Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith announced today that he's switching to the GOP.





http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30896.html

I guess Republicans don't even have to wait for an election to start gaining seats back...

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WTF...their allowed to DO that?

I have no problem with his belief-based-actions here...but in the middle of a term? A lot of the people who voted for him did so because he was a democrat, how can he be allowed to just switch allegiance after being voted in on a certain ticket? Granted i'm not nearly as politically savvy as most here in the political threads, but this just seems like complete bullshit to me.

ANd let me repeat, I cant say I utterly disagree with him, and i'm not really judging this on the terms of the dems losing one and the GOP gaining one, it's just the action/consequences themselves, how the fuck is he allowed to do that? And what about the money from democratic fundraising...how is there not some law against midterm desertion, isnt this akin to fraud?

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"Go out and run 'em."
- Lindy Ruff, 23 Feb. 2007

Ah, thanks for the context zilla. The only part surprising is that his constituency wont care, does that mean the southern voters are more focused on particular candidates and what they stand for, and not so much just voting along party lines? Because quite frankly the time i've spent in the south does not generally lead me to believe that these are a breed of people so discerning and politically vigilant.

I listened to this jack-asses speech. The first breath was about over-spending, and the next was about expanding the space program(after he shot down health care). Then he said how he voted against stimulus(which it is unilaterally agreed that it saved us from the brink), which he followed up with a very brief explanation that the Hubble space telescope made mammograms more accurate. I'll admit I'm somewhat biased against southerners(sorry if you are), but this guy should take a voyage off the edge of the map(which he considers the edge of the known world). I'm sure his constituents think he's a genius.

Um...you do realize he's a radiation oncologist who founded a cancer treatment center right?
He may know what he's talking about when it comes to mammograms.

(And please enlighten me with the data that shows the stimulus "saved us from the brink".
I don't want a politicians opinion...I want data.)

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The Constitution knows nothing of political parties. Changing party affiliation only changes the people with whom you caucus and which party you vote for when leadership votes come up. (this guy was already voting with Republicans on most things anyway)

They can attempt to get their money back...I'm assuming there must be some sort of contractual agreement before millions of dollars are pumped from DNC to campaign coffers, but who knows.

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The guy can't see the trickle down effect of the stimulus package, but his most staunch support is for the space program, because it made mammograms better???? Get real. The space program gave us toothpaste and Tang. He did support military spending, and noted it's contribution to advancement(which I agree with), but the space program>?? BTW, he said we have to go back to the moon??? For what? Did we leave something there we now need?? Hell, why not plan a Mars vacation for 4 at an expense of 80 trillion dollars(so we can cut spending)????

I'm glad you brought up he's a radiologist. Now I realize he was just trying to toot his own horn while he tried to sound smart.

I think most people(economists and politicians included) believe the bail-out saved us from a melt-down. I'm not claiming to know the answer here, just joining the consensus(BTW I was against it).

Also, I'm not minimizing the mammogram thing. It just wasn't appropriate or in any way telling of why he was changing parties??? Because you want to expand the space program for mammograms??????

No...he cited the health care bill as the main reason he was switching parties.
The fact that he's in the medical profession should add some weight to that decision.

As for the space program...he's basically on the side of the President (and many Democrats who think they're spending toy money) who is going to ask Congress to give NASA an additional $1 Billion next year for its manned spaceflight program
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsi ... obama.html

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He also kept talking about how it's important to have independent thought in politics. He was proud to be an independent, and this is why he's changing to Republican???? Makes sense? Since when does an independent "go rogue" by joining one of the two main parties? Maybe his next book will be "Not Going Rogue".

The Republicans have ZERO identity(and they seem to be happy with it).

Republicans, democrats... they're all fucking morons.

I hate this game of, "He did this, and she did that... that makes (insert party name here) a dirty bunch of corrupt politicians."

It's not good news for anybody. Partisan politics are terrible for this country, and will ultimately lead to catastrophe.

There is only one politician I trust:

Ron Paul.

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Wheelhouse

Sorry, I read the article and press release...that video seems to have angered you.

Don't worry, Democrats didn't lose a vote anyway.

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Not mad about the seat itself. I think they've all lost their minds irregardless of affiliation.

...and yes, the guy did piss me off. He seemed disingenuous(but I admitted my bias up front), and reminded me of a modern day independent(meaning he 'depends' on what he needs to at the time, rather than independent ideology). I'd think you'd hate these guys the worst too X. Politicians that barely even admit they're politicians.

See also: Arlen Specter

Ham

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