Straight from the Horse's Mouth: The Case for Lincoln Chafee

I spent time with Governor Chafee when he came to Los Angeles for an appearance on the Bill Maher Show.  He is a soft spoken genteel man, as keen on listening as on speaking, a contrast with the  auditorium filling egos of many of his competitors.

He checks all of the necessary boxes-- executive experience as a Mayor and Governor, national legislative experience as the Senator from Rhode Island, well educated (Brown University).  His expertise in foreign policy includes service as Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on the Middle East.  Like some of the top tier candidates, he even hails from a prominent political family.

Based on his family background, you might think that his understanding of the daily toil of most Americans is intellectual, not personal.  You would be wrong.  He spent a number of years as a laborer in construction.  Seeking a trade he became a horseshoer at a race track for the princely sum of 75 dollars a week.  So not only has he walked in the shoes of a working man, horses have run hundreds of miles in his.

The courage it takes to work under a 1200 pound animal carried over to his political career.  He was the only Republican to vote against giving President Bush the authority to invade Iraq.  As the Republican party moved to the right, Lincoln held his ground.  He abandoned the long family connection to the Republican party.

Lincoln has two distinct advantages.  He is scandal free.  The thousand small media cuts of scandal stories,whether real or created, bloodies the message of the steps necessary to attack income inequality and to secure America through a sensible foreign policy.

Second, Chafee occupies valuable political turf.  For many of us noninterventionist foreign policy and privacy concerns are a siren call, but we fear the craziness of the brand of Paul.  Chafee shares those concerns while maintaing progressive positions on women's rights, gay marriage and other social and economic issues.

Although his days as a farrier are over, Lincoln's love of horses continues.   On the day after the Bill Maher Show, we went to the races at Santa Anita.  No hint of scandal, Lincoln is a 2 dollar bettor.  In the last race he bet on a horse that was 14-1. He won.  Sometimes long shots do come in.