The Regrets of Lincoln Chafee, Failed Presidential Candidate

[TexasTowelie]

For 142 glorious days in 2015, the possibility of a Lincoln Chafee Administration flickered in the heart of, at least, Lincoln Chafee. Lincoln who, you ask? The 2016 election has dragged on for so long that it's easy to forget some of its earliest players. The former governor and U.S. Senator from Rhode Island was one of just four candidates to challenge Hillary Clinton for the nomination: He announced his candidacy by saying, "I enjoy challenges," and his ill-fated campaign certainly was one. He withdrew on October 23, just ten days after the first Democratic debate, when a poll found that 57 percent respondents had a less favorable view of Chafee than before the debate started. We caught up with Chafee, who is currently on a "sabbatical year," to see if he has any regrets about his quest to win the White House with a platform that included bringing Edward Snowden home from Russia, ending extrajudicial drone assassinations, and converting the United States to the metric system.

Looking back on the primary, are there things you wish you did better?

I guess the big mistake—I went back and forth on including the metric system angle. I was just crossing my fingers there would be some intellectual approach to the various proposals I put out in my announcement speech, which kind of covered the gamut, from ending capital punishment, to bringing Edward Snowden home. Also, I was for TPP. Unfortunately, my crossed fingers didn't work, and it just turned into more of a joke about metric, not "let's look at the bigger picture." I think, and it's a trend, there's just less of a Walter Cronkite, I call it, approach to the news. It's entertainment. Donald Trump, early on, said: I'm just going to push every possible emotional button I can. I don't care! And he crushed the nomination.

The metric system seems like it works everywhere else.

Canada had it. And I was there when they were doing the transition to it. It's no big deal!

It could be our undercurrent of anti-European sentiment.

Yup. I was saying, should I put it in or not? My wife said, no, it will be misunderstood. And she was right.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a49513/lincoln-chafee-interview/

[tecelote]

1. I'm a fan of the metric system

Back in the 70's, there was a push to change over. I wish it had been successful.

How many ounces in 23 pounds? It's tough, you have to work it out.

How many grams in 23 kilos? Easy.

[TexasTowelie]

2. My oldest sister was opposed to it all.

She said that the units were either too big or too small.

A centimeter was too small compared to an inch.
A gram was too small compared to an ounce and a kilogram was too large compared to a pound.
A liter was too small compared to a gallon.
One degree Celsius was much larger than one degree Fahrenheit so decimals would be necessary.

Of course the problem isn't the size of the measurement, but the fact that her brain was stuck in neutral and she was incapable of thinking about anything that she wasn't accustomed to.

[tecelote]

3. That's a good one.

I've heard about the justifiable cost of transition but the wrong sizes is a good one.