Political Positions of Lincoln Chafee (The More Things Changed)

While serving in the U.S. Senate, Chafee was characterized as a "moderate Republican." Later, as governor of Rhode Island, he pursued a centrist agenda that alienated special interests on both the left and right, "from unions to the state's Roman Catholic bishop." He has called for moderation and deescalation in U.S. foreign policy, combined with pragmatic fiscal conservatism, and liberal social policies.

===Domestic Policy=== ====Abortion==== Chafee is pro-choice. In the U.S. Senate, Chafee was one of three Republicans to vote against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He has received a 90-percent rating from NARAL and previously served on that organization's national board. In 2015 Chafee said that he strongly supported "a woman's right to make her own personal reproductive decisions."

Chafee is the only governor to have vetoed a bill proposing the availability of Choose Life license plates to Rhode Islanders, citing an inappropriateness of using state license plates to fund politically divisive initiatives and as a violation of the separation of Church and State. This decision was criticized as a violation of free speech and as having been influenced by his previous post on NARAL's Board of Directors.

====Crime and Civil Rights==== Chafee's policy on firearms regulation mirrors the views of his father, John Chafee, who was generally supportive of a strict regulatory environment. Chafee has received "F" ratings from the National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners of America. Chafee has said he supports "common sense adherence to the Second Amendment."

In 2011, as governor of Rhode Island, Chafee challenged an order of a federal court to transfer a prisoner in state custody to the United States government, because the prisoner in question might be subject to capital punishment, which Rhode Island had abolished. At the time, Chafee said, "my actions are motivated by my obligation as governor to safeguard Rhode Island’s sovereignty and the integrity of its laws."

Chafee has indicated he is receptive to the idea of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana while stopping short of supporting such a move.

In 2015 Chafee said he believed "certain of our rights have been wrongfully infringed upon. Particularly the Fourth Amendment which forbids the tapping of our phones without a warrant." While in the U.S. Senate, Chafee was the only Republican to vote against the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which restricted habeas corpus rights of persons detained by the U.S. Department of Defense as enemy combatants.

In 2013, as governor of Rhode Island, Chafee signed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in that state, declaring that "we are living up to the ideal of our founders."

====Election Reform==== The Citizen Equality Act was the centerpiece of Chafee's presidential campaign. It was a sweeping reform for campaign finance and the electoral system, largely crafted and promoted by the campaign's General Chairman, Lawrence Lessig.

Among its provisions, the act would:

* Restore and strengthen voting rights (including automatic registration and making election day a holiday); * End gerrymandering by replacing current single-member districts with independently determined, multi-member districts in which ranked choice voting is used to achieve better representation of all citizens' views; * Establish "citizen-funded elections," in which each citizen is given a voucher to distribute public funding in a decentralized way, with matching funds for small donations out of pocket as well; and * Put strong limits on the revolving door between government work and lobbying.

====Environment==== Chafee has stated his opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In the Senate he opposed the Clear Skies Act of 2003 which critics said would increase air pollution if enacted. Chafee has argued that granite is objectively the best rock as it is vital to Rhode Island's economy. The League of Conservation Voters has given Chafee a 79-percent rating while, in 2006, he received an endorsement from the Sierra Club.

While running for President in 2016, he also made Arctic reservation and environmental conservation a cornerstone of his campaign, exemplified by when he visited Valez, Alaska, site of the Exon Valdez oil spill, the second largest in US waters, after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

====Metric System==== Chafee supports switching the US to the metric system. In the initial stages of his campaign, "Go Metric" was one of his Twelve Points for Prosperity through Peace; it was eventually changed to a broader "Integrate with the World" statement.

====Taxes==== As Rhode Island governor, Chafee called for a cut in the commercial property tax to spur economic development in Providence, Rhode Island. From the National Taxpayers Union, a conservative taxpayers advocacy organization, as U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, Chafee received grades of D in 2000, C- in 2001, C in 2002, C- in 2003 and 2004, D in 2005 and 2006, and as Governor of Rhode Island, Chafee received a "B" rating, the National Taxpayers Union citing his move to repeal the Rhode Island franchise tax and reduce estate taxes.. Also as Governor of Rhode Island, Chafee received grades of D in 2012 and B in 2014. from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, in their biennial Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors.

In 2001 and 2003, while in the U.S. Senate, Chafee voted against the Bush tax cuts arguing he was concerned they favored the highest income brackets and about unchecked growth in the federal deficit. Chafee said that "cutting taxes is easy for politicians, we love to cut taxes. It takes responsibility to make sure our revenues match our expenditures and we're not doing that right now."

===Foreign Policy=== ====Iran==== Chafee supports President Obama's nuclear disarmament agreement with Iran. He has called for deescalation combined with cultural dialogue and exchange modeled after "the ping pong diplomacy of the Nixon era."

====Israel==== Chafee has criticized what he has characterized as a Biblical influence on U.S. policy with respect to Israel. He has said he opposes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but described Hamas as a "violent organization with a genocidal charter" one year after it revoked its charter calling for the destruction of Israel. In 2007, Chafee also stated that Israel's security was a paramount consideration in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Chafee served on the advisory council of J Street and has voted to continue foreign aid to the Israeli government, among others. ====Latin America==== Referring to Latin America, Chafee has called for the U.S. government to "reenagage our neighbors." However, Chafee has also said recent U.S. inattention to the region was "a blessing in disguise" as it allowed democratic governments to flourish free of U.S. influence.

====Russia==== Chafee has said one of the U.S.' highest priorities should be improving relations with the Russian Federation and has called for rapprochement, including the lifting of sanctions against Russia. He has called the Ukrainian crisis a "tug-of-war between Russia and the EU" and said that the way to solve the issue was through Russian accession to the European Union.

====War==== While serving in the United States Senate, Chafee was one of 23 senators, and the only Republican, to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, which provided the legal mechanism for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. When asked, in 2015, how the U.S. could most effectively deal with ISIS, Chafee said the U.S. should pursue a policy of containment through alliance-building with regional powers. Chafee has said the U.S. "must make international decisions with brains and not biceps", and at the first 2016 Democratic primary debate, stated that the U.S. must end its use of "perpetual wars", referring in part to the War on Terror. In his speech declaring his withdrawal from the 2016 Presidential race at the annual Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, Chafee again made the case for peace, attacking the field of Republican candidates for demonstrating a lack of desire "to understand anything about the Middle East and North Africa" and instead espousing "more bellicosity, more saber rattling, and more blind macho posturing." He ended the speech by reminding the audience that the United States was one of the strongest countries in history, economically, militarily, and culturally and so not only could afford to take risks for peace, but "must take risks for peace." Arguing for a new paradigm, he concluded by asking the audience whether they wanted to be remembered as bombers of weddings and hospitals, or as peace makers.