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Senator's switch is symptom to be watched

New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith's melodramatic departure from the Republican Party is a fool's quest, but it nevertheless should be drawing more respectful attention from the Republican establishment than it has.

Smith undoubtedly is one of the most conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill, and he is a man of high principle. Smith complains that the party has abandoned principles which he holds dear. But he is choosing to abandon a position of influence as a GOP senator for a position of zero party influence as an independent of some sort.

As a practical matter, America is a two-party nation, and independents and third parties have little real power. The only other independent in Congress is Rep. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Socialist who chose the label "independent" in deference to his Clintonite pals.

Perhaps more pertinent to Sen. Smith, who fancies himself a presidential candidate, no third-party candidate in this century has won the presidency. Only Teddy Roosevelt came close, and he had the advantage of being a former president. Smith's departure from the GOP will cause barely a ripple in the 2000 presidential sweepstakes.

Even so, Smith makes a good point when he says the current Republican establishment is more interested in "poll numbers" than in principles. Having witnessed Slick Willie focus group himself out of one jam after another, too many Republicans have talked themselves into believing every pollster who walks through their doors. They've drifted from one dumbed-down Clintnite fad after another, even allowing Democrats to rerun the health care socialism passion play in the run-up to 2000. As a result, Republicans have claimed few political victories since retaking Congress in the 1994 elections.

Conservative activists, the base of the old Reagan Coalition to which Smith belonged, are frustrated. As in 1992, unless they are given compelling reasons to participate in campaigns and to vote, they'll stay home in droves.

We would not suggest that anyone follow Smith int the wilderness of third-party politics, but Republicans should take serious note of Smith's extreme step of leaving the GOP. People in Smith's position do not make such decisions lightly. It is a mark of the degree of frustration that many conservatives have with the GOP that he should leave, and Republican leaders would be wise to watch the polls a little less eagerly and listen to their electoral base a bit more eagerly.

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