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Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 12:00am Republican Primary in Rhode Island Today is the day in the state of Rhode Island for the GOP to choose their candidate to run against the Democrat in the general election. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R) faces off against a surging Steve Laffey (R). The last polls are all over the place, with some saying Chafee will win comfortably and other saying Laffey will win. Put them together and the primary is a toss-up.
This primary may as well be the general election because Laffey has no chance of winning against the Democrat. Senator Chafee has a shot to win the general, which is why the Republican leadership is strongly backing him. Chafee may be very liberal, but the GOP still needs him to win. If Chafee holds the seat, it may be the difference in the Republicans keeping control of the Senate. No matter how liberal Chafee is, control of the Senate is paramount to Rove and company.
The Democrats are clearly rooting for Laffey to win today. He is losing by 25% to the Democrat in a very blue state. If Chafee loses, put this state in Democrat's column. They need to regain six seats in the general election and this primary will go a long way in solidifying this seat.
If Laffey does win the primary, Sheldon Whitehouse (D) will be the next Senator of Rhode Island. That would leave five more seats for the Democrats to pick up. They would be able to devote more of their financial resources to those states if the primary goes the way they want.
Those resources are desperately needed in New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia. In New Jersey, they are at great risk of losing their seat due to a very weak candidate. In Tennessee and Virginia, the Democrats have very strong candidates, but need more money injected into their campaigns.
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