A Memorial Day Defection

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A Memorial Day Defection
by James Hall, Associate Editor

May 24, 2002

"Leaning Left"

James Hall Memorial Day is a time for reflection on the past; a time for honoring those who fought to defend this country's freedoms, who gave part or all of their lives to their country. It's also a good time to remember a man whose personal struggle over ideology has redrawn the political landscape in Washington this year.

A year ago this past Friday Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT, right) announced that he was leaving the Republican Party and joining the Democratic caucus as an independent. Jeffords' switch led to Democratic control in the Senate leadership and fundamentally changed the political landscape.

In his book "My Declaration of Independence", out this year, Jeffords explained his reasoning for leaving a Republican Party he had served for 35 years. After the 2000 election, America appeared virtually split in two, with a Republican president who won his office by a handful of electoral votes but who lost the popular vote, a Senate split 50-50 and a House where Republicans retained control by a six vote margin.

Jeffords thought that this close result would lead to moderate political policies with both sides working together on policies the whole nation could agree on. But the conservatives who controlled the White House and the House and Senate leaderships had other ideas. They pushed conservative policies and appointed conservatives to positions of power in the administration. They put conservatives on conference committees deciding important legislation and tilted legislation steeply to the right.

President Bush soon demonstrated that his idea of Bipartisanship was to persuade a handful of conservative Democrats to come on board with his policy, hold moderate and liberal Republicans in line, and declare a victory for the nation. The major example of this was the Bush tax cut, which a handful of Democrats joined in passing. That cut, though still in its infancy, is now responsible for the end of surpluses and up to a third of this year's budget deficit, according to figures supplied by the nonpartisan General Accounting Office.

Jeffords soon understood that despite the closeness of the 2000 election, there would be no political moderation, no working together with Democrats on issues that both sides could agree on. Conservatives would continue to push their agenda despite the narrowness of their victory. Then Jeffords realized that one Senator changing allegiances could change the Senate's leadership and direction. He began talking to Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn), Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and Democratic Whip Harry Reid about what he could do to support the policies he cared about.

When Republicans realized how close Jeffords was to changing sides, they put on a full court press to change his mind, going so far as to contact Jeffords' son, a conservative Republican, to get him to change his mind. But Jeffords felt strongly enough about the direction the Senate was taking to defy the advice of his Republican friends and family members and leave the party.

The result has been personally costly to Jeffords. Most of his formerly close Republican friends in the Senate no longer talk to him. He's vilified by the conservative movement as a traitor, though he was never one of them. The White House has frozen him out of ceremonies that Senators are usually invited to, like the honoring of the Teacher of the Year, a fellow Vermont resident.

Conservatives seem to have forgotten that a few of their own Senators--Phil Gramm, Strom Thurmond, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Richard Shelby--have switched parties, from Democrat to Republican.

But Jeffords remains unrepentant. With control of the Senate, Jeffords and the Democrats have been able to shift legislation towards the center. They've been able to better scrutinize Bush's candidates for the judiciary, pass legislation for campaign finance reform, education, and environmental issues like drilling in ANWR. More importantly, they've forced the Bush administration to start working in a genuinely bipartisan manner in Congress.

As for Jeffords, he's planning on campaigning for Democrats in the Senate this fall, using his newfound notoriety to ensure that Washington's politics remain Bipartisan. ***

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files
Photo of Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) courtesy of his Official Senate Web Site