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AIPAC Targets Senator Chafee
The Elephant's Memory
Seven years ago, in the fall of 1981, Sen. John Chafee (R-RI) voted in favor of the Reagan administration's controversial proposal to sell a multibillion dollar arms package, including a number of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes, to Saudi Arabia. That seven-year-old decision could well cost the two-term Republican his seat in this fall's election.
Except for that one vote, Senator Chafee has never been active in Middle East affairs. In fact, environmental, not foreign affairs, are more to the 65-year-old Republican's liking. Chafee is the second-ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and he is in line to become the committee's ranking Republican in the 101st Congress following the previously announced retirement of Sen. Robert Stafford (R-VT).
Unfortunately for Chafee, the pro-Israel lobby, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), has not forgiven his 81 vote. Perhaps preoccupied by its successful 1982 effort to unseat Rep. Paul Findley (R-IL), the pro-Israel lobby did not seriously pursue Chafee six years ago. This year, having already defeated Findley and Sen. Charles Percy (R-IL) - two Congressmen willing to call publicly for an even-handed US Middle East policy - the lobby has decided to settle its score with the Rhode Island Republican.
Chafee's Democratic opponent is Rhode Island's lieutenant governor, Richard Licht. Thus far, local polls give Chafee the edge, putting him anywhere from 12 to 32 percentage points ahead of Licht. But Licht has an advantage Chafee lacks: He is Jewish and will have virtually unlimited campaign funds.
Money Grows On PACs, Not Trees
Licht has already received some $117,000 from 25 pro-Israel political action committees (PACs). These contributions - all of which have originated outside Rhode Island's state borders - account for just under 39 percent of all the PAC monies Licht has received to date. These pro-Israel PAC funds account for more than 8 percent of Licht's entire campaign war chest - an extremely large total for any one single-interest group. These April 1988 figures are the latest available from the Federal Election Commission.
In large part due to his success with pro-Israel sources, Licht has been able to raise more campaign funds than his incumbent opponent....