Chafee did his homework before voting for the IWR and voted against his party ...

[slipslidingaway]

for that he deserves our respect. I thank him for his courage against all the pressures I am sure he faced.

Many in our own party went along and voted with the Repubs which helped to destabilize the region and later on said it was "a mistake."

It was mistake that had, and is still having, huge ramifications across the region.

I will not mock his campaign, instead I will applaud his courage.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

1. LC sure does deserve credit for that wise vote...ABSOLUTELY! Hats off to him.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[Lunabell]

2. Respect for that vote.

[BeanMusical]

3. He had the courage and integrity to do the right thing.

[Jim Lane]

4. I agree, and add a practical point

His campaign brought to more people's attention the thought of "I didn't leave the Republican Party, it left me."

There are millions of good and decent people who are Republicans because, like Chafee, they were brought up that way. Most people inherit their political party affiliation the way they inherit their religious affiliation. Not all Republicans are racist, anti-science, etc. They're just not as focused on politics as most of us are. They tend to take the path of least resistance, which means not bothering to re-examine their party allegiance.

Chafee could speak to those who, although brought up Republican, have watched with increasing unease as their party lurches far to the right. I wish he had stayed in the race longer. He might have helped other Republicans make the same transition he did.

[MisterP]

5. heck, it destabilized the party: the "tread tightly on the GOP's heels" faction was handed

the reins and used populist masks to guarantee that the money would keep flowing; now its reputation is "pretends to care to get votes, then ruins its reputation to make sure it passes everything it had denounced during the campaign"