General Discussion

There were still liberal, pro-Labor Republicans in Congress and the Senate up until Reagan and the Limbaugh's "Talk Radio" and Moral Majority pretty much purged the GOP electorate of anything south of Center-Right or more merciful/inclusive than "Separate but Equal".
There are Republicans out there that like to pretend they're independent, fair minded pragmatists, but talk to them about the politics instead of policy, and they pretty much revert to Right Wing Talking Points - Democrats are either Socialist Wealth distributionists, weak, lying hypocrites that don't get anything fixed, or even if "they're good people", they're also silly elitists who deserve the distain and hardship they get from the "real" world.
It's a really simplistic cult. Modern Republicans can't handle nuance, it's either the right way or the wrong way.

FWIW, Lincoln Chafee was pretty much the last true moderate elected Republican. Even the current crop of former GOP have a bad streak of simplistic duality in their actions. It's about personality rather than policy, strength against weakness.
It's about whose Ox was gored. Not about what was the right thing to do.