The Importance of a Single Vote - Senator Johnson and the Fate of the Republican Party

Governor Mike Rounds may not know it yet, but if he is called upon to appoint an interim Senator to fill a vacancy created by the death or resignation of Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), the decision he makes will have far reaching national consequences well beyond the senatorial representation of the Mount Rushmore State. As of this writing the incoming United States Senate will consist of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents (Joe Lieberman, and Bernard Sanders), both of whom will caucus with the Democrats. This gives control of the Senate to the Democratic Party by the razor thin margin of one vote. Should any Democrat change parties, or should Lieberman choose to caucus with the Republican Party, the Senate will revert to a 50/50 tie with a deciding vote cast by Vice President Dick Cheney, and the Republican Party will hold the Upper House.

The above is simple high-school government, set down in the basic rules of the Senate and enforced by custom, tradition, and the Constitution of the United States. From there, however, government becomes politics - the art, as Juan Peron famously said, of the possible.