>If political parties didn't exist, then we wouldn't have this problem. Politicians would just carry out the wishes of the people that elected them.

My my Pollyana! Politicians would still be the self serving bunch that most of them are today, they would just wear a different label. You would have a few good ones, most medocre and a few extremely crooked ones, just like the normal curve suggests.

On another note, I actually helped influence a Democrat Senator here in Tennessee to jump to the Republican party. Well, maybe the Democrat response to my allegations of voter fraud pushed him over the edge.

From our morning publication:

Sen. McLeary switches sides to GOP
Democrats vow to take back seat

By Richard Locker
Contact
February 4, 2006

NASHVILLE -- State Sen. Don McLeary of Humboldt switched parties Friday from Democratic to Republican, increasing the GOP's Senate majority from 17-16 to 18-15.

Although Democrats vowed to retake the seat in the Nov. 7 election, McLeary will have the advantages of incumbency in the toss-up District 27, which covers Madison, Gibson and Carroll counties. Since 1990, the seat has changed from Democratic to Republican in 1994 and back to Democratic with McLeary's 2002 win over Republican Bobby Carter in 2002.

McLeary, 58, a banker and former football coach, made the announcement from Humboldt, his hometown. "I appreciate the confidence their leadership has placed in me, and I look forward to working with them in the days ahead," McLeary said.

He was lobbied heavily by leaders of both parties in recent weeks. The first public indication he was wavering came Jan. 18 when he was the only Democrat to vote to void the Shelby County election of Democrat Ophelia Ford of Memphis. At the time, he said there were too many discrepancies in the election but that he would support Ford in the Nov. 7 election.

The switch makes it more difficult for Democrats to regain the Senate majority they lost in 2004, for the first time by election since Reconstruction. They must pick up two seats instead of one.

State Democratic Party chairman Bob Tuke called the switch a betrayal because of its timing.

"Thousands of voters in District 27 elected him as a Democrat and have supported him in office as a Democrat. He has betrayed them by switching parties without an election. If Sen. McLeary felt this move was necessary, he should have finished his term as a Democrat and then run for re-election as a Republican. We fully expect to take this seat back in the fall."

The switch also gives the GOP a cushion to win in the increasingly frequent floor votes along party lines.

Reaction by Senate Democrats was mixed. Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis said, "Don McLeary was a good man when he was a Democrat, and I'm sure he will be a good man as a Republican. What I hope doesn't change because of his party affiliation is his commitment to the issues that allowed him to run as a Democrat and win, including support for public education and looking out for working people."

Republican leader Ron Ramsey and Caucus chairman Randy McNally welcomed McLeary in a joint statement, saying his "fundamental core beliefs and values are in line with those of Republicans, and on our side of the aisle he will provide considerable input and value to legislative discussions in the future."

The most recent party switches in the Senate were by former Democrats Rusty Crowe of Johnson City and Milton Hamilton of Union City in midterm in 1995, which gave Republicans a 17-16 advantage in the Senate until the 1996 election. Crowe remains a senator, but Hamilton left to join then-governor Don Sundquist's Cabinet and has since retired.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.