Rampaging RINO

The Providence Journal (registration required) is reporting that Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee makes it official: he's voting against President Bush's Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. This is hardly surprising coming from the Senate's most notorious RINO, especially one facing re-election in a heavily Democratic state. Chafee did have the good sense to avoid the ludicrous filibuster attempt launched by Massachusetts Senators Kerry and Kennedy, however.

Political pundits on the left mistake Chafee's "centrism" as courage. Let me disabuse them of this notion. It's cowardice in action. If Lincoln Chafee has any political principles whatsoever, they've never been made available for public display. He's focused on re-election, and in Rhode Island, that means shadowing the Democratic platform. Voting as an actual Republican in the Senate is a recipe for political suicide in Rhode Island, and while Chafee is short on courage, he's long on political self-preservation. He's a big part of why it's so very frustrating to be a bonafide Republican in Rhode Island.

Stephen Laffey will still be getting my vote in the primaries, but if push comes to shove, I'll still vote for Chafee when he's up for re-election, especially if it comes down to a choice between Chafee and the oleaginous huckster Matt Brown.