Wasn't Chafee's opposition in the primary a fairly conservative mayor? Bush and the RNC backed Chafee - God knows why.
Similar to Specter in PA in 2004 - there was a real conservative (Toomey?), but the Republican machine backed Specter the Defector.
The big reason we are in trouble this election is that we are losing our conservative will - people want leadership and we aren't giving it to them.
The reality is but the Republican machine backed Specter the WINNER (and very different than Santorum, the loser).