I actually came into this debate undecided. Chafee lost me when he came out four square in support of the NEA and AFT with his comments about "supporting the public schools" and being against vouchers and choice. It just reinforced how out of touch he is with what is going on here in RI. Given how much we spend on schools in RI, how poorly our students perform, and how our teachers unions still complain that it isn't enough, despite having some of the best pay and benefits and one of the lowest student/teacher ratios in the nation, I cannot understand how Linc can so clearly support the teachers unions. For Pete's sake, even many leading Democrats (e.g., the Hamilton Project led by Bob Rubin) are coming out against them.

Sorry, Linc. WIth my chidrens' future at stake, you just lost my vote.

I completely disagree, we can't patch a quick fix on to our education problems. Chafee is right that we have to reinvest in the public schools that made America great. If we send money to private institutions we will further marginalize the poorest and most disadvantaged Americans. Steve Laffey should remember his roots and support the schools that got him out of the middle class and made him a millionaire.

I went into the debate expecting Laffey to wipe the floor with Chafee, instead I am left at a lose. Chafee was much more engaged and Laffey sounded like a mayoral candidate who could only talk about local issues indepth and had no real solutions for national problems. Seal the borders, okay, but then what? No new taxes, but what about the national debt? I too aggree that we should get rid of pork barrel spending, but the 200 million dollar bridge is a fraction of the expence of the war or medicaid. Laffy complained a lot about Chafee but offered no real solutions. I have to say I am dissapointed. I will wait to see how the rest of the debates go, but I would mark this one for Chafee.

When the expectations for Chafee are set somewhat slightly above that of a retarded squirrel, it's not exactly difficult to exceed them. I suppose he was a little more "fiesty" than usual, but that didn't translate into "depth." He tended to repeat himself a lot and use talking points. I thought Laffey did well, but thought he was trying too hard to seem Senatorial, not confrontational.

Anyway, I can't say anyone really "won" the debate. There were no real gotcha moments or anything like that. For the most part, it seemed civil enough, but I would have preferred some more in depth answers on some questions. I guess the debate format didn't allow for that. I suspect that Dan Yorke will liven things up next week.

All I can say is that Laffey must have really lost if even Will can't see fit to say he won. I thought Chafee was much more agressive than I thought he would be and I thought that Laffey was clearly out of his depth. Laffey looked like a Mayor while Senator Chafee looked like a senator -- Also Laffey seemed so petty when he refused to address Chafee as Senator Chafee while Chafee showed real class referring to the mayor by his title.

But the whining from a US Senator - I frankly cringe when he whines. Agree it was a draw, though. I don't understand Miss Mae's point. Laffey was his usual forthright self, made analogies to his proven experience as mayor of Cranston, and commented on a number of Senatorial issues. But folks, this is just the warm up to the TV debates. Just wait.

I'm with Miss Mae. Even Arlene was pushing Laffey to go beyond his record as mayor. He kept making parallels between what he's done as mayor of Cranston and what he'd do as Senator that just sounded naive to me. He's taken on the crossing guards in Cranston, so he'll be able to take on Big Oil when he gets to DC? He visited the US-Mexico border, therefore he's got a special insight into the plight of illegal immigrants? Come on.

I strongly disagree with "Beth". I certainly don't think Laffey lost by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think he was holding back (perhaps trying to lull Chafee into a sense of complacency?). I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting any knock-out punches in the first debate anyway, so my expectation regarding that was clearly met. It was certainly a very good performance by Laffey by any standard, but there were no attempts at a "knock out" punch.

I'm not going to say he "won" when it didn't appear to me from what I know of him, that he was trying to "win." He tends to be very strategic, so I'm quite comfortable with how he did. Although I am a very loyal support of future Senator Laffey, I also try to be honest when I analysis something. Unlike some others, I am not a propagandist.

By the way...

"Even Arlene was pushing Laffey to go beyond his record as mayor."

Laffey, as you might recall, is currently a mayor, as was Chafee before he was in the Senate, so it seems like it would be very applicable.

As much as I like Arlene's record back when she was AG, don't forget for a moment what wing of the party she comes from -- it's not the right. Arlene "Air America" Violet is hardly a conservative icon.

Will,
Calling for the resignation of Rumsfeld and supporting federally funded abortions don't exactly make Steve Laffey a conservative icon either.