WASHINGTON -- Lincoln Chafee, a Republican-turned-Democrat, announced Wednesday afternoon that he was running for the 2016 U.S. presidency.
Among all the longshot Democratic presidential candidates competing against the undisputed front-runner Hillary Clinton, Chafee might be the longest, as he told CNN in April: "There's no doubt I'm the underdog."
Chafee, who had been a Republican, an independent and is now a Democrat, has served as a mayor, a senator and a governor.
As then the only Republican in the U.S. senate who voted against the 2003 Iraqi invasion, Chafee, 62, on Wednesday did not shy away from reminding people of his stance on the issue, and challenging Clinton's 2002 vote for the destructive war has so far been his major trump card.
Calling the Iraqi war a mistake that led to destructive and expensive chaos in the Middle East and North Africa, Chafee said the overwhelming support in the senate, including the "yes" vote from then New York Senator Hillary Clinton, was "heartbreaking".
Clinton has already expressed regret for her Iraq vote, telling reporters in May that she made a mistake on the vote.
During his announcement speech at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, Chafee also raised concerns about the integrity of Clinton, though implicitly.
"As president, I would institute a ban on ambassadorships for sale. That means no more of these posts going to big political donors," said Chafee. "It's critical that the integrity of the Office of Secretary of State never be questioned."
Clinton, who served as U.S. secretary of state during President Barack Obama's first term, is currently suffering from an integrity crisis which could complicate her second and most likely last chance for presidency.
Apart from the revelation that Clinton had conducted work-related business on her personal email account from her private server when she was head of the State Department, allegation that she acted to meet donors' interests as U.S. secretary of state has also eroded her reputation of being honest.
Two months into her presidential campaign, a latest CNN/ORC poll showed that 57 percent of people say that Clinton is not honest or trustworthy, 8 percent higher than in March.
