Yesterday’s Club for Growth endorsement of conservative Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (RI) provoked an immediate response from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). The NRSC is dumping in tons of dollars to prop up liberal Senator Chaffee (R-RI), who is fighting off Laffey’s Primary challenge.
The consensus among conservatives has been best expressed by Tim Chapman at Townhall.com, who writes, “The NRSC should not be spending its money against conservative Republicans ... period.”
Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO’s The Corner blog points out that the NRSC money would be better spent attacking Bob Casey, instead of Steve Laffey:
“In order for Casey's negatives to rise, of course, the NRSC may want to do some negative advertising. But of course not before it's done spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on negative ads against Steve Laffey, the Rhode Island Republican who is running against Sen. Lincoln Chafee in the GOP primary. You know, because it's so much more important to have Sen. Chafee than Sen. Santorum.”
How do I see it? Chaffee is a liberal who didn’t even vote for George W. Bush. Yet, pragmatists will argue that he’s the best chance Republicans have of holding that Senate seat. So here’ show you decide: If you’re in the business of electing Republicans, you support Chaffee. If you’re in the business of electing conservatives, you support Laffey. As for me: I chose the latter. It’s just that simple.
You can contribute to The Club for Growth at www.ClubforGrowth.org. Steve Laffey’s website is www.ElectLaffey.com.
