The Obligatory “Griffith Defects” Post

By now, you've heard all about this.  One of the few Democrats representing Alabama -- a Freshman to boot -- bolts the party and announces he's going to become a Republican because of the health care bill.

Freshman Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) switched his affiliation to the Republican Party on Tuesday, saying he could "no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country."

Griffith was elected last year to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dropped more than $1 million in independent expenditures to keep the seat, and Griffith won with 51 percent, even though only 38 percent of voters in the north Alabama district chose Barack Obama for president.

"Democrats of every stripe and philosophy sweated and bled for this man," said Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham. "He narrowly became a congressman through the hard work, votes and financial contributions of thousands of Democrats. Today, they feel betrayed."

The DCCC's chairman, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), took that criticism a step further, citing Griffith's "duty and responsibility" to return all contributions made to him by Democratic members of Congress.

The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), sought to cast Griffith's decision as symbolic of larger problems with the Democratic caucus. "His decision is emblematic of the message that millions of concerned citizens have been trying to send to a Democrat Party that has become increasingly unwilling to listen," Sessions said.

Since Tuesday, Griffith has seen the following happen to him:

• The majority of his staff quit.
• The DCCC ask repeatedly for the $1.4 million it has spent on Griffith back (Yeah...best of luck there.)
• Another Democrat declare they were now running in the seat.
• Griffith himself enter an already loaded GOP primary with little to no support announced to be coming from any local, state, or national GOP apparatus. (The NRCC is just using him as press release fodder it seems.)
• Another Democrat -- Chris Carney of Pennsylvania -- reported to be courted by Sen. John McCain to switch parties as well.  He later announced he was declining the offer (at this time).

As much as one (and I know many conservative bloggers in and around DC who are) would want to declare this as some sort of "Democratic Small Tent Thing," it really isn't.  If anything this guy is doing almost exactly what Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania did when he flipped from the Republican to Democratic parties early this year: Trying to save his political bacon.

Let's look at the facts:

1. This guy barely won a Democratic Open Seat in 2008 with a margin of 51% of the vote in a Democratic year.
2. Barack Obama only got 38% of the vote in 2008 for this Congressional District.
3. Up until the switch, Griffith had voted with Pelosi 85% of the time.

The Griffith switch is very much the Democratic version of the Spector switch, a he's a politician more concerned he has a job come election time than serving any sort of constituency because he's become too used to people calling him "State Senator," "Congressman," or "Senator."

One of the last "honest" party switchers was in my opinion, former Texas Senator Phil Gramm's when he went from being a Democrat to a Republican while serving in the House.  In that case, he simply quit the Democratic Party in after being re-elected in 1982 because he was voting like a Republican for years and appears to find a champion for his economic thinking in Reagan.  He then ran as a Republican in the 1983 Special Election of the District asking the people of his district to judge him by his actions not the letter after his name.

He was easily elected as a Republican.

If Republicans in Alabama (or Democrats in Pennsylvania in the case of Spector) want to punish Griffith for being a political opportunist, go right ahead in my book.