Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, a moderate often at odds with GOP conservatives, disclosed Wednesday that the leader of Senate Democrats sounded him out about switching parties in the aftermath of President Bush's re-election.

Chafee said he rebuffed the offer from Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada in a follow-up phone conversation the same day, adding that Reid offered "no deal or anything like that" as an incentive to cross the political aisle.

"We had a brief conversation, just hello," Chafee said in an interview. He publicly flirted with leaving the GOP in the days before and immediately after the election, but has since affirmed he will not switch.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 3:57 PM | Basie! Home