Mr. Independent?

Good evening,

He favors the war, he lost his primary after hugging a president, he alienated himself from his party, he became an independent, finding support from the party of the man he hugged so publicly. Yep, the Republicans.

They gave their support eagerly, knowing their party's candidate didn't really have a chance after getting into some sort of gambling scandal.

Struggling for his political life, he took that campaign support from the Republicans, waging a particularly nasty campaign against his Democratic rival, regarding him as inexperienced, soft on terror, no plan, all of the usual things you usually hear coming from "the people in red".

Yep, you guessed it, the Republicans.

Well, he went ahead and won that Senatorial election, promising to bring the troops home if he was elected, but did you know campaign promises were ruled on by the Supreme Court not long ago, protected as free speech, even if the promise is never fulfilled? Yep, it's true. I'm not saying he won't try, nobody knows what he'll do, I'm just saying a campaign promise is a campaign promise, nothing more.

Now that he has his Senate seat back, and not wanting to make most of Connecticut angry just yet, he pledged to caucus with the Democrats, the party who pretty much kicked him out, and for all anyone knows, who he might regard as the bunch who almost cost him his cushy 2 day per week job that pays in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (and that's just salary).

But....

I wonder who he might be beholdant to? The party who pretty much kicked him out, or the party who threw their support his way? I'd like to trust the man, I really would, he never seemed to be a bad guy, which is probably what most of the voters in his state thought when they saw his name on the ballot. In my opinion, he always seemed meek, almost apologetic in his tone when he was speaking on an issue, there was always a "forgive me for saying...." in his voice. That was until he chastised his fellow Senators for "questioning the president at a time of war", no apologetic tone there, and it struck me odd. Afterall, during a time of war, isn't it important to ask questions when it's the sons and daughters of this nation who are out there fighting, and who better to ask but the people who were elected by the people to represent them in government? I guess he just didn't see it that way.

My opinion of ol' Joe changed that day, as I guess did the opinions of many Democrats, whose side was he on?

Now, we once again find ourselves asking that very same question, "whose side is he on?" With the narrow Democratic majority in the Senate, Joe finds himself in the interesting position of being a political survivor, someone who went from the scrap heap to becoming perhaps the most influential (and thus powerful) man in the Senate. If he sides with the Democrats, they'll win the vote on an issue, if he sides with the Republicans they'll win the vote on an issue, see what I mean about influence? He's the swing vote.

My best guess is that we should all look very closely at the earliest issues that come up for vote within the Senate chamber, I predict a lesson to be given to one side or the other, perhaps given to both sides? He'll be in a position to demonstrate just how much either side needs him.

Kinda scary isn't it? That one man should have so much power? We find ourselves living in historical times, my friends, things we've seen these past few years will be written about in the history books, whether the events are depicted favorably or not will undoubtedly depend on who wields the most influence. Stories will be passed down from generation to generation, changing slightly as each passes the stories along, fading until only the written word remains.

I'd like to say things will go smoothly now that there will be some oversight by our legislature, though it all depends on Joe, the wild card, the unknown element, the person we thought we knew, but came to find out we never did. I have a feeling we will come to know him, but will we like it when we finally do?

Only time will tell....