"I left Connecticut in part because of that shell game. The party is where it is because it has more principle (not much more than zero but more) than the Democrats. It would be better to have a smaller majority and be rid of quislings and infiltrators. What we lose in the "Suburban-Bimbo-from-Hell" vote we gain in rank and file blue collar types. If the Dems want to be a party of the northeast and west coasts only, that is a strategy to be a permanent minority party."
The Northeastern moderate Republicans are among the most popular politicians in their home states. Maine's Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins for example run virtually unopposed. They can remain RINOs because they have no opposition and as their seniority increases, their power within the Republican caucus increases with their Chairwomanships of important committees.
Snowe is Chair of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee and serves on the Committee on Finance; Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Select Committee On Intelligence.
Collins is Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Both Snowe and Collins are members of "The Gang of 14" moderates and the Mainstreet Republican Partnership which tries to move the Party to the center.