To the Editor : In the 30 years since my father left the United States Senate , his Rhode Island seat has been held only by John Chafee and then his son Lincoln D. Chafee , whose perceptive Op-Ed article -LRB- '' After the Republican Fall , '' Nov. 12 -RRB- demonstrates why the endangered species known as moderate Republican is held in high regard by many independents and even Democrats like me .