Jeffords Won't Seek Re-Election

[5stringJeff]

I'm sorry that he and his wife are having health issues, but I'm glad he will be out of the Senate!

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Vt. Sen. Jeffords Won't Seek Re-Election
By CHRISTOPHER GRAFF, Associated Press Writer

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Four years after he tipped control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats, Jim Jeffords said he will retire at the end of his term next year because of his own health problems and those of his wife.

Jeffords, who quit the Republican Party to become an independent, made the surprise announcement Wednesday, immediately triggering a scramble for his seat, one of several that will be up for grabs in next year's midterm elections.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=8&u=/ap/20050421/ap_on_go_co/jeffords_retires

 

[Nienna]

Good news, but this is Vermont. Likely, his replacement will be a dem, hopefully not more radical than he is.

 

[SmarterThanYou]

i guess he's looked at as a GOP traitor, since he left the party over its power madness?

 

[no1tovote4]

i guess he's looked at as a GOP traitor, since he left the party over its power madness?

I don't know, was Ben Campbell a traitor when he joined the R party directly?

I think of Jeffords more as a nuisance, not a traitor. He wanted notoriety and received it by shifting the power in the Senate. It didn't last long and he has been ineffectual ever since.

 

[SmarterThanYou]

I don't know, was Ben Campbell a traitor when he joined the R party directly?

maybe, but as an independent (not a democrat) I wouldn't know.

 

[Bonnie]

I don't know, was Ben Campbell a traitor when he joined the R party directly?

I think of Jeffords more as a nuisance, not a traitor. He wanted notoriety and received it by shifting the power in the Senate. It didn't last long and he has been ineffectual ever since.

Well that and the fact that he changed his stripes after he was elected by those wanting a republican and thinking they were electing a republican.........

 

[Bonnie]

After the switch, Jeffords really wasn't an Independant either, more of a socialist which is in keeping much better with the democrats.........

I wish he and his family better health though.

 

[no1tovote4]

maybe, but as an independent (not a democrat) I wouldn't know.

Exactly, I don't have very strong feelings about Jeffords at all being a Libertarian. I think he made an ineffectual effort to change the Senate for what he thought was the "better" and at the same time gain some notoriety. For a day or two he was the man of the hour, but less than two years later all he became is another voice lost in the minority with no major party to stand with.

 

[5stringJeff]

i guess he's looked at as a GOP traitor, since he left the party over its power madness?

If he had any real convictions, he would have stepped down and allowed a new election in 2002, so the people of VT could decide if they wanted a GOP Senator (as they elected) or him.

 

[SmarterThanYou]

If he had any real convictions, he would have stepped down and allowed a new election in 2002, so the people of VT could decide if they wanted a GOP Senator (as they elected) or him.

he switched 4 years ago and then reran as an independent. Didnt he win as an independent?

 

[5stringJeff]

he switched 4 years ago and then reran as an independent. Didnt he win as an independent?

No. He ran as a Republican in 2000, then switched parties in 2001. He has not rerun.

 

[SmarterThanYou]

No. He ran as a Republican in 2000, then switched parties in 2001. He has not rerun.

ok, thanks for the info.

 

[Avatar4321]

If he is a traitor I think its more the fact that he betrayed the people who elected him by representing himself as something he wasn't IE a Republican. The Republicans have done quite find without him so I don't think his jumping ship has hurt us at all. In fact, i think his jumping ship focused the people's attention on the Democrats hypocrisy and pettiness in whining that President Bush was illigitmate while pretending the Democrat control of the Senate was based on the will of the people and legitimate.

None of this reall matters to me. I hardly think about the guy. I think all he will be remembered for is jumping ship though. Thats the only thing ive seen him in reference to. I hope his life goes well though.

 

[BR-549]

probably will, do worse.. Didn't their legislature just vote in gay marriage? Whooopeeeeeeeeeeee anything goes in Vermont. Wonder if the next step is to allow humans to marry animals.. I can see it now....... John do you take curly the sheep to be your lawfully wedded wife, er, companion, er pet, to have and to hold, for hay and feed.... Grrrrrr..
And the talk at the bar would be like, "My first wife was a bitch." response "Oh really what breed"?

 

[Bonnie]

probably will, do worse.. Didn't their legislature just vote in gay marriage? Whooopeeeeeeeeeeee anything goes in Vermont. Wonder if the next step is to allow humans to marry animals.. I can see it now....... John do you take curly the sheep to be your lawfully wedded wife, er, companion, er pet, to have and to hold, for hay and feed.... Grrrrrr..
And the talk at the bar would be like, "My first wife was a bitch." response "Oh really what breed"?

 

[NATO AIR]

I wish he and his family better health though.

Its interesting how Bonnie's comment here is represenative of the feelings of the majority of conservatives on USMB, but if we went to DU and it was a bunch of liberals commenting on a conservative senator retiring for health reasons, they'd be celebrating his misfortune and very few comments wishing him well would be found.