Chafee's Win is Good For America

Democrats are bound to have mixed feelings about yesterday's Rhode Island Senate primary, which saw incumbent moderate Lincoln Chafee defeat his right-wing Club for Growth challenger, Stephen Laffey. It was an 8-point victory (54-46), which is decent enough considering the recent polls putting Laffey in the lead, but does not speak to a great amount of strength for the incumbent.

Here's the rub for Democrats: Chafee's victory shows that there is still room in the Republican party (albeit in Rhode Island) for a moderate, pro-choice, anti-OIF incumbent to beat back a well-funded challenger from the right. Yet Chafee will unquestionably be a tougher opponent in the general election for Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse, who would have won in a walk against Laffey. While Laffey's positions are apparently competitive in a Republican primary, they would not have been in a Rhode Island general election.

So is Chafee's victory a good thing or a bad thing? Steven Clemons says it is good:

Lincoln Chafee has triumphed in his primary vote count tonight. While many will groan about Chafee's victory because it makes the Rhode Island contest a greater hurdle for the Democratic challenger, I am pleased that Chafee has knocked out the far-right Laffey.

This Chafee victory is also a potential sign that Republicans who "look like Bush" are in trouble -- and that Republicans who are pragmatists and not ideologues may be on the comeback. This, in the mid to long run, is very healthy for the country -- just like the return of strength on the Democratic Party ledger is healthy for democracy.

I agree. I think Whitehouse still has an excellent chance of victory in the fall, particularly if the hardcore Laffey supporters stay home rather than vote for Chafee. While Democratic money and resources could have been shifted to other states if Laffey had been the opponent, I think a Laffey primary win would have sent the wrong message to other Republican moderates who have played an important (if insufficient) role in tempering the excesses of their party's leadership. They need to know that towing the party line is not the way to victory, even against a primary challenge from the right.