A Nudge to the Center

There is a difference between leaving the family and being pushed out. Republican Sen. James M. Jeffords of Vermont, expected to leave the Republican Party today to become an independent, has been mostly pushed.

Alarmed GOP leaders have belatedly pulled hard to keep Jeffords, but he’s making the right decision if, as expected, he turns independent. The nation would benefit from his switch--at least until the next seismic shift in the Senate.

Jeffords’ move would make the Senate count 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and one independent who is likely to vote with the Democrats. The Senate leadership, now held by the most conservative wing of the GOP, would go to the Democrats. This would nudge the government, including the White House, to a more centrist approach on issues including tax cuts, health care, gun control and the environment. President Bush, rushing to enact the more conservative parts of his platform, was fully aware that the Senate was Republican by the thinnest of threads.

California would benefit from a switch, since both senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, are Democrats and would gain in power and influence. The change could also greatly affect the sort of federal judges President Bush will appoint, since nominees must win approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate.

Republicans often talk of the party as a big tent with room for moderates as well as conservatives. Increasingly, however, classic moderates such as Jeffords have been squeezed into a remote corner of the tent. There certainly has been no sudden change on the part of Jeffords, who reflects Vermont’s independent and culturally liberal nature.

The White House did not make things better when it failed to invite Jeffords, who has a special interest in education legislation, to a ceremony honoring a Vermont teacher. And there were reports that the White House might oppose a bill aiding Vermont dairy farmers. All of this was presumably in retaliation against Jeffords’ refusal to back Bush’s original $1.6-trillion tax cut bill and against his demand for more education spending for disabled students.

Political hardball comes as no shock in Washington. But it’s riskier than usual when the Senate is divided 50-50, waiting on the next change of heart. GOP leaders are putting in overtime wooing Democrats who might be persuaded to switch, a phenomenon that is actually far more common than leaving the Republican Party. For the moment, however, government seems tipped a little less steeply toward one segment of one party.