72 Hour Program Activated In RI....
Democrats were right in 2004: the Republicans have adopted a draft. It only applies, however, to party workers employed by state victory committees in the east of the Mississippi. For many it will be worse than boot camp. They are to be sent to Rhode Island to try to rescue Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee’s re-election campaign in the September 12th primary.
Workers start arriving Friday and will be charged with sorting out the mess that Washington operatives believe is the Chafee campaign. First task may be to get Republican voters to forget Chafee’s erratic performance in the last two of the four broadcast debates between the incumbent and his lively challenger, Cranston mayor Stephen Laffey.
Scores of GOP workers will begin arriving this week and stay through the open primary as they search for and then try to persuade some of the 70,000 registered Republicans and several hundred thousand independent voters eligible to participate in the open primary to support Chaffee. Draftees, many of whom may be more compatible with Laffey, will be paid by their home-state committees. Food and lodging expenses will be picked up by Republican National Committee. Some of the faithful, however, may prefer to go AWOL than work for a Republican who opposes mangers on public property and calls the Club for Growth one of most notorious special interest groups in Washington.
Party pros may be hoping that the influx of energetic workers will inspire Chafee to put some heat under what they see as his lethargic performance in the day-to-day grind of campaigning in the Ocean State. [KEVIN F. RENNIE]
I wonder how this task force will be able to defuse such 'conservative' statements as "America is the greatest country in the world because of our SOCIAL PROGRAMS"!
Well, the RNC is showing its true colors now. The less government, lower taxes party has transformed into pro-big business party. That is pro-big government business. Chafee is one of the most liberal members of the Republican Party, and should be shown the door, instead of helped out to save his campaign. If he looses the primary, and a Democrat is elected in Chafee's place there would be not political change to the vote from the Rhode Island Senate seat now held by Chafee. He is merely a RINO that should have been shown the door years ago. I have stopped donating to the RNC and may have to cut off my state party if they sent people to RI in this stupid effort. RNC is getting to the point were I think it really means RNC = DNC.
This type of action only hurts the RNC. It is similar to the RNC Specter support in PA 2004. That was another case of supporting really a Democrat over a conservative Republican.
With Republicans like Chafee as well as the other RINO'S we really do not have control of the Senate. Chafee is more of a Democrat than a Republican so the RNC should not WASTE resourses on him.
Republicans will find that the grassroots RNC donations will be effected by support of these RINO'S.
As a Rhode Island Republican (yes there are a few), I am disgusted by the fact that the National Republicans would spend time and money to try and keep Chafee in office. The man is not a republican in any sense of the word. I have heard all the reasons why the National Party wants to keep incumbents in the general election but those arguments don't hold water. Even if a democrat were to win in November at least it would be clear whose side he is on. Let us take a principled stand. I am one Republican that will not be voting for Chafee on September 12.