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The departures of Jim Jeffords (I-VT) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) will result in competitive US Senate elections in 2006 in two states where Republicans are not historically strong, though the special circumstances that apply to those seats make them within reach of the GOP.

The former will have special meaning for Republicans since its occupant unilaterally handed control of the US Senate to the opposing party from 2001 to 2003. Because the Republicans enjoyed a historic victory in the 2002 midterms, the actions of the Benedict Arnold from the home of Ethan Allen had limited implications, aside from giving the politically late Tom Daschle quasi-justification for penning his ridiculously titled tome, Like No Other Time, available at a Dollar Store near you!

If anything the Quisling of the Green Mountain State did more harm than good to his new allies' cause by firing up Republicans incensed by a change in government without a vote of the people.

I am actually disappointed that Jeffords is stepping down thus depriving his constituents of having a chance to render their collective opinion on his defection. At a minimum Jeffords should have followed in the honorable steps of Texan Phil Gramm, who when caught in a similar philosophical situation though from a different angle, resigned his seat and let the electorate pass judgment on his change of affiliation.

Perhaps what annoyed me the most about Jeffords was/is his continued pretense of being an "Independent" and not a Democrat, the group he caucused with for control of the Senate. If Jeffords was really an "Independent" then why was he so prominent on the Democratic fundraising circuit?

Jeffords' actions brought shame to him, his office, the Republicans who have held their noses and supported him over the years, and to his self-declared moniker of convenience. His perfidy has done little aside earn him the contempt of his peers and a possible line in a future Politics edition of Trivial Pursuit.

His name will be remembered alongside that of the already forgotten Wayne Morse of Oregon, who pulled a similar stunt during the Eisenhower Administration.

Prospects for a Republican pick up in Vermont could be better than expected if there is a split in the liberal vote assuming a Democratic candidate and Socialist At-Large Congressman Bernie Sanders both make the ballot.

Further south on the Chesapeake, the opening up of the Paul Sarbanes seat could lead to the election of a black conservative Republican.

Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, the more conservative half of the surprisingly successful GOP tandem for Maryland's state leadership during the 2002 midterms, is the hoped for nominee by many Republicans around the country who want to see increased diversity in party leadership without sacrificing principle.

Legions of Republican activists and leaders are under the impression that promenading non-whites in front of the camera is the ticket to increasing the GOP's pitiful share of the black vote. Despite this tactic having failed time and time again, the miserable track record has not deterred the zeal of party window-dressers.

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