Alito vote gives Chafee heartburn

Lincoln Chafee, the Liberal Republican Senator from Democratic Rhode Island, is in a quandry on how to vote on Alito. This is from the Washington Post:

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.

From my position as an outsider, this looks like a good chance of a Democratic pickup in the Senate.