said that he did so because of the Republican Party's drifting away from its core values, such as its abandoning fiscal conservatism. Citing the party's new tendency to pass tax cuts without spending cuts to balance the loss of revenue, he noted how the party was destroying social programs aimed to help middle-class and lower-income Americans, particularly Pell Grants and Head Start. In February 2008, he said he was considering voting for then-Senator Barack Obama in Rhode Island's Democratic presidential primary election. On February 14, 2008, with the Rhode Island Democratic primary approaching in three weeks, Chafee officially endorsed Obama. In 2012, he was one of 35 co-chairs selected to "act as key surrogates and ambassadors" for Obama's re-election campaign. In 2008, Chafee joined the advisory board of J Street, a lobbying group that promotes diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors, and supports an independent Palestinian state. In September 2008, Chafee received media attention for describing Sarah Palin, then-Governor of Alaska and the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the 2008 presidential election, as a "cocky wacko." Governor of Rhode Island (2011–2015) 2010 election On January 4, 2010, Chafee formally declared his intention to run for Governor of Rhode Island in 2010 as an independent, as the incumbent Governor Donald Carcieri (a Republican re-elected the same day Chafee lost his Senate re-election bid) was term-limited at the time. On October 31, 2010, electoral analysis site FiveThirtyEight.com gave Chafee a 63.8% chance of victory, compared to Democratic opponent Frank T. Caprio's 26.2% and Republican opponent John Robitaille's 10.0%. Likewise, other sites, such as the Cook Political Report, classified the race as a "toss-up". Chafee's approval rating at the time of his 2006 defeat was between 51% and 63%. On September 16, 2010, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who had also switched from Republican to Independent to Democratic in recent years) traveled to Rhode Island. Bloomberg praised Chafee's "experience and integrity", saying that Chafee would put Rhode Islanders' interests "ahead of party interests", and that Chafee would "produce results -— because that's exactly what he did as a mayor and as senator." It was reported that President Obama's lack of endorsement of any of the candidates indicated tacit support of Chafee over Democrat Caprio. Chafee easily won the endorsements of all major public school teachers unions, including the Rhode Island affiliates of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers in