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With the balance of control of the US Senate hanging in the balance on the fate of South Dakota Democratic Senator Tim Johnson, in critical condition after suffering a brain hemorrhage, our sources say that Democratic insiders would probably extend feelers to two Republican moderates in the event a vacancy in South Dakota results in that state's Republican governor appointing a Republican to succeed Johnson. Such a development would hand control of the Senate back to the Republicans.Democrats first plan to make an offer to Maine's moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is expected to face a strong challenge from Democratic Rep. Tom Allen in 2008. The intermediary would likely be Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, with whom Collins has worked closely in the past.
Another possible recipient of a full-court press to switch parties is another Republican who faces a tough challenge in 2008. He is Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, who recently described Bush's war in Iraq as possibly "criminal." An entreaty to Smith to change parties would likely be made by his two second cousins, Democratic Representatives Mark and Tom Udall.
Another avenue may be through John Eisenhower, the son of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Smith's father was an assistant to President Eisenhower's Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson. John Eisenhower endorsed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign.
