Governor Lincoln Chafee, who's had a tough go of it since taking office on a crisp day in January 2011, has looked more statesmanlike this week than at any point in his tenure.

That is due, in part, to the nature of crisis. When something big and troubling happens in a state, all eyes turn to the chief executive. Think of Governor Carcieri after the Station nightclub fire.

Lincoln Chafee's post-Senate indictment of a Republican Party gone off the rails, Against the Tide, gets new life in a book from Geoffrey Kabaservice on the demise of the GOP's moderate wing. Here, Kabaservice writes of (recently ousted) Senator Richard Lugar:

Angry as the Tea Party became with him, Lugar had also been disowned by the moderate faction of which he was once a part.

Governor Lincoln Chafee, who has made the on-line video a go-to medium, is at it again with a well-produced pitch for his legislative package aimed at rescuing the state's floundering cities and towns. Dramatic music, a ticking clock, who knew Linc could be an action movie star?

Still, as I noted in this space a couple of days ago, he faces an uphill climb in a General Assembly loathe to hit organized labor hard for the second year in a row: last year, it was sweeping pension reform for workers in the state-run system; Chafee's package could mean cuts in pay and pensions for municipal workers.

It was two weeks ago that Governor Chafee unveiled a legislative package, during a press conference at Pawtucket City Hall, that aims to help cities and town cut costs and pull back from the brink of fiscal crisis.

Some of the most controversial measures would allow "severely distressed" communities to bypass parts of employee contracts, like salary hikes for teachers, and suspend annual cost-of-living hikes for retirees.

The new Brown University poll is out this morning and here's the topline: voters are, not surprisingly, opposed to the tax hikes and spending cuts Governor Chafee is proposing in his budget. And their already dim view of Congressman David Cicilline has taken a turn for the worse.

The poll, of 514 registered voters February 16-18, shows 68 percent opposed to $30 hikes in driver's license and registration fees, 57 percent opposed to tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge, and 80 percent against hiking the meals and beverage tax from 7 to 10 percent.

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling will be at a Game Stop in Bellingham, Massachusetts at midnight tonight for the release of his video game company 38 Studios' highly anticipated first title, "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning."

The game has won positive early reviews and, as the Providence Journal reported this weekend, industry analysts are expecting sales of at least 1 million, which would make the game a moderate success.

I've got a cover story in today's Phoenix about Rhode Island's tricky shift to what I call Medical Marijuana 2.0.

After a threatened federal crackdown, Governor Lincoln Chafee put the kibosh on three planned pot dispensaries in September. Since then, medical marijuana advocates have been trying to figure out the shape of the next phase - and it's just started to come together in recent days.

Governor Chafee, his approval rating at 27 percent, has taken a beating in the end-of-2011 reviews. You've heard the list: failures on the sales tax and gay marriage, a liberal base angry about the voter ID bill he signed, little credit for the state's pension overhaul.

Well, in case you missed it - and you probably did, the video had just 371 views on YouTube at last count - here's the spin Chafee's office is putting on the past year.

As the year comes to a close, the media is filled with the inevitable retrospectives. And Lincoln Chafee gets the full treatment in the Wall Street Journal today with a piece titled "Gov. Chafee Learns the Price of Independence."

The only political independent serving as a governor could use a few friends.

Rhode Island Gov.

Lincoln Chafee's new choice for chief of staff, George Zainyeh, is a well-regarded figure in Rhode Island political circles. And the selection underscores one of the governor's strengths: a willingness to reach across the aisle, to make peace.

Chafee, after all, did battle with Zainyeh for the Warwick mayoralty years ago.

Linc Chafee, it appears, is not the only(Gin)grinch. From Politico:

Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich waged a quiet war on Christmas — or at least the Capitol Christmas Tree — shortly after becoming speaker of the House in 1995.

In a time of heightened political correctness, Gingrich preferred “Holiday Tree” over “Christmas Tree,” according to sources familiar with the annual tree-lighting ceremony at the foot of the Capitol.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and Washington Governor Chris Gregoire announced today that they have filed a petition with the Drug Enforcement Agency asking for reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug - on par with dangerous substances like heroin - to a Schedule 2 drug. The idea is that doctors could then prescribe marijuana for medical use.

We've got a pretty good sense, now, for what the pension bill will look like when it comes up for a vote. And most observers expect it to pass. So how did the key players fare in Smith Hill's battle royale? An initial look:

• Gina Raimondo seems a clear winner, here. This bill was her baby. She got loads of local and national press for it.

Last week, I sat down with Governor Chafee for an interview on several topics. I've written, in this space, about his comments on medical marijuana. But there were other quotes of note, too.

Last month in a story on organized labor I reported that reamortizing the state's pension obligation - refinancing and kicking some of the problem down the road - was still part of the behind-the-scenes conversation on pension reform, even if the idea had largely disappeared from the public discourse.

Lincoln Chafee's announcement yesterday that he would refuse to license three medical marijuana dispensaries hit pot activists hard. But it was not unexpected.

Some quick background, here. The General Assembly approved a dispensary law in 2009 and the state selected three would-be operators. But then US Attorney Peter Neronha, like several US Attorneys around the country, penned a letter warning that the feds would crack down on largescale distributors authorized by state government.