A Whole New Ball Game
"The dramatic and unexpected shift in power in the U.S. Senate is as close to divine intervention as you can get." NILS J. MIKKELSEN Pleasanton, Calif.
I feel compelled to publicly express my support for U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords' recent decision to quit the Republican Party and become an independent member of the Senate [WASHINGTON POWER SHIFT, June 4]. Such an act required courage and, above all, the knowledge that one's political position should not be determined by party allegiance. The Republican Party led by George W. Bush has left the world gasping at its bulldozer tactics and ineptitude as far as environmental matters and foreign policy are concerned. I imagine that every member of the Republican Party with a firm sense of social responsibility is wrestling with those same nightmares that must have haunted Jeffords. PIPPA SALONIUS Siena, Italy
If Senator Jeffords wanted to switch affiliations, he should have resigned his seat and contested for it anew in a special election. At least that would have given the voters who sent him to Washington in the first place a voice in the change in their representation. As things stand, those voters are being represented by someone different from the person they elected. The real loser in Senator Jeffords' switch is not the Republican Party but the democratic process. ROBERT BALDWIN Carmel, N.Y.
There seems to be a lot of arrogance on the bridge of the U.S. ship of state, which has been steered on a heading favored more by the officers and crew than by the passengers. I hope Senator Jeffords' decision will be seen as a shot across the bow that will correct the course to benefit all the country, not just people in first class. STANLEY ISENBERG Merion Station, Pa.
How does an individual, voted into office on a Republican ticket, have the right to disregard the voters who elected him and take up his own agenda? There should be a law that prevents officeholders from changing parties after an election. RICHARD J. BONNER Seattle
Jeffords' defection from the G.O.P. while still in office simply cannot be justified. When public officials jump from one party to another, it causes chaos in our political system. Can you imagine a President switching parties while still in the White House? ED BROWNE Bellingham, Wash.
I realize how fortunate I am to live in the beautiful state of Vermont, where a large percentage of the public is willing to cast a vote for the individual and not simply vote for a party label. Jim Jeffords has repeatedly been returned to the Senate not because of party affiliation (and perhaps in spite of it) but because of who he is and the honor and integrity he brings to the office. JUDITH SCHEER Colchester, Vt.
Jeffords is an unprincipled political opportunist who took the easy way out. The self-sacrificing, heroic thing would have been to stick out the battle within his own camp and quietly use his talents and creativity to reform his colleagues and alter the direction of the party as a member of which he was elected. WALLACE L. MCKEEHAN Bellaire, Texas