Opinion of John Chafee

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chafee

Fostered the Clean Water and Air Acts, architect of the Superfund program to clean up hazardous waste and oil pollution, pro-choice, anti-death penalty, anti-gay ban in the military, pro-Medicaid expansion, proposed what would later be known as Obamacare.

hp cuz republican officeholder tho

[IceSpear]

FF

Also I hate how Mitt Romney gets the credit for being the Republican father of Obamacare. It was Chafee!

[Goldwater]

Wait, why is he a Republican? Is he to the right of the Democrats on any issues?

[Morning in Atlas]

Mega-FF, just like his son.

[IceSpear]

Wait, why is a Republican?

The same question could be asked to many Atlas Republicans.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Wait, why is a Republican? Is he to the right of the Democrats on any issues?

He is what Democrats want Republicans to be like, of course.

Chafee, like his son, probably wouldn't be a Republican today if he were alive.  Chafee was to the Republicans what Gene Taylor was (before his party switch) to the Democrats.  Even for a New England Republican, he was to the left of many Democrats of his time.

[Goldwater]

Wait, why is a Republican?

The same question could be asked to many Atlas Republicans.

Touche.

[Lincoln Republican]

A great public servant and Senator, a great Republican, and a great American.

Although he stayed in the Senate too long.

[TNF]

If memory serves, he had an anti-labor voting record. HP.

[H. Ross Peron]

Overall FF, though not without flaws

[TDAS04]

FF.

[MATTROSE94]

Mega-FF, just like his son.

[Maxwell]

If memory serves, he had an anti-labor voting record. FF.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Always had a great deal of respect for him and more so then his son.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Wait, why is he a Republican? Is he to the right of the Democrats on any issues?

Compared to the Senators who represent his state now?  Absolutely.  If you look at his environment bills, or his attempts at healthcare*, they were aimed at being relatively market-friendly approaches.  I think any New England WASP who entered the Senate when he did and had his views would probably be a Republican.

*(there's some resemblance in what he proposed to Obamacare, but it's not the same thing)

[Mechaman]

Wait, why is he a Republican? Is he to the right of the Democrats on any issues?

Considering the history of New England and the class based politics thereof, not surprising at all.  The 1980's stereotype of the "ultra wealthy rich old Republican snob" is largely based off of rich Yankee Republicanism.  IN other words, people who talk a very big game about saving the seals but complain about how much taxi drivers charge for fares the one time their limo driver takes a day off due to stomach poisoning (who of course, gets promptly fired).  Nothing helped Democrats more back in the day than to use this strawman to ramp up votes, especially in "the neighborhood" where labor unions and other blue collar interests were dominant.
Like all groups, there was quite a bit of ideological diversity among said group.  The Great Depression and the New Deal went a LONG way in discrediting Yankee Conservatism, thus paving the way for a more moderate and liberal Republican. . . . ones that focused more on issues like political reform, fighting corruption, Civil Rights (actually taking a stand and not just saying "we like black people" every few years), and encouraging a sense of entrepreneurship among traditionally working class demographics who were on their way to the American Dream (ie, entering the Middle/Upper class).  The lace curtain stockbroker in 1976 had much less reason to vote Democratic than his labor union steelworker father did in 1936, needless to say.

John Chafee came from a more liberal family who had a long history of opposing slavery and his uncle, this guy, was such a strong supporter of free speech and religious tolerance that Joseph McCarthy labeled him "a dangerous man".  It is very likely that John's uncle had some influence on him when he was younger and that is where his strong sense of civil libertarianism (outside of guns) that made him such a strong social liberal and supporter of healthcare reform.  He was the first Republican to represent Rhode Island since 1937, being sworn in just a few days from being forty years since the last Republican Senator.  His election in 1976 made him the first Republican in forty-six years to win a US Senate election.  His victory was likely possible due to his name recognition, though the advent of the "New Middle Class" likely helped.


Like TNF said, his trade and labor voting record would be likely be pretty conservative compared to his Democratic colleagues of the time.  Still though, I'm going with an FF on this one.  Chafee wasn't perfect, but he seemed to be pretty sincere in his beliefs and there's a part of me that believes we really could've used more men like him in the past decade and a half.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Massive FF in the truest sense.  Unlike his son, who was only great until he switched parties.