President:
Chafee: Apparently, even after leaving his native Rhode Island and moving to Wyoming, former Gov. and Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R->I->D->L) isn’t done with politics yet. Chafee now says he is open to running for president next year as a Libertarian, his 4th different political affiliation. Chafee served in the US Senate as a Republican from 1999-2007, was elected governor in 2010 as an independent, became a Democrat in 2013, did not run for re-election and then ran a little-noticed campaign for president in 2016 before registering as a Libertarian after moving to Wyoming early this year. Although Chafee’s record doesn’t really mesh well with Libertarian principles, his conversion is being welcomed as they look for another experienced officeholder to be their standard-bearer as ex-Gov. Gary Johnson is not repeating his 2016 run.
Walsh: Conservative radio talk show host and ex-Rep. Joe Walsh (R) is considering challenging President Trump in the Republican primary and says he will make a final decision next month. Walsh, who served one term in Congress from IL-8 from 2011-2013, voted for Trump in 2016, but has recently become a harsh critic of him. Walsh says that Trump “lost me” when he said last year that he believed Vladimir Putin’s claim that he hadn’t interfered in the 2016 election despite US intelligence agency evidence to the contrary. Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) is currently the only primary challenger to Trump; ex-Rep. Mark Sanford (R) has also indicated interest in running….