# Any other Congressional Republicans likely to jump ship? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-congressional-republicans-likely-to-jump-ship/494770 "2009-04-29T20:56:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-congressional-republicans-likely-to-jump-ship/494770/1 "2009-04-29T20:56:24Z")
After reading an [NYT Op ed](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/opinion/29snowe.html?partner=rss&emc=rss) article by Olympia Snowe, I gotta wonder if she’s thinking about it. > [@](#): > > …It was as though beginning with Senator Jeffords’s decision, Republicans turned a blind eye to the iceberg under the surface, failing to undertake the re-evaluation of our inclusiveness as a party that could have forestalled many of the losses we have suffered. > > It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party… > > …There is no plausible scenario under which Republicans can grow into a majority while shrinking our ideological confines and continuing to retract into a regional party. Ideological purity is not the ticket back to the promised land of governing majorities — indeed, it was when we began to emphasize social issues to the detriment of some of our basic tenets as a party that we encountered an electoral backlash. This is not a happy and secure Republican. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-congressional-republicans-likely-to-jump-ship/494770/2 "2009-04-29T22:12:20Z")
I don’t think Snowe would be any more comfortable as a Democrat though. Her problem is that she wants to be independent but she doesn’t want to run as an independent. It’s kind of a shame that diversity of thought is not really welcome in either party. The party machines control most of the money and committee posts and can withhold it from candidates who don’t toe the line. Democrats have been more tolerant of dissent within their ranks than Republicans (and TOO tolerant in the case of Joe Lieberman) but on most issues we hear two simple-minded solutions, one Dem one GOP, with very little variation or creative thought. I had hoped Obama would rock the boat but he seems to be playing it pretty safe so far–I’m not sure I blame him given the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-congressional-republicans-likely-to-jump-ship/494770/3 "2009-04-29T22:46:24Z")
Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are the only likely contenders IMHO. Considering the reported reaction by [their constituency](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=snowe+collins+angry+voters) in Maine, they’ve made it harder for themselves to get reelected, so I can see how they’d be tempted to cross the aisle. Would the welcome by democrats be warm? ---
**Author:** ![MTRG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@MTRG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTRG)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-congressional-republicans-likely-to-jump-ship/494770/4 "2009-04-29T23:13:36Z")
Arlen Spector R/D PA just announced that he will run for re-election as a dem. “A Democrat in his youth, Specter joined the Republicans in 1966 and was a member until April 28, 2009, when he announced his switch to the Democratic Party.[5][6] He said that he was increasingly “at odds with the Republican philosophy”[7] and indicated that polling showed that it would be difficult for him to win the 2010 Republican Senatorial primary” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen\_Specter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Specter)