My sense is that Laffey could have some legs, but the machine will not make the mistake it did in the last election by being so RI thuggish in opposition. The DNC won't let that happen when it has a good chance to pick up the seat. Also Laffey has absolutely no support among liberal Republican types. That doesn't leave much of a base and all it will take is some stain, real or perceived, to turn tentative state-wide support against him.
Laffey is smart; Rhode Islanders are not. We're self-interested and short-sighted, instead. That's not bad in itself, but it just causes us to suffer longer than we need to.
Yes but don't discount Laffey who could be a conservative US Sentator in a conventional sense. Will RI support him? He has to run the gauntlet of a primary and a general election. It' possible. The state elected Carcieri governor. It tends to like the idea of one Democrat and one Republican in the Senate. We'll see.
Chafee's toast. It's just a question of what bad replacement we are going to get. Langevin's two saving graces you mention are too little to get my vote. He still is uninformed about economics and will toe the Democratic line even more than Linc.
Sigh. They call 'em Blue States because living in 'em is so depressing.
Commenting by HaloScan
