Another Democrat
announces his candidacy.
Citing the need for another Democrat in Washington to "fight back" against the Republican political juggernaut, former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse formally announced his candidacy yesterday for the U.S. Senate seat held by Rhode Island Republican Lincoln D. Chafee.
Sheldon Whitehouse is flanked by his daughter, Molly, 15, his wife Sandra, and son Alexander, 11, as he announces his bid for the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island outside his home on Elmgrove Avenue, Providence, yesterday.
Whitehouse vs. Chafee: their fathers were roommates at Yale in the 1940s; their families, lifelong friends.
But yesterday, Whitehouse, 49, listed the reasons that, he said, Rhode Island needs to replace Chafee, 52, with a Democrat.
"The Chafee name is obviously a very good name in Rhode Island," he said. "But I think the Republican party has largely abandoned the principles that made the Chafee name so important to Rhode Island."
Whitehouse worked the word "DeLay" into his speech, something we'll be seeing from just about every Democrat running for office next year.
Whitehouse's presence sets up a primary showdown with Matt Brown. While the DSCC hates primaries, they served the GOP exceptionally well in 2004. Competitive primaries kept the GOP candidates in the news, while unchallenged Democrats were invisible for months on end.