Conservatives Not Ready to Embrace Party-Switcher Parker Griffith

[babylonsister]

Conservatives Not Ready to Embrace Party-Switcher
Griffith's Jump to GOP Hasn't Deterred Primary Challengers, Tea Party Critics
By David Weigel 12/22/09 3:59 PM


On Tuesday morning, Politico broke the news that Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) was switching from the Democratic Party to the GOP. For Les Phillip — a Tea Party activist who’d been waging a Republican campaign for Griffith’s seat since August — it was “manna from heaven.”

“This is why we do the things we do,” Phillip told TWI. “This gives us a chance to judge his entire record. If he wants to play on this side of the hall, our voters are very aware of the issues and we hold everyone accountable.”

Before Griffith had even explained his decision in a brief mid-afternoon press conference, Phillip made it clear to TWI that the switch would do nothing to deter his bid. If anything, it gave his insurgent campaign — which has won the support of Mike Huckabee’s HuckPAC — a new argument against the first-term congressman.

“This is an act of desperation to maintain power,” said Phillip. “It’s exactly what people in this district are sick of. When someone lied before, and now says he’s telling the truth, well, was he lying then, or is he lying now?”

Griffith’s switch — the first time a Democratic congressman has made this jump since Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) did in 2004 — has been welcomed by the national GOP. In no time at all, party leaders made the connection between Griffith’s move and the progress of a health care bill that looks set to pass the Senate on partisan lines. (Griffith voted against the House’s version of the legislation.) “When a member of Congress decides to leave a 258-seat majority to join a deep minority,” said Rep. Eric Cantor, the party’s whip, in a statement, “it is a sure sign that the majority party has become completely disconnected from seniors, young workers and families in America.”

At the same time, conservatives in Washington and in Griffith’s district told TWI that they had serious reservations about backing a man who’d spent only 11 months as a House Democrat. In that time, they argue, Griffith’s votes against cap-and-trade, the economic stimulus package and the Lily Ledbetter Act were sullied by his votes for spending and earmarks. Phillip was not alone — all of Griffith’s Republican challengers have announced that they are not dropping out of the race. In a statement on Parker’s switch, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) notably neglected to swing the committee’s endorsement to the newest member of the House GOP conference.

“We’ve known for a long time that Parker Griffith’s principles are either for sale to the highest bidder or can change depending on how the poll results are looking,” said a spokesman for Mo Brooks, a county commissioner who’d gotten some early support from the NRCC, in an interview with Politico. “He seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth.”

more...

http://washingtonindependent.com/71799/conservatives-not-ready-to-embrace-party-switcher

[WCGreen]

1. Wouldn't that be a hoot if he lost the republican primary....

[babylonsister]

4. I wouldn't shed any tears. nt

[Aramchek]

2. he will be replaced in 2010

[LiberalFighter]

3. Looks like not a smart move on Griffith's part to switch party.

He is risking losing the seat from within the party he joined.

I wonder if anyone that has contributed to Griffith prior to his party switch will be demanding their contributions back? They should. And if he refuses when they ask they should sue him for fraud and deception.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

5. What? You mean he can't find no love?

Life's a bitch.