the Daily Show with John Stewart tonight. I am sure Linc will talk about his independence, and how he stood up to his party, that he made a difference, and that it is a shame that his brand of republicanism is on the wane.

Well, I never really bought the independent man thing, and Chafee’s voting since the election seems to prove my point. According to the Washington Post’s really cool vote tracking program, there have been 16 votes in the Senate since the election. Chafee voted in 15 of them, and only once did he break with his party. And when he did, it was irrelevant because the measure he opposed passed despite his “No” vote.

Now, dear reader, these weren’t just fluff, end-of-the-term votes. These were issues regarding taxes, judicial appointments, and foreign policy. And on three amendments to the GOP effort to change the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to make it easier to sell nuclear technology to India, Chafee voted with his party to:

1. Deny that it is the policy of our country to support UN Resolution 1172, which calls for an end to the nuclear arms races between India and Pakistan;

2. Reject an amendment that would have called on India not to export nuclear technology to American enemies;

3. Reject an amendment that would have made it more difficult for India to provide military-to-military aid to Iran.

Now, I am not a foreign policy expert, but I think it is a good idea to restrict nuclear arms in the Subcontinent, stop the exporting of nuclear technology, and, most importantly, to make sure the Iranian Army doesn’t get their hands on nuclear weapons!

So much for the moderate man from Rhode Island. Good luck Mr. Chafee.

Ps. Just so folks don’t get in a lather about this being a partisan shot, Jack Reed voted against two of these amendments as well. At least he supported Russ Feingold’s amendment that would have required “as a precondition to United States-India peaceful atomic energy cooperation determinations by the President that United States nuclear cooperation with India does nothing to assist, encourage, or induce India to manufacture or acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” Chafee voted against this.

Pat,

Look more closely at those votes fella, you’ll see democrats and republicans BOTH had the same majority decision on the first. In the 2nd and 3rd, the democrats split pretty heavily. Those are not very convincing selections to make a strong point.

Your anti-Chafee arguments are weak at best.

Don’t forget when he was the DECIDING vote to put down the flag burning amendment when he voted against his party, also look at his important vote on the abortion motion. Chafee did do a great job acting as a moderate Republican Senator. There is no good reason for you to assail his character or political decisions at this point anyways....