Laffey to Challenge Chafee

After months of dithering, Cranston mayor Stephen Laffey announced Thursday that he will run against incumbent senator Lincoln Chafee next year, forcing a Republican primary in the Rhode Island Senate race. The Hill had a good piece on this earlier this week, which outlines the impact Laffey's entry has on the overall outlook for the seat going into election season.

In short, this is a dumb move. While I am a huge proponent of intra-party debate, Laffey brings little to the table, and only increases the chances that the Senate seat will revert from its longtime centrist bent (even if Chafee has all too often been a disappointment to us centrists) and become just another safe seat for a partisan liberal. Even if Chafee manages to survive a primary fight, he will be bloodied prior to facing the eventual Democratic challenger; if Laffy were to win the primary, the likelihood of him winning a general election are about as good as Pirro defeating Hillary in New York (i.e. he might as well not even bother).

Laffey and his backers are members of the "my way or the highway" brand of Republicanism - they'd apparently rather see a Democrat holding a seat than a Republican who doesn't toe the party line 100% of the time. I hope that national Republicans can talk some sense into Laffey and urge him to reconsider this decision; and if Rhode Island's Republicans end up kicking Linc Chafee to the curb next year in favor of Laffey, may they enjoy their Democratic senator come January, 2009.