Chafee says he will vote against Alito

[angus]

"Chafee's unwillingness to toe the party line complicates his chances at reelection this fall. His "no" vote on Alito provides Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R) considerable fodder for his challenge to Chafee in the state’s Sept. 12 primary. Republicans and independents can vote in the primary, but not Democrats. Laffey has already come out in support of Alito and called on Chafee to follow that lead."

from Chriz Cilliza's blog today.

Cilliza also calls Chafee the only Republican to publicly declare that he will vote against alito.

In an earlier blog, Cilliza wrote:

Chafee faces a primary challenge from Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R). Should he get through that race, he will face off against either former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse (D) or Secretary of State Matt Brown (D) in a state that went for the Democratic presidential candidate by 20 points in 2004.

A Chafee vote for Alito will make for considerable fodder for either Brown or Whitehouse. But a vote against Alito could give Laffey the GOP nomination.

Asked about the seeming conundrum, Chafee campaign manager Ian Lang said that "from a purely political standpoint this is a lose-lose situation."  Lang said Chafee will put aside political interests, however, and make a decision that is in the "best interests of the country and the best interests of Rhode Island."

Laffey, who is running as a populist outsider and to Chafee's ideological right, has already sought to make the senator's indecision on Alito an issue in the campaign. "As long as we have known Senator Chafee he has shied away from taking a firm stance on the critical issues of the day," Laffey said in a recent news release.  The release also noted that Chafee didn't vote for President George W. Bush in 2004, recalling Chafee's decision to cast a symbolic vote for former President George H.W. Bush instead.

A source close to Laffey said "voting against Alito, and doing so in the indecisive manner in which [Chafee] is conducting himself, underscores exactly what Rhode Island Republicans most dislike about Chafee -- he sides with the liberals on all the big issues, and he's weak and can't make up his mind."

not sure what to make of all that.  I don't follow the RI newspapers closely enough.  But it all seems like fairly objective analysis.  I think he's right about one thing:  chafee will have to answer for a yes vote on alito; chafee will have to answer for a no vote on alito.  Either will complicate his re-election bid.  It just ain't easy being a GOP senator from Rhode Island these days, I guess.