The Crist Switch: Top 10 Political Defections
Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced April 29 that he will leave the Republican Primary and run for the U.S. Senate as an independent. He is not the first to change sides. Over the years, scores of politicians have danced from one side of the aisle to the other. TIME rounds up the top 10 political defections in U.S. history
An open critic of the GOP's 1994 "Contract with America" and one of only five Senate Republicans to vote against both articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton in 1999, Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party in 2001. By becoming the only independent in the Senate, he threw the chamber's carefully calibrated balance of power out of whack, giving the Democrats a 50-49 edge — and thereby granting them all the committee chairmanships and control of the legislative calendar and agenda. At the time, Arlen Specter said Jeffords' defection was "like a death in the family," and noted that the loss ought to prompt the GOP to move toward the center.
View the full list for "The Crist Switch: Top 10 Political Defections"Latest Lists
Around the Web
-
Stars' Real Names vs. Celebrity Pseudonyms (PHOTOS)
From THE HUFFINGTON POST
-
Miley Cyrus Garter Tights Turn Heads On Starbucks Coffee Run (PHOTOS)
From THE HUFFINGTON POST
