MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow on Tuesday couldn't help herself as she fawned over the liberal credentials of Republican turned independent turned Democrat Lincoln Chafee. Despite the fact that Chafee is no longer a member of the GOP, the journalist repeatedly hyped his former status. She recounted, "In 2004, when President George W. Bush was running for re-election as president there was one Republican U.S. senator" who didn't vote for the incumbent.
Perhaps cornering the market on the concept of being a Rachel Maddow Republican, the anchor continued, "As a Republican U.S. Senator, he was also pro-choice. He was pro gay rights, pro marriage equality for same sex couples." According to Maddow, Chafee " was the last known living specimen on Earth [known as] the liberal Republican."
She lamented, "When he left the Republican Party in 2007, the whole idea of a liberal Republican went extinct." Talking to Chafee, Maddow gleamed an interesting observation:
RACHEL MADDOW: So, do you think Jeb Bush is running more to the right than he would actually govern as if he got elected?
LINCOLN CHAFEE: Absolutely. Absolutely. You can already see it.
Chafee is now running for president as a Democrat.
A partial transcript is below:
Rachel Maddow Show
6/10/15
9:09RACHEL MADDOW: In the 2016 presidential race, though, for whom there is an unusual dynamic concerning Jeb Bush's father, the former president, and also Jeb Bush's brother, the former president. Because in 2004, when President George W. Bush was running for re-election as president there was one Republican U.S. senator at the time who said that even though he was a Republican and George W. Bush was a Republican and George W. Bush was running for election, he, the senator, would not support the election of George W. Bush. He said that, instead, he went to vote on election day in 2004, he would write in the name George H.W. Bush. He would cast in a write-in ballot for W's dad. But not for W. And he was a serving Republican U.S. Senator at the time. As a Republican U.S. Senator he was also pro-choice. He was pro gay rights, pro marriage equality for same sex couples. He was against the death penalty. He supported raising the minimum wage. He supported higher taxes on the rich. He was against drilling in the arctic. As a Republican U.S. senator, he not only voted against he fiscally disastrous George W. Bush tax cuts for the rich, he also voted in 2002 against authorizing the U.S. war in Iraq. He was the only Republican senator who voted against George W. Bush's war in Iraq. He was, of course, Republican U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, who was the last known living specimen on earth of the liberal Republican. When he left the Republican Party in 2007, the whole idea of a liberal Republican went extinct.
...
MADDOW: When I talk about your transformation from Republican to independent to Democrat, are you proud of that transformation about leaving those party labels behind? Do you worry that Democratic primary voters might hold it against you?
...
MADDOW: But you feel like you essentially stayed who you are and believed in the same principles and the same things, in terms of policy, all along. But you feel like party affiliations have shifted around you?
...
MADDOW: So, do you think Jeb Bush is running more to the right than he would actually govern as if he got elected?
LINCOLN CHAFEE: Absolutely. Absolutely. You can already see it.
