Now he tells us. Washington Post powerhouse Howie Kurtz finds it awful that the Senate “could flip into Republican hands” merely because a Republican governor is in a position to appoint a Republican to succeed a Democrat. And lest you think he’s being partisan, he adds, “I felt the same way when Jim Jeffords’s party-jumping gave Senate control to the Democrats.” Vermont voters had elected a Republican, and weren’t getting what they voted for when of a sudden he became a Democrat or Independent. Fair enough. But where was Howie when it mattered? A Nexis search reveals not a peep of protest from Howard back when Jeffords did his dirty deed.

Meanwhile, like the New York Times Kurtz takes comfort in a Tim Russert-provided example of a Senator incapacitated for four years who did not give up his seat. He doesn’t cite the case of Paul Coverdell, whose death set in motion the Senate’s going Democrat once Jeffords made his infamous leap.