If there is a way to see the reputation of a node "for free", this would defeat the purpose of casting a vote.

The whole idea is to vote for a node on the strength of the node itself and not on the reputation it already has.

You can only get a general idea of its reputation through the sorting option (although I find it a bit cheating and would not mind it if this option would disappear).

A wild suggestion (surely to be deleted before being read or --horror-- implemented): allow the viewing of the reputation of a node before casting a vote by giving up a random number of XP-points (max. the reputation of the node being viewed). Why anybody would want to do so is beyond me, but hey ... stranger things have happened.