From Politico:

 

Democrats got a punch in the gut on Tuesday when freshman Congressman Parker Griffith (D-AL) announced he would switch parties.  Griffith is what is known as a blue dog Democrat, or a Democrat who is more fiscally conservative than the average Democrat.  He stated as his reason for switching parties:

[H]e 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.”

 “Unfortunately there are those in the Democratic Leadership that continue to push an agenda focused on massive new spending, tax increases, bailouts and a health care bill that is bad for our healthcare system,” Griffith said in a statement. “I have always considered myself to be an independent voice and I have tried to be that voice in Congress – but after watching this agenda firsthand I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear and that for me to be true to my core beliefs and values I must align myself with the Republican party and speak out clearly on these issues.

 

 

While Griffith’s departure is not going to tip the balance of power in the House of Representatives, it does signal trouble to come in the mid term elections of 2010.  DCCC is not real happy with his departure either because they helped defend him against attacks from the far right in the last election.  A spokesperson for Griffith has said campaign funds will be returned.

To date, no one has said how his defection from the Democratic Party will be received by those who elected him.  Sometimes doing things like this can be a real deal breaker.  Senator Arlen Specter  (D-PA) will certainly have a price to pay for switching from the Republican to Democratic Party.

Rep Parker Griffith is a physican.  The Health Care bill apparently is what catapulted Griffin over to the Republicans.  The Republicans see this change in party as a coup since Griffith had been heavily courted and recruited.  Many people see him as one of first, but surely not the last congressman to switch parties.

Do our elected officials have a responsibility to ‘dance with the one who brung them?’  Should our elected officials be able to ‘switch horses midstream?’  Should they have to wait until the next election to campaign for a different party?

Senator Lieberman seemed to escape major criticism by simply running and winning as an independent. Solmehow this seems to be a little more honorable.

14 Thoughts to “Blue Dog Breaks from the Pack”

  1. JustinT

    If there was really a principle involved, why not do this when your own legislative body voted 2 months ago. What does it have to do with the Senate’s vote? So the real question is: Who paid him off, the GOP or the health insurance lobby?

  2. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    JustinT :
    So the real question is: Who paid him off, the GOP or the health insurance lobby?

    Justin is right here. We don’t know who paid Rep Griffith off. We DO know who paid off Sen. Nelson, Sen. Landrieu, Sen. Dodd, Sen. Sanders, and Sen. Levin. We know these folks were paid off by Harry Reid using using Virginian’s money. But we don’t know who paid off Rep. Griffith.

  3. Landrieu and Nelson maybe there is an argument for a ‘payoff.’ Dodd? I don’t think he needed to be bribed to vote for health care reform.

  4. GainesvilleResident

    Let’s not forget good old Senator Spector from Pennsylvania. What deals were made to get him to switch to the Democrat side?

  5. A PW County Resident

    Dodd got a $100 million for a hospital in Connecticut. I thought hospitals were local or private issues not Federal ones.

    So was this just a case of over-the-top or runaway pork?

  6. Formerly Anonymous

    It’s a surprise that Griffith is switching parties now, but not that he eventually did it. He was one of a handful of Democrats to vote against the stimulus and he is in a Republican leaning district. Some of the threatened cuts to Marshall SFC may have put him over the edge.

    It is very unusual to see someone switch from the majority party to the minority party. I suspect his dissatisfaction over the health care bill was the driving reason (Griffith was an MD before going to Congress, so it’s not surprising he has strong opinions on the subject.)

    In the short term, this is probably a win for the Democrats. He wasn’t a reliable vote and they can spare one vote in the House. The problem is that it helps increase the perception that the Democrats have problems going into 2010. The GOP obviously gains a seat, but also now doesn’t have to spent the money to unseat Griffith. (The NRCC already pulled some very strong attacks off YouTube.)

    The week between Christmas and New Years we may try to update our predictions on Congress. I think we expected AL-5 to switch anyway, but I’d have to double check.

    As an aside, the person who wins the award for being a class act in switching parties is still Phil Gramm. When I switched from Democrat to Republican, he resigned his seat in the House and ran in the next election (for Senate) as a Republican. His explanation was it was dishonest to the people who voted for him as a Democrat to continue to serve in Congress as a Republican.

  7. And Phil Gramm is right.

    Honest you all, I did mention Specter. I also brought up Lieberman. But they are on page 2. I am trying to make it easier to get to the comment section by shortening the first page of the posts. In fact, I went through and cleaned up last night. I still haven’t been able to fix the blog roll. It is an enigma. (chanting music in the background)

  8. GainesvilleResident

    Sorry, missed the part about Spector on page 2.

  9. I knew it! 😉 re Specter on page 2.

    Dodd, given his relationship with the late Senator Kennedy did not have to be bribed or promised anything to vote for health care, I would imagine.

  10. Rick, I am thinking about Kaine. Anyone who has implemented the budget cuts he has can hardly be called a screaming liberal. Additionally, he as fried several of Virginia’s murderers.

    That doesn’t sound like a liberal to me. In fact, I can’t think of one liberal thing he has done.

  11. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Meanwhile, Jim Webb left a turd in every Virginian’s stocking this year! He thinks it’s just “jim-dandy” for us to pay for Nebraskans’ Medicaid expansions forever! Thanks Jimmy! Say, anyone or anything running against you next November?

  12. Still waiting to hear what Kaine did liberal other than frying our murders and closing our rest stops.

    Slow, you should know by now that all politics is compromise. In a country as large as ours with diverse needs and wants, it cannot be anything but compromise ever.

    People howled and carried on over Medicare back in the 60’s when it was pushed through. It has been a God send to senior citizens, despite some of its flaws.

  13. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    @Moon-howler

    I wasn’t part of the Kaine/Liberal thing, but proposing tax hikes to cover the state’s spending on crap they’re not supposed to be doing is one of the key pillars of liberal. That’s liberal enough to satisfy the argument, although I bet if I looked, there are a million more examples.

  14. I think they are going to have to increase by a percent to keep the state’s head about water. When does it get to the point when you don’t have a police force, and it takes 6 months to get a birth certificate? How much deeper can the cuts go?

    I don’t think raising taxes is always liberal. I hate labels. Somehow there has to be discussion between 2 poles. There isn’t just liberal and conservative.

    Curious here, how come you let Mark Warner off the hook? He voted for health care also.

    I don’t like it or hate it. I was never able to find out enough about it because of all the shrieking from both sides. I don’t really expect it to help me or hurt me. I will probably just keep writing my $500 checks to my carrier. Ker ching Ker ching.

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