In this Dec. 11, 2014 file photo, then-Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee responds to questions during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I. A spokeswoman for Chafee confirmed Friday, May 29, 2015, that Chafee plans to announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, once a Republican, then an independent, then a Democrat, plans to announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination next week.
Chafee will do so Wednesday during a speech at George Mason University in Arlington, Va., spokesman Debbie Rich said.
Chafee surprised many when he formed an exploratory committee in April. He has never won elected office as a Democrat and had only discussed his plans with a few family members and supporters. But after that, he said he was likely to announce his candidacy in June.
By his own admission, he’s not been actively raising money or building the organization needed for a credible bid for the nomination, although he’s traveled to the early-voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Chafee has criticized Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for her Senate vote to authorize the 2003 Iraq invasion and says the next president shouldn’t be someone who supported the war. Then a Republican, Chafee was the lone GOP senator to vote against the invasion.
Chafee, 62, was appointed to the Senate as a Republican when his father, Sen. John Chafee, died in office, and he won election to the seat the following year. While in Washington, he became known for bucking his party. In addition to opposing the Iraq invasion, he refused to vote to re-elect President George W. Bush in 2004, writing in George H.W. Bush instead.
Chafee lost the seat in 2006 to a Democrat. He left the Republican Party and became an independent in 2007.
In 2010, he was elected to the governor’s office. He became a Democrat in 2013 but a few months later decided not to run for a second term.
Chafee’s plans to announce his run Wednesday were first reported by Politico.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is also running for the 2016 Democratic nomination, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is expected to announce his bid todayin Baltimore, where he served as mayor and built his political career. Then it’s on to campaigning, starting in Davenport, Iowa, followed by more events in that state before heading to New Hampshire on Sunday.
In news from the Republican side, Louisiana’s inspector general said Gov. Bobby Jindal’s use of state resources to politically attack Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul raises “questions.”
But Inspector General Stephen Street said legal ambiguities make it unclear whether the broadside from Louisiana’s GOP governor violated the state constitution, which forbids using public funds for political purposes.
Jindal, a likely presidential candidate, issued a statement Wednesday through his office with his official state letterhead, criticizing Paul’s foreign policy ideas and describing him as “unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief.”
Critics charged the act violated the state constitution and asked Street’s office to investigate.
In a report issued Friday, Street said the Republican governor in the future should use privately funded email accounts and websites to launch such political attacks “to avoid confusion and any appearance of impropriety.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has hired Capitol Hill staff member Jonathan Slemrod as policy director for his presidential campaign, spokesman Alex Conant confirmed to Bloomberg.
Slemrod, whose focus is on budget and tax policy, has been an aide to Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate. His other former bosses on Capitol Hill include Rep. Paul Ryan, now the Ways and Means chairman, and then-Rep. Jeff Flake, now a senator from Arizona.
Slemrod didn’t respond immediately to an email seeking comment.
Finally, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said he’d send more U.S. troops to advise Iraq and direct airstrikes and would give arms to Ukraine for its defense.
Santorum, speaking Friday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, said he’s “not talking about a massive invasion force,” just about doubling the 3,000 now on the ground in Iraq.
“If we don’t start winning the war against ISIS my fear is we are going to see casualties here in the United States,” he said, referring to the Islamic State.
Santorum also said he would arm the Kurds to fight Islamic State, provide aid to Jordan to help deal with refugees from war-torn nations and honor a pact from the administration of former President Bill Clinton to provide weapons to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Thursday had appealed to the U.S. and Europe to arm his country in its conflict with pro-Russia separatists.
While criticizing President Barack Obama for his handling of foreign conflicts, Santorum said he shares the president’s call to reauthorize the USAPATRIOT Act, which the U.S. Senate is scheduled to consider on Sunday. Santorum said he favors extending surveillance programs that are set to expire June 1.
Information for this article was contributed by Jennifer McDermott, Ken Thomas, Catherine Lucey and staff members of The Associated Press and by Sahil Kapur, Richard Rubin and Angela Greiling Keane of Bloomberg News.
View the original content and more from this author here: http://ift.tt/1J9SE5r
from democratic dojo http://ift.tt/1KuVrmQ
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment