Presumptive Nominee

Who is running for president? If you had a chance to vote for Lincoln, you would do it, right? Even if he were a Democrat? Okay, we're not talking Abe here. Honest or otherwise, this is Lincoln Chafee we're talking about. Chafee is a former governor, a former senator, former mayor and former city council member. He is also a former Independent. And a former Republican. If you leave Libertarian Dog Catcher off the list, you've pretty much got this guy's resume. Now he would like to add to that.
I know. It's a long shot, since everyone knows that former Secretaries of State and former First Ladies who have also been senators usually get the inside track when it comes to getting the keys to the Democratic Presidential bus in 2016. Muddying the waters at this point can't help. Unless those waters weren't particularly still in the first place.
What chance does this "outsider" have when it comes to big time party politics? What chance does an outsider have? This is a very interesting discussion, considering Lincoln Chafee's record qualifies him to be an outsider. Outside what? This is a guy who puts, on his website, that "A strong middle class is the bedrock of any prosperous community." You want controversy? He was one of only twenty-three senators who "saw the folly of allowing Bush/Cheney to invade Iraq." Linc says he's proud to be one of those twenty-three. It's on his website. Seeing folly and doing something about it are two different things. A certain senator from New York does not share this distinction. If voting records matter, it should be noted that Senator Clinton from New York voted for the authorization for use of military force against Iraq. Speaking of records, Linc wrote a book called "Against The Tide," recounting his experience of trying to find the middle in a party that had moved far to the right. In this model of the universe, it is the political parties that shift, not the people in them. In Chafee's case, the Republicans moved right out from under him and subsequently he found himself adrift for a while, and now finds himself in Democrat territory.
It is from this blue launching pad that Lincoln Chafee hopes to begin his new mission: the one he aims to land in the White House. He's pro-choice, gun-control, and voted against building a giant fence on the border between the United States and Mexico. This guy was a Republican? Well, not anymore. Just like he's not governor anymore. Or senator. Or city council member. Lincoln Chafee wants to be President of the United States. Has anybody told Hillary yet?