Democrats Gloating Unwarranted

As the Democrats bask in the glow of a Jeffords party switch and before they finish putting the final touches on their Jeffords shrine, I think it is only appropriate to put some of the facts into perspective.

You will notice that as disgruntled as Senator Jeffords was with his position with his party and as much as he wanted to make his party suffer for the oversight of him not being invited to a white house event, there was one thing that he found less savory than remaining an outcast in his party. The one thing he could not bring himself to do is to become a Democrat. As much as good old “class warfare” Daschle begged, he could just not stoop that low.

Another fact is that since 1993, over 500 elected Democrats switched their party affiliation to the Republican Party while holding office. Of those officials, two were U.S. Senators and five were U.S. Congressmen. Since George W. Bush was elected President on November 7, 2000, 24 Democrat elected officials have switched to the GOP. Have you ever seen a Republican become a Democrat?

Now for the interesting facts about Jefford’s state of Vermont. Vermont has one Congressman. His name is Bernard Sanders and he happens to be Congress’ only elected Socialist. House Democrats have wooed him into their Democrat Caucus and given him the ranking minority position on a Government Reform subcommittee since Socialists and Democrats are so similar.

I guess the Democrats have to take their victories where they can get them. I will have to give them credit for trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.