Memo to Rhode Island Dem: "Maybe it's because you're losing..."

One of the things I am wary about when it comes to the President is that he is a Senator, a member of the world's most exclusive club. And for Senators (former or current), nothing matters more than the club.

Lincoln Chafee is a club remember, a former member of the Republican Party (he's now an independent), he endorsed Barack Obama for President early on in 2007...oh, and he's running for Governor.

So naturally, the President endorsed Chafee instead of his Democratic rival. Club members watch each other's backs. More important, they always return favors.

Needless to say, the Democratic Candidate did not take it well.

Courtesy TPM reporter Jillian Rayfield:

Frank Caprio, a Democrat running for governor in Rhode Island, doesn't really care that President Obama hasn't endorsed him. "He can take his endorsement and really shove it," Caprio told WPRO Radio.

"We had one of the worst floods in the history of the United States a few months back and Pres. Obama didn't even do a fly over of Rhode Island," the National Journal reports Caprio said. "He ignored us and now he's coming into Rhode Island and treating us like an ATM machine."

The interview audio can be found here.

Caprio's Independent opponent, Lincoln Chafee, endorsed Obama in the run-up to the Democratic primary in Rhode Island in 2008, which Obama lost.

The TPM Poll Average shows Independent Chafee leading Caprio 35.6%-28.7%, with Republican John Robitaille at 25.4%, and Moderate Party candidate Kenneth Block at 5.9%.