Bad news for Tom Daschle. The Senate Plurality Leader is looking more and more likely to become the Senate Minority Leader next fall.

As one bit of evidence, consider this story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune that shows Paul Wellstone in a neck and neck race with his Republican opponent. When an incumbent can only poll forty five percent, it looks pretty grim. Undecideds have more of a tendency to ultimately go to the challenger.

And loss of the Senate to the Republicans would be particularly sweet, considering what it would do to His Pomposity, Jim Jeffords.

Jumpin' Jim's big mistake is that he didn't have the guts to go all the way, but stalled halfway at "Independent." If he'd gone all the way, he would have also settled his seniority status in the caucus. If the Democrats end up in the minority, they aren't going to allocate any of their committee seats to non-caucus member, especially one who, unlike Bernie Saunders, isn't seen as reliable vote. Serves him right.

I'm afraid I disagree. Jim Jeffords' BIG mistake was actually writing a book called "My Declaration of Independance", breaking new records on the retch factor.

Republicans taking control of the Senate back in Novenber and holding the House sounds nice to me, especially if they'd act republican and not wishy-washy. But it's a long time 'till November and even two weeks can be an eternity in politics. The Republican Party also has a well-earned reputation for taking careful aim and shooting itself in the foot.

Actually, Jeffords got his comeuppance as soon as the spotlight faded. As a liberal Republican, both parties had to work hard (often with knee pads) to try to secure his vote -- you just never knew which way the little bugger would go.

But now that he's just another center-left Democrat? The Republicans know they've lost him, so they don't bother. So the Democrats now take him for granted.

Oh, and his "auto"-biography has been pretty well savaged as drivel.

Life is sweet, even as the minority party.