Fifteen years ago today, a senator from Vermont triggered a political earthquake. Sen. Jim Jeffords declared his independence from the Republican party on May 24, 2001.
Jeffords鈥� decision tipped the balance of power from Republican to Democrat in the Senate.
Listen to the statement that Jeffords made at the Radisson Hotel in Burlington, with a bit of context from VPR's Jane Lindholm:
The senator said he was not leaving the Republican party, but that the party had left him as it grew more conservative.
Jeffords, who , had a that was defined by that fierce independent streak, as well as advocacy for Vermont agriculture, in particular dairy farmers.
Listen to the full Vermont Edition:
Erik Smulson, the vice president for public affairs at Georgetown University, was Jeffords鈥� longtime spokesman. And he recalls that Jeffords was one of a core group of a Senate moderates of both parties who helped forged compromises in Congress.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one thing, in today鈥檚 politics, that I think Jim would be sad about 鈥� just, you know, compromise, or moderation, is almost a bad word,鈥� Smulson .
Smulson says that voice of moderation is largely missing in Washington.
