Lincoln Chafee Running In 2016? Says ‘Hillary Should Not Be President’

You’re probably already asking “who is Lincoln Chafee?” He is described by the Washington Post as the “oddest presidential hopeful yet,” and seems to have nearly no chance of getting the nomination. Still, he has a new website, and at least one sales pitch.

Chafee is a former senator and governor from America’s smallest state, Rhode Island. He’s changed his views quite a bit since the beginning of his political career.

He started off as a Republican senator from 1999 to 2007. Chafee was the only Republican senator to vote against the 2003 Iraq War, a decision he’s quick to talk about. In 2007, he became an independent and successfully ran for governor of Rhode Island.

Then, as previously reported by the Inquisitr, he joined the Democratic party in 2013. Lincoln Chafee declined to run again for governor (his approval ratings were about 26 percent when he made that decision).

And now Chafee is setting up a presidential exploratory committee and going after the assumed favorite for the Democratic nomination: Hillary Clinton.

Lincoln Chafee reported said in an interview, “the Republicans have lots of choices, I feel that Democratic voters deserve choices too.”

Democrat voters might well want to skip the primaries for 2016. Real Clear Politics reports that Hillary Clinton has a 50 percent lead in early polls over the closest contender, Elizabeth Warren, who has been constantly insisting that she’s not running.

So how does a formerly unpopular governor of a tiny state hope to break his way into a nearly impossible race?

Well, Lincoln Chafee has one key difference from Hillary Clinton, as he explained to Politico.

“I would argue that anybody who voted for the Iraq War should not be president, and certainly anybody who voted for the Iraq War should not lead the Democratic Party into an election.”

Of course in modern politics, losing a presidential election can be just as good as winning. Book sales, speaker fees, perhaps even a talk show on Fox News, losing a presidential bid can be lucrative.

As the Washington Post pointed out, Lincoln Chafee’s website seems like its ready to make the former governor some quick cash, with donate buttons plastered throughout and a sales pitch for Chafee’s book, Against The Tide.

In the meantime, the Republicans are taking hard swipes at Hillary Clinton. Rand Paul recently alleged Hillary’s candidacy will be in danger once certain funny business in the Clinton Foundation is exposed.

If a scandal really did bring down the Democratic front-runner, Lincoln Chafee could have a long-shot chance at the nomination. Whether he actually wants it or not, we may never know.

[Image Credit: LincolnChafee2/Wikimedia]