Freshman Congressman Parker Griffith of Alabama has decided to leave the Democratic Party and join forces with the Republicans right as the political divide in Washington is about to reach a fever pitch. A self-described “blue dog” democrat, Griffith says that he can no longer align himself “with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy and drives us further and further into debt.”
I have to be honest on this one – even though I am happy to pick up another vote in the House – I think moves like this are about as cowardly and as dirty as anything else that goes on in Washington. When the majority of Americans vote for their elected officials along party lines like lemmings marching off a party cliff, it essentially pisses on those constituents when these guys switch parties in the middle of a term. Just as when Arlen Spector defected the other way earlier this year, I think the welcoming caucus ought to slam the door in the faces of these A-holes and tell them to wait until November to join the ranks should their allegiance prove warranted at the polls.
I never understand how politicians have these moments of clarity that lead them to switching parties in the first place. Do they just wake up one day and realize that they’ve been wrong all their lives and want to instantly make amends? Do they suddenly come to the conclusion that their most fundamental beliefs were misguided from their infancy? Perhaps even worse, do they just have a moment of self-realization that leads them to the conclusion that they really didn’t know which party they belonged in to begin with? If their relationship is that tenuous, do we really want them carrying the name Republican? In his press conference today he said “There is no room in the Democratic party for a pro-life, pro-business, pro-Second Amendment, conservative, business man.”
“There is no room in the Democratic party for a pro-life, pro-business, pro-Second Amendment, conservative, business man.”
Uhhh. Hello!?!?!? Is this really a newsflash?? People like that haven’t been welcomed in that party in decades. The real question is if you really are one of those people Congressman Griffith, why’d you affiliate with the party of the misguided in the first place? Its not as if the DNC suddenly moved to the far Left. They’ve been calling it home there for ages.
As a product of the South and the Bible Belt, I understand that “Blue Dog Dems” often find themselves in peculiar situations foreign to those outside the region. Party affiliation takes on a whole new meaning below the Mason Dixon as the South is certainly a strange beast politically. Many states have Republican representatives in both the House and Senate, vote across the board for Republicans in presidential elections, yet still have Democrat governors and Dem-controlled state legislatures. Even with that in mind, I still hate loose-principled party swappers like Griffith, and if a single Republican in the House thinks his vote is a guarantee only any issue he/she would be an absolute moron. More accurately, what this defection does guarantee is a more difficult primary decision for Republicans next November. Do they run a true Republican against him or do they consider this a victory and stay with the incumbent? I think this is nothing more than an extremely clever move for a Dem anticipating an electoral thumping in the South at the hands of the Republicans next November. Buyer beware Minority Leader Boehner. Buyer beware.
Some of my conservative brethren are a little more excited about this defection than I, but I think all are cautiously optimistic. Okay, maybe not Left Coast Rebel. He appears really excited.
Rep. Griffith had signaled in August that he would not vote for Nancy Pelosi as speaker again.
Refreshing: A politician who will keep his promise.
The announcement comes on the heels of a wave of Blue Dog Democrat retirements.
Merry Christmas!
On the other hand, if this touches off a mass exodus of blue dogs from the Democratic Party…well then the ends most certainly will have justified the means in this case.
Just like there’s no atheists in a foxhole, there ain’t no candy-asses in political trench warfare either.
I think America’s greatest enemy is America and its materialism. And I think that we have nothing to fear from radical Islam. We have nothing to fear from any other religion if we are strong on our own beliefs. I don’t fear radical Islam.
He claims his remarks were taken out of context, but there’s plenty of context right there to know that his party switch is meaningless. Vote him out in the primary.
I think you are taking the measured approach here that I believe will be the more prudent one. I have heard that Tea Partiers already plan to run a candidate to oppose him, so I think he may not really be the man that everyone hopes he is. I dont love the idea of running against all republicans but this is a democrat that we got on loan for a few months the way I see it.
I don’t know if it’s the ‘tea partiers’ per se who are the ones challenging him, but the Club for Growth sure seems like they will.
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/perm/?postID=12245
I get what T’s saying, I do. I’m just of the opinion that anything and anyone who helps to kill this bill is ok in my book right now. We can deal with him and his wishy-washy conservatism, if that’s the case, in 2010.
Right now he’s another notch in our belt and to the extent he can open the door for others to do the same, all the better.
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Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and pleasure, like them, merely entrap and clutch the under par and weak, while the rich and powerful will indubitably destroy b decompose through them.
Great news about Parker Griffith!
[...] they both smack of political maneuvering and calculation. That said, I didn’t buy this party change from day one. Griffith may have moved in the opposite direction than did Republican-to-Dem Arlen Specter, but [...]