Democratic Congressman defects to GOP
Politico is reporting that Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala) will announce that he is switching his party affiliation to the GOP.
Anyone who has followed the first term congressman from Alabama cannot be completely surprised. Griffith has used every opportunity to express his displeasure with his party’s positions on every substantive piece of legislative since his arrival to serve his first term in Congress, a short eleven months ago.
While Griffith is set to announce that his change is the result of the Democratic health care plan, his defection will have no impact on upcoming votes as he voted against the House health care bill in the first place – just as he voted against the stimulus bill, cap and trade and everything else the House Democrats have proposed this year.
An Alabama friend familiar with Griffith’s motivation for making the change said,
Look at his voting record – he’s had substantial differences philosophically with the Democratic agenda here in Congress. It’s something that’s been discussed for the last several months… talking to people in his family. And it genuinely is a reflection of where he feels. It’s his own personal conviction.”
Via Politico
Really? How much of a shock could the Democratic agenda be to a first term congressman? It’s not like he’s been a part of the Congressional scene for a long time and has been forced to suffer the decline of his party’s values. I mean, the guy was elected for the first time one year ago!
Can you say ‘political opportunist?’ It’s hard to believe that any other elected Congressman has ever changed parties so quickly. Even a party hop-scotcher like Mayor Mike Bloomberg put a few years in between his party changes and his desire to win or hang onto elective office.
The district that elected Rep. Griffith, which includes Huntsville, Ala., is so steeped in the tradition of Southern Democrats that Griffith will now be the first Republican to ever hold the district’s Congressional seat. And while that might make him appear brave, don’t believe it. One need only look at Griffith’s year in review to understand what he is doing and why.
It begins with Griffith taking a beating during the August recess town hall meetings back home, despite the fact that he was openly and vocally against the health care reform package circulating through the House. Yet, as much as he tried to tell his angry constituents that he was on their side, nobody seemed to want to hear it.
Then,when a Republican succeeded in winning the seat in the state legislature previously held by Griffith, the congressman began complaining to the local newspapers about Nancy Pelosi and how she had to go.
The next blow came in September when Obama scrapped the plans to build the Eastern Europe missile defense shield. It turns out that Griffith’s district contains Boeing’s missile research facility so Obama’s decision went over down there like a lead balloon. Ironically, the Republican Congressional Committee took advantage of the opportunity to highlight Griffith as a “woefully ineffective advocate for Tennessee Valley jobs.”
Oops.
After the elections this past November, Griffith said that he no longer wanted to be called a Democrat, and preferred he be referred to as an “independent Blue Dog.”
The final nail was, no doubt, the polling that reveals that Griffith’s district is trending Republican as Huntsville experiences a large influx of new, solidly Republican residents who are participating in the rapid growth of the aerospace and defense industries in the area.
This may not be the last of congressional conversions. Many of the Democrats elected to Congress in the past couple of elections are republicans dressed in Democrat clothing thanks to a strategy hatched by Rahm Emanuel which provided the Democrats with a majority – but filled the halls of Congress with conservatives pretending to be Democrats.
With many Democratic Congressman having now announced their retirement in the face of election odds that appear too hard to overcome, a mass-exit from the Democratic party in Congress may make things even more interesting in next year’s mid-terms.
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Good ridden.
I don’t care what side of the aisle they sit on. Any elected official who wishes to change parties should have to first give up their seat. If Griffith no longer wants to be a Democrat, he should not be able to keep the spoils of the victory he won as a Democrat.
Excellent point.
In response to another comment. See in context »I disagree. In this country we elect individuals, not parties. We need to weaken the parties if not eliminate them, rather than make them ironclad. The debacle that has been the 111th Congress, the mess in California, all can be blamed on party politics. George Washington was opposed to political parties; this wouldn’t be the first time that history proved him right.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] According to the article, after the elections this past November, Griffith said that he no longer wanted to be called a Democrat, and preferred to be called an “independent Blue Dog.” According to a news article, a Democratic strategist said, “I just think it really shows the moderates feel they don’t have a voice in the party; they don’t like where we are going as a party, and that should be troubling for Democrats.” He added, “Less than a year into a Washington that is controlled by Democrats, they’ve lost hope, they feel disillusioned, and they don’t think there’s anything to stick around for.” [...]
[...] According to the article, after the elections this past November, Griffith said that he no longer wanted to be called a Democrat, and preferred to be called an “independent Blue Dog.” According to a news article, a Democratic strategist said, “I just think it really shows the moderates feel they don’t have a voice in the party; they don’t like where we are going as a party, and that should be troubling for Democrats.” He added, “Less than a year into a Washington that is controlled by Democrats, they’ve lost hope, they feel disillusioned, and they don’t think there’s anything to stick around for.” [...]
[...] According to the article, after the elections this past November, Griffith said that he no longer wanted to be called a Democrat, and preferred to be called an “independent Blue Dog.” According to a news article, a Democratic strategist said, “I just think it really shows the moderates feel they don’t have a voice in the party; they don’t like where we are going as a party, and that should be troubling for Democrats.” He added, “Less than a year into a Washington that is controlled by Democrats, they’ve lost hope, they feel disillusioned, and they don’t think there’s anything to stick around for.” [...]
[...] According to the article, after the elections this past November, Griffith said that he no longer wanted to be called a Democrat, and preferred to be called an “independent Blue Dog.” According to a news article, a Democratic strategist said, “I just think it really shows the moderates feel they don’t have a voice in the party; they don’t like where we are going as a party, and that should be troubling for Democrats.” He added, “Less than a year into a Washington that is controlled by Democrats, they’ve lost hope, they feel disillusioned, and they don’t think there’s anything to stick around for.” [...]
[...] According to the article, after the elections this past November, Griffith said that he no longer wanted to be called a Democrat, and preferred to be called an “independent Blue Dog.” According to a news article, a Democratic strategist said, “I just think it really shows the moderates feel they don’t have a voice in the party; they don’t like where we are going as a party, and that should be troubling for Democrats.” He added, “Less than a year into a Washington that is controlled by Democrats, they’ve lost hope, they feel disillusioned, and they don’t think there’s anything to stick around for.” [...]