If there's anyone who can say that they lost ONLY because they were a Republican in 2006, it's fmr. Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. As opposed to other doomed incumbents like Allen, Santorum, Burns, etc. Chafee actually had pretty good approval ratings last year and was generally well-liked in Rhode Island. His position on Iraq put him to the left of many Democrats, and he won the endorsements of groups like NARAL and the Sierra Club. Ann Coulter said of Chafee, "They shot the wrong Lincoln."Since the Republican brand name is showing no signs of improving anytime soon, people are wondering if 2008 will produce another Lincoln Chafee; a popular incumbent who can't shake their GOP label in a very blue state. Speculation has focused mainly on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), but she's much more popular than than Chafee was and Maine is not as liberal as Rhode Island. If Snowe goes down, it may be on the strength of her probable Democratic opponent at this point, Congressman Tom Allen.
If there's a Lincoln Chafee in 2008, it may come in the form of Oregon's Gordon Smith. Oregon is not as blue as Rhode Island, but Smith has been frantically running to the middle recently to hide his very right-of-center voting record. A new DSCC poll has Democratic Congressman Pete DiFazio leading Smith by 4%, 42-38. Yet that same sample of people have a generally positive opinion of Smith by 56-25, favorable/unfavorable. And, like Chafee, Smith could face a tough primary challenge. 1998 GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Sizemore recently told Blue Oregon when asked about challenging Smith, "that's not farfetched."