Jeffords no loss to GOP

OK, so Sen. Jim Jeffords, former Republican from Vermont, is now Sen. Jim Jeffords, quasi-Democrat, er, “independent,” from Vermont.

Big deal ? everyone except Jeffords’ constituents in his own home state knew he was a RINO, a “Republican In Name Only,” and had been for years.

Jeffords has done what many more Democrats before him have done ? no more, no less. The fact that his absence from the GOP now gives de facto control of the Senate to the Democrats is just about as meaningless, despite the mainstream press’ hoopla and “careful analysis.”

What riles me is not Jeffords’ move but the hypocrisy and hype surrounding it.

Some Republicans ? many of them RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) ? have already begun criticizing President Bush for “not doing more” to prevent Jeffords from leaving. That is some kind of hubris ? more than anyone else, including Jeffords’ home state constituents, GOP senators on Capitol Hill knew that Jeffords was anything but an ally to the Republican Party.

Furthermore, Jeffords’ own reason for bailing out ? he says because of “the changing nature of the national party” ? is b.s..

Just what is he saying ? that he liked the party when it was a spineless, powerless and nearly liberal shadow of itself, quaking and quivering before the former scandalous Clinton administration? Or is he saying that he hates it now because it is being run by the closest thing to true conservatives the GOP has had in nearly a decade? Either way, I rest my case ? Jeffords was no Republican and, therefore, no loss to the GOP.

As to the matter of newly-ordained Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, my best advice is this: Don’t get used to the chair, Tom. One defection from your party and you’re back outside … where you belong.

However, even if the current 50-49 Democratic advantage remains, Daschle and company are nowhere near the total victory they so aspire to achieve.

The remaining mix in the Senate is comprised of far short of the number needed to muster a two-thirds majority for Democrat-sponsored bills that Daschle will want to pass. Even if he does get two-thirds initially, he won’t get enough to override the expected Bush vetoes.

That makes Daschle far worse off than former Senate leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. Lott had a GOP-controlled House and Republican administration to work with. Daschle has neither a Democrat-controlled House nor many allies at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Perhaps Daschle’s only advantage is in the fact that the traditionally leftist mainstream press ? still ticked that their buddy Al Gore was sent packing ? will be anything but harsh on the new majority leader.

If Republicans can ? for once ? find some good PR people, however, this advantage can largely be mitigated.

If there has been any political awakening at all since the heady days of the Clinton-Democrat scandal factory ? and I believe there has been ? the American public will see Daschle and his Jefford-led Democrats as the whiny, obstructionist, scheming little trolls that many of them are. That, too, will factor in Bush’s favor.

For now, though, the GOP masses should hold onto their angst, stay tuned, and be happy because all is well. If you thought little was changing under a GOP-controlled government, this new arrangement in the Senate will bog things down worse than a blue-haired old woman driving a Caddy in rush hour. I’ll take no new legislation over a leftist agenda any day.

To Jeffords, the GOP should say: “Good riddance.” He wasn’t on the team in the first place.