Lincoln Chafee, the former governor of Rhode Island, made a soft splash with his announced intent to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic ticket to the White House – and a much larger wave with his platform on terrorism, saying the United States ought to consider negotiating with terrorists.
He also said America should go metric, and keep an "open-minded" approach on the war on drugs, various media outlets reported.
"Here's a bold embrace of internationalism," Chafee said, from George Mason University in Virginia, the National Journal reported. "Let's join the rest of the world and go metric. I happened to live in Canada [in the past]. And they've completed the process. Believe me, it's easy. It doesn't take long before 34 degrees is hot. Only Myanmar, Liberia, and the United States aren't metric and it will help our economy."
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He kicked off his campaign with a vow for "fresh ideas" to counter Clinton's and those of recently announced Bernie Sanders, a self-declared socialist.
Among his ideas: Open diplomatic doors with ISIS, he said.
Chafee, a former Republican who then turned Independent and later, Democratic, said the fact that ISIS has protected some of the antiquities in areas they've taken indicates members might be willing to talk.
"It's early," he said, referring the airstrikes that have targeted the group since August, the Associated Press reported. "We're [still] coming to grips with who these people are and what they want."
AP also reported he's also positioning himself as the anti-war candidate.
"We must deliberately and carefully extricate ourselves from expensive wars," he said, AP reported. "We need to be very smart in these voluble times overseas. ... Let's wage peace in this new American century."