Lincoln Chafee donors say he probably won't win, but they're giving him money anyway

Lincoln Chafee's little presidential campaign that could is still slowly chugging along, despite the candidate polling at an average of one-tenth of 1 percent in the latest Democratic primary polls. He's backed by 10 major donors who have given a total of $8,300, including three who spoke with NPR and said that while they know he's a long-shot, they're supporting him anyway.

Patrick Flinn, an attorney in Atlanta, told NPR he was attracted to Chafee's "positive approach to life." He feels U.S. politics are "incredibly negative," but when you listen to Chafee and read what he has to say, "he looks like someone who gets up every morning and is just happy to be there." Flinn, whose son is a volunteer for Chafee's campaign, gave $2,300 in September and will probably give $400 more. "He can accomplish something valuable, in my view, by staying in the race and by expressing himself in the race in his unique way," he said.

Another Atlanta resident, Dr. John O'Shea, told NPR he has known the Chafee family for years, having once worked as a doctor and child advocate in Rhode Island. He said that eight years ago, after Chafee lost his Senate re-election as a Republican, he wrote to him and said he should become a Democrat and run for president; when he did exactly that, O'Shea decided to reward him with a $350 donation. "I sort of feel like I need to support him," he told NPR. "I was very disappointed in how he appeared at the debate last Tuesday, and I think that will probably sink his candidacy — which wasn't really strong anyway."

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The only person to max out last quarter with donations to Chafee is Ronald Lee Fleming, an urban planner and preservationist who lives in Massachusetts but also has a home in Rhode Island. He's known Chafee for a long time, and said he's a "man of good values and integrity. ... I don't think Chafee can be bought. I think Hillary Clinton has already been purchased by special interests." Fleming is also a realist, and told NPR: "If Linc doesn't make it — and I don't sense that he has a very good chance — I would hope that there would be some major blowup that would sink the Clinton campaign."