Hewett is of the opinion that it doesn't matter whether a Republican is liberal (RINO) or not....the party with the most members seated is in control. Control means setting the agenda. Control means advancing favorable legislation and blocking unfavorable legislation to the overall objectives. Control of the committees! It doesn't matter a bit if the RINOs get elected or reelected as long as the 'Pubbies stay in control! Imagine the satisfaction of giving Chaffee the boot and then seeing control revert to the RATS and getting to see them take over all the committees like the Judiciary? Can we just imagine the BLIZZARD of gun control laws that would hit the floor? While we revel in the heady decade of control we forget forty years of the misery that we felt as the minority party. Let alone all the bad stuff that we were unable to protect the country from having to endure.
I once heard a "moderate" Republican say he was reluctantly voting to reelect Jesse Helms for the identical reason that you give here for holding on to the awful Chafee. Maybe JFK was right when he said "sometimes party loyalty asks too much."