[NonValueAdded]

You have to admit that this is probably the maximum amount of leverage itty bitty Rhode Island will have for a long time. Maybe not as much as when Jeffords made the switch but probably more than when the GOP extends its majority in '06. So figure a lot of this is just political smoke to extract concessions.

[BlackRazor]

You have to admit that this is probably the maximum amount of leverage itty bitty Rhode Island will have for a long time. Maybe not as much as when Jeffords made the switch but probably more than when the GOP extends its majority in '06. So figure a lot of this is just political smoke to extract concessions.

Personally, I think he puts up this act every couple of years as a show to play to the people back home. He knows his existence as a Republican in RI is probably somewhat tenuous. So he probably figures if he makes a great show about being a liberal Republican, not really in step with the national GOP, floating the idea of becoming an independent or Democrat, it helps his cause and image with the voters in Rhode Island.