> Over here in the US, we had a 50/50 split in the Senate between the Republicans and the Democrats. Yesterday (or a few days ago, depending on when you read this), one of the Republican Senators quit his party and became an independent, or rather, non-party affiliated. He still retains his seat in the Senate. This move means that the Democrats now have enough people to block any legislation if both Republicans and Democrats cast votes along party lines, which they usually do.

My question is this: Doesn't his dropping from the party constitute a kind of fraud on the voters who put him in office? His constituents voted for him as a Republican. I'm NOT Republican by any means, but I still think he has a responsibility to the people he represents to continue to represent them as he did when they voted for him. Otherwise, what's to stop someone who runs in an area highly populated by Democrats from running as a Democrat, then six months after he's elected, announcing he is suddenly a Repulican and will vote accordingly? Why has no one else been as bothered by this aspect of the defection as I have?

Mousie