Projo Politics Blog

Former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee had harsh words about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while addressing a Washington, D.C., public policy institute, calling Palin a "cocky whacko."

And in an interview with the New America Foundation's Steven Clemons, the former Republican senator from Rhode Island said, "I do think she's dangerous for the country."

Both comments have been posted to YouTube and are available in links below.

Chafee, now an independent and backing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, visited the New America Foundation Tuesday to discuss his book, "Against The Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President."

During a question-and-answer period, Chafee called Palin a "cocky whacko" and suggested that the Alaska governor's nomination might have energized the wrong party as far as the Republicans are concerned.

After Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain announced that Palin was his pick, Chafee said he received a lot of e-mails and calls to his office at Brown University from people who said they were donating to the Obama campaign. Chafee is a distinguished visiting fellow at Brown's Watson Institute for International Studies.

Here's the video. It's long, but Chafee's comments on Palin start near the 54:20 mark:

During an interview with Clemons, Chafee said that Palin doesn't have the experience or temperament necessary for the job. He said her "aggressive, belligerent" approach is wrong for foreign policy.

His comments on Palin start about 5:27 into this clip:

 Tags  John McCain Lincoln Chafee Sarah Palin

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