Lincoln Chafee to run for president

David Jackson | USA TODAY

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Former Rhode Island governor and ex-Republican Lincoln Chafee joined the Democratic presidential race Wednesday with a long-shot campaign focused so far on one major issue: Hillary Clinton's 2002 vote for the Iraq War.

"I just don't think the Democratic Party should have -- as our nominee -- someone who made that mistake," Chafee said in a brief interview following his announcement speech at George Mason University in Arlington, Va.

The only Republican senator to oppose the 2002 resolution authorizing military action in Iraq, Chafee has harped on Clinton's vote in preparing to challenge her for the 2016 Democratic nomination.

The war -- based on "false premises" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction -- killed too many Americans and cost the nation billions that could have been spent on education, infrastructure, health care and other domestic needs, Chafee said in his speech.

"This Iraq war, obviously, angers me," Chafee told USA TODAY, calling it another Vietnam. "Everyone says, oh, that's a long time ago -- no. We live it with it today."

Chafee said he be believes he can prevail over Clinton -- and other Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley -- by stressing "high ethical standards" and a "vision for the future" that can enable him to win a national election.

"I just don't think Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee," Chafee said, saying there are "enough questions" about her "credibility" to give voters pause.

The former mayor, governor and senator said he does plan to do fundraising, but pointed out that the race begins in the "retail states" of Iowa and New Hampshire, where money is less of a factor. "I'm going to run a low-budget, grassroots campaign on the issues" he said.

Will Chafee, who is independently wealthy, put in his own money? "We'll see," he said.

In arguing that the Iraq war damaged the U.S. reputation with other nations, Chafee made a unique proposal to improve global relations: Have the U.S. adopt the metric system.

"Let's join the rest of the world and go metric," he said in his speech. "I happened to live in Canada as they completed the process. Believe me it is easy."

Clinton, who served alongside Chafee in the Senate, has expressed regret for her Iraq vote, telling reporters last month that "what we now see is a very different and very dangerous situation" in Iraq.

"I made it very clear that I made a mistake, plain and simple," she said.

The issue hurt Clinton in her 2008 campaign, as she lost the Democratic nomination fight to Barack Obama.

While not mentioning Clinton by name in his announcement speech, Chafee said that senators who voted for the 2002 Iraq resolution did not do their "homework" on the George W. Bush administration's claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Chafee said he did study the evidence at CIA headquarters and found the case weak.

Democrats should be able to say in 2016 that Iraq was a "Republican war," and can do so if he is the nominee, Chafee said later. "We can't do that if our nominee voted for it," he said.

Chafee also raised questions about contributions to the foundation started by former president Bill Clinton. At one point during his announcement speech, he said the integrity of the Secretary of State's office -- the job Hillary Clinton once held -- has been called into question.

In outlining his challenge to Clinton in 2016, Chafee pledged to cut back on National Security Agency surveillance programs -- "and while we're at it allow Edward Snowden to come home" -- end "assassinations" by drone strikes, and eliminate "ambassadorships for sale."

Chafee also pledged to end capital punishment, re-think the war on drugs, and "re-invigorate" the United Nations.

"We have to find a way to wage peace," he said.

Chafee, who endorsed Obama's presidential bid in 2008, won the Rhode Island governor's race as an independent in 2010, dipping into his family fortune to finance his race.

He formally became a Democrat in 2013 but decided not to run for re-election as governor amid low poll ratings.

Chafee, 62, is the son of one of Rhode Island's most powerful Republicans, the late former governor, senator and Navy secretary John Chafee.

Growing up on an estate in Warwick, R.I., Lincoln Chafee attended Andover prep school. One of his classmates: former Florida governor and potential Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.

A former member of the Warwick City Council, Chafee won election as that city's mayor in 1992, a race decided by only 335 votes. Mayor Chafee won re-election three times

After Sen. John Chafee's death in 1999, the Rhode Island governor appointed Lincoln to serve out his father's unexpired term. He won election to a six-year term of his own in 2000.

Rising frustration with the increased conservatism of the Republican Party marked Chafee's tenure in the Senate, as he clashed with the Bush administration over issues ranging from Iraq to energy policy.

While stressing a record of working with both parties, Chafee lost his re-election bid in 2006 to current Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

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