[SW6906]

"Of note, only 4 of the 34 US Senators up for re-election in 2002 voted AGAINST the resolution.

Well, does it mean that Senators do not vote according to their true views anymore? Will 100% votes become a norm? Should we encourage this trend and punish the dissenters?

No, it is merely an attempt to draw a correlation between vote patterns and the upcoming election. Seantors (and all politicians) most often vote the way they think will result in the most constituents voting for them in the next election. When a controversial vote like this comes close to an election, it is interesting to see which way Senators vote and then whether or not it affects their election.

[Jack Black]

Chafee is a problem, no doubt. He stands a good chance of going Jeffords on us if we end up with a one vote majority again.

What would the implications be of the Republicans losing the Senate TWO ELECTION CYCLES IN A ROW to defections. I think one legitimate response would be cleanse the party of other RINOs to the best of our abilty. In fact we should start that now with Chafee. I don't think he's up for re-election until 2006. Plenty of time to find a new candidate.