[FuzzieAlum]

I don't see why it's reprehensible. McCain has shown himself to be a politician who is neither far left nor far right and whose beliefs could be equally at home in either party. It's not as if his voting would change.

The fact is, a third-party or independent candidate simply doesn't have as much clout. So if he is upset with the way the GOP is trending, defecting would be natural for him, and it would be reasonable for him to join a powerful party if he could feel at home there. I don't see any reason to believe he'd switch just to win an election; it seems to me that he is one of our few politicians who is more character and less slime. And even if that was his reason ... so what? I'd only start to worry if he starts reversing long-held positions to be more in line with the Democratic platform. A political party isn't a GLO and you're allowed to change your mind!

And for the support of every moderate Republican he'd lose, there are two or three Americans who don't identify strongly with either party and could care less.