Question of the Day

Political Wire:

"Two days after losing a bid for a second term in an election seen as a referendum on President Bush and the Republican Party, Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he was unsure whether he'd remain a Republican," the AP reports.

When asked whether he felt that his loss may have helped the country by switching control of power in Congress, he replied: "To be honest, yes."

I certainly haven’t always agreed with every vote that Lincoln Chafee has cast, and we have quite different views on many issues, but generally speaking, I have always had a lot of respect for him. He is, not just because of his liberal leanings, but because of his integrity, my favorite Republican holding national office, and I’m sorry to see him go, when there are so many I’d prefer to bid adieu.

As with any politician, you could pull out examples of his hypocrisy or just bad stinking votes, but I don’t know that there’s any politician on either side of the aisle about whom I couldn’t say the same, which is the requisite caveat for this question: Who is your favorite Congressional Republican, and who is your favorite Congressional Democrat?

With Chafee leaving, I don’t know to whom my Republican vote would go. As for the Dems, well, I have a special place in my heart for Louise Slaughter, particularly for her diligence in calling attention to the issue of sexual assault in the military, but for a whole lot of other reasons, too—not the least of which is that she’s too busy trying to get shit done to worry about becoming a household name.