Yesterday I remarked that the minor Democratic candidates had performed fairly well in the debate, but not well enough to make any of them a contender. After sleeping for a night on that, I now think I must revise that. While that is true of O'Malley and Webb, it is not true for Lincoln Chafee (pictured).Chafee had a Rick Perry-style "oops" moment in the debate, and like Perry, it is likely to kill his candidacy. The moment came when Anderson Cooper asked Chafee about his vote to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act. Chafee, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, clearly shot himself in the foot with his answer.
Here is how WPRI.com describes that exchange:
Pressed by moderator Anderson Cooper of CNN about his 1999 vote to repeal the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act that regulated large financial institutions – a change often cited on the left as a key contributor to the financial crisis – Chafee gave the verbal equivalent of a shrug, saying the vote came just two days after Gov. Lincoln Almond appointed him to finish the unexpired Senate term of his father, John Chafee, who had died the month before.
“Glass-Steagall was my very first vote – I had just arrived; my dad had died in office, I was appointed to the office – it was my first vote,” Chafee said. “Are you saying you didn’t know what you voted for?” Cooper asked. “I’d just arrived in the Senate,” Chafee replied. “I think we get some takeovers, and that was one of my very first votes, and it was 90 to 5.” “With all due respect, senator,” Cooper said, “what does that say about you – that you were casting a vote for something you weren’t really sure about?” “I think you’re being a little rough,” Chafee replied. “I had just arrived at the United States Senate. I’d been mayor of my city – my dad had died, I’d been appointed by the governor, it was my first vote, and it was 90 to 5 because it was a conference report.” That was a terrible answer to Cooper's valid question. Democrats liked the Glass-Steagal Act, and they would like to see it passed again. It was this act that prevented the giant financial institutions from playing the stock market with money belonging to their customers, and its repeal was one of the major reasons for the crash in 2007-2008 that caused the Great Recession.
This was not a "gotcha" question. And if Chafee had been smart enough, he could easily have deflected it. All he had to do was say something like -- "I made a mistake. I know better now, and if given the chance, I will fight to re-instate the Glass-Steagall Act". Democrats are a forgiving bunch, and probably would have accepted an answer like that.
But he didn't say that. Instead he tried to make excuses -- and rather pathetic excuses at that. Then tried to shift the blame to the moderator for asking him a tough question. Well, tough questions were asked of all the candidates, and the others handled them with intelligence and grace. Chafee did not.
I'm not saying this will hurt Chafee's campaign. He was only polling between 0% and 1%, and it's had to get less than that. I am saying though that this egregious gaffe should mark the end of his rather lackluster campaign. He has shown himself to be the weakest of the Democratic candidates, and it's time for him to quit the race. He's just wasting time -- his and everyone else's.
