To the Editor:

I first met the then-new Senator Chafee when I was chair of the Westerly GOP. I was immediately struck by his honesty and plain delivery. After I was elected in 2002 to the Westerly Town Council, where I served for 12 years, he was always a person I could turn to for help for our community. One of the first projects was improving our aging water infrastructure. It was Senator Chafee who worked hard to secure the nearly one million dollars in funding for the project. Thousands have clean, safe and adequate drinking water because of him.

After the floods in 2010 that devastated many parts of our town, former Senator, and not yet Governor Chafee made it a point to call, come down and understand what these folks were going through and up against. Showing up was important, when he did not have to.

After Superstorm Sandy, it was Governor Chafee who was first on the scene, bringing the resources of the state government to bear to help with the destruction of Misquamicut Beach, a place near and dear to my heart and well being. He declared Misquamicut as “our New Jersey.” I will never forget the press conference with all the media and how he could have taken the spotlight as all Governors would tend to do, and instead, he turned to me and said, “this is Caswell Cooke, he knows this beach, let him speak.”

Anytime during his Governorship that he was invited, he came. Any time we needed his support or advocacy, he was there. If I sent him a text, he responded. I have never met a politician like that.

When he switched parties I was understandably, like many fellow Republicans, upset and disheartened that a moderate New England style Republican was lost. But in time I realized it was not he who left the party, but the party that left him. A party that once had room for Ford, Rockefeller and even Eisenhower had moved far to the right and out of touch with the average American, or at least the Average New Englander. I like his brand: Fiscal Conservative, Social Progressive. He was and is and will always be that way. He never wavered or flip flopped on his views. 

Flash forward to this spring when the governor called me and asked if I wanted to help with his long shot Presidential Campaign. For a moment I hesitated. After all I am a Republican and he now a Democrat. Would that affect me in the future if I ran for office again?? What would my fellow Republicans think of me? Then I said, who cares? How many people get asked to help on a Presidential Campaign at the ground level?

I learned so many things over these past seven months. I learned what a real politician should be. When you die, no one is remembered for a vote, or turning an economy around, they will be remembered for their character. Linc Chafee is the most honest and true politician I have ever seen, met or have known, and over the years working as an intern in DC and on many other campaigns as I have done, that is high praise. His mentoring made me a better person.

I learned from Linc, what all politicians need to learn; take the Longview. I learned that you never go to war without being able to answer one important question: “How will this end?” I learned what nerves of steel look like. I learned that no amount of criticism ever set him back. These are life lessons.

To travel to New Hampshire, Iowa, DC and beyond with him was a great experience. He is frugal! We ate at McDonald’s and drove everywhere to save a dime. No first class flights, nice hotels or great meals. Sometimes that was annoying, but I just listened, went along and tried to help. When he would ask me for my advice, or to help with debate prep or to run his Facebook page, I was honored to do so.

The media decided that the Chafee sound bites would be “Metric System” and “Block of Granite” and that’s what they ran with.  They overlooked that he never made a political decision, but always one he believed in despite the consequences. They did not look at his record as Mayor, where he made peace with the unions, or the Senate where he was the lone vote preventing the Bush/Cheney rollbacks of our environmental policies, or his one Republican vote against the war in Iraq that has led to more chaos in the Middle East.  

They did not look at his record as Governor, signing same sex marriage into law, a gutsy bold and correct move, or the fact that at the end of his term the unemployment rate dropped to the lowest of all but one state in the nation. These are accomplishments that cannot be denied, but the media and the naysayers overlooked them in favor of talking about a Holiday Tree. Let’s set that record straight too: Governor Chafee did not create the Holiday Tree; he simply continued the practice of his two Republican predecessors, took all that flack for it… and pressed on. 

As a presidential candidate he pointed out that that his administrations were scandal free, offering a clear distinction between himself and Hillary Clinton. He took her to task over her flip flop on the war in Iraq, over her flip flop on the Trans Pacific Partnership and on her hawkish views of foreign policy.

When the story is written about this campaign, aside from those who like to make fun of his sometimes quirky delivery, or in some cases be downright horrible towards him, the record will show he persevered in spreading to a national audience his message of “Peace through Prosperity.” It can only happen if you believe it can happen, and if you work to make it happen rather than take hard line political positions. We will all come to learn, in the long view, that his message is right.

 So after this all came to an end with the best speech of his campaign in D.C. Friday morning, I wanted to not only tell him, but my fellow Rhode Islanders that I am so very proud of Governor Lincoln Chafee for sticking his neck out there, raising issues and standing on that stage with Hillary and Bernie. At the end of the day none of his critics could accomplish that. And honestly, I believe my comments are right, even if that affects my future political aspirations.

Honesty, integrity and character is what my friend Linc Chafee will be remembered for. And he has more to do to serve our state and our nation, and I will be proud to help him with whatever he chooses to do.

Caswell Cooke

Westerly

Westerly Town Council 2002-2014