Parker Griffith crosses the aisle (Huntsville, Kennedy: college, moving to, radio)

[cornutt]

I don't know if politics is on-topic here or not, so if it isn't, my apologies and feel free to delete this...

WHNT is running a graphic saying that Parker Griffith has just changed parties. He's now a Republican.

[tammie2]

This is the funniest thing I have heard all day!!! I wonder if his ideals will be changing too.

[caution]

the GOP is taking this dude?

[FCEddie]

Originally Posted by tammie2

This is the funniest thing I have heard all day!!! I wonder if his ideals will be changing too.

When I heard it on the radio I started laughing. talk about a desperate move.

[zenjenn]

I did not vote for Griffith, but I have been following him and have heard him speak in person on a couple occasions. Really, I've been pleasantly surprised.

Honestly I do not think conservatives have been giving this guy a fair shake at all.

No, he is not a diehard conservative, and neither am I. But the fact of the matter is, the Democratic party has gone so far left, that it is true that Parker Griffith's ideals are probably closer to the GOP than the current Dem party. He doesn't have to change his ideals.. he's old enough to be from an era where Democratic Party ideals from his youth are more like moderate Republican ideals today. Read a Kennedy speech anonymously to a bunch of college students and ask them whether this speech was given by a Republican or a Dem and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts they would identify the speech as being one given by a Republican.

By all means, if there is a candidate you would prefer to vote for in the next election, do so. Incumbency does nothing to court me. But for the time being he is our representative and really, in the current political climate, moving to the GOP is probably one of the more honest things he could do.

[pennquaker09]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

I did not vote for Griffith, but I have been following him and have heard him speak in person on a couple occasions. Really, I've been pleasantly surprised.

Honestly I do not think conservatives have been giving this guy a fair shake at all.

No, he is not a diehard conservative, and neither am I. But the fact of the matter is, the Democratic party has gone so far left, that it is true that Parker Griffith's ideals are probably closer to the GOP than the current Dem party. He doesn't have to change his ideals.. he's old enough to be from an era where Democratic Party ideals from his youth are more like moderate Republican ideals today. Read a Kennedy speech anonymously to a bunch of college students and ask them whether this speech was given by a Republican or a Dem and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts they would identify the speech as being one given by a Republican.

By all means, if there is a candidate you would prefer to vote for in the next election, do so. Incumbency does nothing to court me. But for the time being he is our representative and really, in the current political climate, moving to the GOP is probably one of the more honest things he could do.

That's not honest. Democrat's elected him, not Republican's and that's basically a slap in the face to all of his supporters.

Honestly, though, he was always a little to the right anyway. Way to conservative to call himself a Democrat IMHO.

[zenjenn]

That's not honest. Democrat's elected him, not Republican's and that's basically a slap in the face to all of his supporters.

That's not true. The people of AL-05 elected him. One doesn't even register to a political party in this state.

He ran as a "blue dog Democrat" who claimed he would stand his ground in terms of being fiscally conservative. Given the way the Dems are, as far as I can tell, being highly pressured to "get in line" in terms of supporting the some of the most spendy legislation in American history, I don't see how switching parties is dishonest if remaining in the party does not enable him to do as he said he would.

[gsp4ever]

Originally Posted by pennquaker09

That's not honest. Democrat's elected him, not Republican's and that's basically a slap in the face to all of his supporters.

So, you *really* believe that only Democrats vote for Democrats and only Republicans vote for Republicans? So, who do the independents (or those otherwise not aligned with a particular party) vote for? Quite a few of them, too, BTW.

[DanInHSV]

Originally Posted by gsp4ever

So, you *really* believe that only Democrats vote for Democrats and only Republicans vote for Republicans? So, who do the independents (or those otherwise not aligned with a particular party) vote for? Quite a few of them, too, BTW.

Thats a good point. By definition, the "voters" elect the candidate. However, the Democratic party (local and national) probably gave a lot of money to fund his election.

The funny thing is Nancy Pelosi gave his Griffith's PAC $4000 and then after the check cleared, he said at a town hall meeting about voting for Pelosi as Speaker : "I would not vote for her [again]. Someone that divisive and that polarizing cannot bring us together."

[DanInHSV]

I wonder if this will put the nail in the coffin for the Ares program. Just last week, Obama told the NASA administrator he favored canning Ares-I and funding commercial space flight initiatives. Huntsville and MSFC may stand to loose a lot from Griffith's move to the minority party.

Comments?