Politics: Who Changed History Most in the Past Half Year?
JEFFORDS AND O'CONNOR
SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
Because ... She was the swing vote in Bush v. Gore, giving us ... Bush...the end of Kyoto...the end of the ABM Treaty (maybe)...higher levels of arsenic in water (may be reversed)...1300 new power plants (maybe)....a 1.3 trillion dollar tax cut (that may cost 2 trillion over the next ten years and 4 trillion if extended to the next twenty years)...Secretary of Labor Linda Chavez (for about a week)...a ban on federal funds to overseas groups that promote abortion...the abrogation of talks with North Korea...the resumption of talks with North Korea...the end of salmonella testing of meat used in school lunches...the resumption of such testing...cuts in the COPS program...dramatic increases in the budget of the National Institutes of Health...a flat promise to defend Taiwan.
JAMES JEFFORDS
Because ... He was the swing vote in the Republican Senate giving us ... a Democratic Senate...Tom Daschle instead of Trent Lott as majority leader...Patrick Leahy instead of Orrin Hatch as head of the judiciary committee...Joseph Biden instead of Jesse Helms at foreign relations...Harry Reid instead of Robert Smith at environment and public works...and Robert Byrd instead of Strom Thurmond as president pro tem.
Maybe there has been another era when the vote of two people changed the course of U.S. history as dramatically over as brief a period of time, but we do not know of any. If you do, please let us know. We'll be publishing your comments next week!
If you want to tell us about close calls where just one person's decision changed history, please do so.