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 his
isn't the first time that Sen. Jim Jeffords had the "Independent"
impulse. In 1988, when Congressman Jim
Jeffords launched
his Senate career, with the enthusiastic support of Washington Republicans,
he faced a primary challenge, and pledged to run as an Independent
if he failed to win the GOP nod.
Mike Griffes,
a talented 35-year-old conservative, had left Vermont to serve in
the Navy, and returned home to represent the large number of Republicans
who were fed up with Congressman Jeffords's record of bucking the
party. In 1981, House Republicans supported President Reagan's tax-cut
bill, 190-1, with Rep. Jeffords in the minority. It was only the
beginning. In every following year, with a single exception, Jeffords
opposed President Reagan's agenda more often than he backed it.
Reagan had carried Vermont in 1980 and 1984.
Griffes came
to Washington to ask party leaders to remain neutral, convinced
that Jeffords could be defeated in a primary. Jeffords apparently
thought so too, and held a press conference to announce his intention
to run as an Independent if he lost the primary. Jeffords talked
about the problem he might have with a low, "unrepresentative"
turnout. But, his Washington friends did all they could to prevent
that from happening.
National Republican
Senatorial Committee Chairman Rudy Boschwitz enthusiastically supported
Jeffords, and Sen. Orrin Hatch signed a fundraising letter for him.
Sen. Bob Dole endorsed Jeffords in the primary.
Griffes lost
the open primary with about 20,000 votes to Jeffords's 30,000. About
30,000 Republicans typically voted in Vermont primaries, but Jeffords
used his NRSC money for a big turnout effort among Independents.
Had Washington
Republicans remained neutral, Griffes could have won that primary,
and Jeffords would have been a third-party spoiler in the general
election. In a three-way split, Griffes might have won that Senate
seat in 1988.
So, Vermont
Independents, with help from Washington Republicans, put Jim Jeffords
in the Senate. Today, a bemused Mike Griffes is in neighboring New
Hampshire watching the drama unfolding in Washington with Jeffords's
anticipated abandonment of the GOP, and wondering what took Washington
Republicans so long. Griffes' campaign theme in his 1988 primary
challenge was that Jeffords is "not a Republican." You
don't say?
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