Why do politicians jump political parties?

Because their views change, and they are honest enough to acknowledge it.

I think that he didn’t change as much as his party did. Their obstructionist policies are offensive to many. Just ask Bob Dole.

Or because the party changes and no longer represents them. The Republican in my office, when I mentioned this last week, said “well, he was a Republican in name only, he didn’t really represent the party”.

So consider he agreed with the basic tenets of the Northeastern Republicans, the Nelson Rockefeller/Henry Kissinger/Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford Republicans. But that party doesn’t exist anymore, and Richard Nixon couldn’t get Republican support to get in a primary these days.

The same guy in my office, when I told him what Bob Dole said last week about the Republican’s needing to “close for repairs”, said “well, everyone knows Dole was a Republican because he was running from Kansas, otherwise he’d have been a Democrat.”

People evolve, change is inevitable.

Many politicians have changed their stance to get votes as well.

It’s interesting to see how many candidates were Pro-Choice until they were able to get an endorsement from Right To Life, ensuring them the win in many races across the US. And that’s just one issue.

Usually the Politicians who change political parties do it because it gives them a perceived advantage. Of course, there is always a possibility of a Politician who has under-gone a true recognition that he has been in the wrong party for most of his career, but this requires that a Politician actually has the ability to think & reason…. too many of them get by on appearance & ‘psychopathic charm’ & too many of these Politicians are for sale to the highest bidder.

Lincoln Chafee was always a liberal, even when he was a Republican in the Senate. He voted with the Democrats more often than he voted with the Republicans, even though he caucused with the Republicans. He was a Republican more in the style of Eisenhauer or Rockefeller, and once they were not exceptions. Chafee’s father was one such Republican, and Chafee himself followed in his father’s footsteps.

The party began to change with Goldwater, who was very conservative (although moderate by standards now), and after Reagan, the Party took a hard right turn which has gotten WAY more polarized in the last 20 years. One by one, the moderate Republicans got picked off and now there are only a couple of them left in the Senate. Susan Collins is one.

Chafee left the party several years ago and ran as an Independant for the Governership. What’s mystifying is why he’s not staying as an independant. The Democrats are not likely to embrace him, and he will have a challenge in the Democratic primaries. But he must have some good political reason.

Politicians evolve and change their views, yes. But they are politicians, and sometimes they see the graffiti on the wall and realize they’re not going to get elected or re-electedunless they change positions or parties.

I didn’t know politics worked that way. I just thought that they represented the group that they supported and believed in. I didn’t think there was so much strategy that a person would represent a group that they do not follow just to get a position, or in the long run, money. It’s seems pretty dumb in my opinion, and definitely fake.
It’s hard for me to believe that one’s views can change so dramatically like that. I was about to say that my views changed dramatically in the minimal amount of years I’ve been alive, but then I realized that they never really changed. The only thing that changed was that I started expressing my individual beliefs instead of conforming to the beliefs I was told to believe. I am unsure about a few issues, however and would like them cleared up so if you ever want to talk politics with me I’m here and ready. But I hope politicians don’t act that way.
Well anyways, thank you for the answers.

There was one finance minister in the NZ Labour (centre-left) government in the mid-1980’s who is now a member of the ACT Party (the furthest right leaning party in NZ), I assume he simply changed his politics, people’s views evolve over time, it seems perfectly natural that will happen sometimes, sometimes a person’s philosophy changes with time.

Lincoln Chafee didn’t change. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party changed. The Democratic Party moved to a more centrist position under the leadership of Bill Clinton. The Republican party beginning with Reagan, but accelerating at light speed when Clinton was elected and continuing till today, has lurched ever further to the extreme right. In the end, Chafee’s views were much more in sync with the Democratic Party than the new GOP, so he switched. Same goes for former Republican Governor of Florida, Charlie Christ. He didn’t leave the GOP, the GOP left him.

I think only us old farts who were there (and old enough to vote) when Reagan was elected really see that @ETpro

@Judi Ronald Reagan worked with Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill to modify Social Security rules and funding in order to ensure the program stayed funded well into the 21st century. Can you imagine the hate and talk radio vitriol a Republican would get if he did that today? Ronald Reagan would be purged from today’s far right GOP, labeled as a RINO.

Agreed. I Didn’t like George Bush Senior either but his son made him look like a regular Statesman and the party now even makes Bubba Bush look good.