The Hill reported last week that the
National Education Association of RI (NEA-RI) is considering doing joint endorsements of
Lincoln Chafee in the Republican primary and
Sheldon Whitehouse in the Democratic primary:
In yet another sign that Sen. Lincoln Chafee's (R-R.I.) election prospects are in doubt, the National Education Association (NEA) is "seriously considering" endorsing him in the GOP primary, the head of the organization's Rhode Island chapter said yesterday.
Bob Walsh, the chapter's executive director, said that Chafee's primary opponent, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey (R), would have plenty of money and that recent television ads run by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) had led political insiders to worry about the senator's odds.
Walsh said the education group also is strongly leaning toward backing Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in his primary against Secretary of State Matt Brown and former Marine Capt. Carl Sheeler.
More on the flip...
Walsh voiced confidence that Whitehouse, a former state attorney general who has the support of both congressmen from Rhode Island, Reps. Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin, and the tacit support of other leading Democrats, would win his primary.
But he was less sure about Chafee, a centrist who has often been at odds with fellow Republicans -- over taxes and the Iraq war, among other issues -- while seeking to placate his constituents, most of whom are Democrats. Last year, Chafee also did not support President Bush's reelection, in an unusual break with his party.
"We don't always agree with Senator Chafee, but we've always had a good relationship," Walsh said. "It would be foolish to ignore the opportunity to influence that."
Walsh added that Laffey "made his incredibly brief career by brow-beating unions." (...)
The chief benefit of an NEA endorsement, Walsh said, is not so much the $5,000 the group's political action committee would give to the campaigns in the primaries -- which will raise several million dollars by Election Day -- but the votes it would likely generate.
"We've got 11,000 members in Rhode Island, the vast majority of whom actually vote," Walsh said.