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Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee announced Thursday he is exploring a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Chafee, a friend of President Obama who did not seek a new term in 2014, said in a video posted on his campaign website that he is concerned about “international instability,” particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
He also touted his record, going back to his days as a mayor of Warwick, R.I., and including his eight years in the U.S. Senate.
“I don’t like where this is going,” Chafee said. “Americans want safety, stability and sustainability. We will need fresh ideas and the most skillful diplomacy in this ever changing world.”
Chafee faces an uphill climb, as Hillary Clinton prepares to jump into the race. The former secretary of State is widely considered the leading Democratic contender, even as Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Bernie Sanders have traveled to early presidential nominating states testing their messages.
In an interview with CNN, Chafee indicated he will make Clinton’s 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq War an issue in a Democratic primary. At the time, Chafee was a moderate Republican and the only GOP senator to vote against authorizing the war.
“Considering the premise for invading Iraq was based on falsehoods and considering the ramifications we live with now from that mistake, I would argue that anybody who voted for the Iraq War should not be president and certainly should not be leading the Democratic Party,” he told CNN.
Chafee earlier told Rhode Island Public Radio that he doesn’t believe in Clinton’s inevitability as the Democratic Party nominee, but he sounded a pragmatic note about his own chances.”I’m not naive about the task ahead of me,” he said.
As a Republican, Chafee was an early supporter of Obama for president in 2008. He lost his Senate re-election bid in 2006 and became an independent for his successful 2010 race for governor.
Faced with low job-approval ratings, Chafee switched parties again and became a Democrat in May 2013. He abandoned his re-election bid in September of that year.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1HVAKiK
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