Before November 5, there was speculation that if the Republicans gained a 50-49-1 majority in the Senate that Lincoln Chafee would switch parties to leave the Senate in Democratic control. Switch talk is still alive, only now there are more names being tossed about. The lefty site Working for Change is trying to lobby Senators Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter along with Chafee, a move that I consider a bit quixotic (not that I object, mind you).
A more interesting scenario, predicated on Mary Landrieu retaining her seat in the Louisiana runoff, is this one, which not only suggests John McCain as an ace in the hole, but that there could be a bigger picture involved:
Prediction: There is a 50-50 chance that McCain and Chaffee will switch parties and a similar chance that McCain will become the Democratic standard bearer in 2004. The odds of a Landrieu victory in Louisiana are much higher.
Via the newly Movable Typed Tom Tomorrow.
I’m still a bit shell shocked from November 5 to have given this much thought, but it strikes me as a bit farfetched. I think I’ll stay skeptical, which at least gives me the chance to be pleasantly surprised.
If they leave because they are uncomfortable with a Republican-controlled senate, the power to them. If they leave because the Democrats bribe them with cushy chairmanships… Jim Jeffords and Robert Toricelli will be nothing compared for the disdain and outrage even moderate Republicans like me who vote Democratic from time to time will feel.
I might even be tempted to vote for Tom DeLay.