January 12, 2006
"Laffey Denounces Shameful Senate Hearing, Says Alito Should Be Confirmed”
Republican Senatorial Candidate Steve Laffey has come out in support of the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court…
Today, Cranston Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Stephen Laffey declared his support for the confirmation of Samuel Alito to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. While commending the qualifications of Judge Alito, Mayor Laffey also denounced the character assassination spectacle at the Senate Judiciary Committee, and urged Rhode Island’s U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Lincoln Chafee to support the nominee.Mayor Laffey commented, “Over the course of three full days of extensive public hearings, we now clearly know two things. First, Judge Alito is a person with tremendous legal credentials, an open and independent mind, and an incredibly reasonable temperament. Second, the hearings demonstrate once more what is wrong with Washington today, where character assassination and tawdry treatment is all too common.”
Laffey continued, “Judge Alito has an inspiring personal story of rising up from humble roots to live the American Dream. I believe he will be a fair and good member of the Supreme Court. I would urge Rhode Island’s two Senators to vote for Judge Alito’s confirmation, and reject the tactics of the liberal extremist groups and the hyper-partisan environment of Washington, DC.”
Once again leadership shines.
This Laffey guy is on top of his game.
When Chafee finally makes up his mind he will either look like he's paying back the NRSC for the hundreds of thousands they spent to try and get Laffey to quit (what a waste of money that was) by voting for Judge Alito's confirmation, or like what he actually is... an unpredictable autocrat who is a republican in name only, if he votes no.
It's in the crucible that we see what men are made of. Some come forth like gold, while others turn to dust. Either way he goes in this particular fire Chafee is toast.
J Mahn
I totally agree with Joe's observation. Anyway you look at it, Sen. Chafee is in a major "lose-lose" situation here. He either alienates his left of center base of support by voting for Judge Alito -- or he votes against Judge Alito, in spite of Alito's excellent qualifications and calm demeaner, and tosses what's left of his "Republican" support out the proverbial window. Not great choices.
I applaud Mayor Laffey for taking a strong, DECISIVE, common sense stand in support of Judge Alito's confirmation. Did I say decisive? Why yes, I did. Did you hear that Senator? Try it out for yourself sometime!
Posted by: Will at January 13, 2006 1:09 AMI heard Chafee on a radio show last week, I believe WNRI from Woonsocket. When asked about his thoughts on a variety of issues, I couldn't believe his answers.
His answers were "well, I don't know all the sides of that", "We're waiting for more information", "i want to see what else there is". OK, I can understand that once in a while, but for every question?
All I could think of is that he was probably waiting for poll results to tell him how he should answer the questions. That is not what I want in a US Senator. In fact, that is exactly what we need to get rid of down in Washington.
Chafee has no independent thought whatsoever.
Laffey on the other hand, will tell you exactly what he thinks. He has the intellectual capacity to understand the issues and the leadership qualities to articulate his position.
If you came into RI not knowing anything about the two candidates and just watched the way they spoke on the issues and carried themselves, and then you were asked, which is the US Senator, Laffey or Chafee, there is no doubt that everyone would assume Laffey is the US Senator.
Posted by: Mike S at January 13, 2006 6:28 AMI'm sorry but you're wrong Mike S. If someone came into RI and read/ heard Laffey and Chafee speak, they would KNOW that Chafee is the man.
The Senate is a place of deliberation and counsel. The Senators work together to accomplish what they need to get done. They work as a team and it takes the whole body (rather a majority) to accomplish their duties. One person working alone would not be able to accomplish anything, especially if that person is always attacking the other Senators.
Also, although being a Senator is more than looks, Chafee looks more Senatorial than Laffey. He does not show up to fundraisers/ meetings/ city council meetings (or Senate Hearings) in jeans like Laffey does. He does not make personal jabs at former friends (the pixalization thing with Jackvony). Chafee takes time to consider the issue at hand before voting on it. One should compliment Laffey on his ability to make snap decisions. However he should not be unwilling to compromise or admit his thoughts/actions were wrong which he is unable to do.
Therefore one looking in at this Senate race from outside would naturally assume Chafee is the Senator and Laffey is merely a bad pretender.
Posted by: Kevin at January 17, 2006 11:53 AMWearing jeans or having a sense of humor does not disqualify you from being a senator, it only disqualifies you from joining the yacht club. Now, writing in someone for president that should disqualify you from being a senator. The Senate should be a place of action where One Senator like Coburn caused so much of a racket that he stopped the bridge to nowhere. It is one thing to think about an issue, it's another to never make up one's mind like Chafee is doing on Alito so as to try and figure out what is the best political move for him. He has 99% of the evidence, he just hasn't heard from NARAL and the other liberal special interest groups to see if they will give a pass because of Laffey. Well, got to get a whopper before they raise the minimum wage on me.
Posted by: Fred Sanford at January 17, 2006 5:59 PM