[stupendousman]

Exclusive: Rep. Parker Griffith switches to GOP - - POLITICO.com

Seems like someone is getting a headstart. They usually wait to do this after the elections.

[ort888]

Yes, soon every democrat in the country will switch parties. It's all starting to come together.

[Shaddim]

Griffith told a local newspaper that he wouldn't vote for Nancy Pelosi to remain as House Speaker because she's too divisive. He joked that if she didn’t like it, he’d provide her with a gift certificate to a mental health center.

I like this guy.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

I like this guy.

Hahaha, that's awesome. Where's he from? Can I vote for him?

[turtle777]

A radiation oncologist who founded a cancer treatment center, Griffith plans to blast the Democratic health care bill as a prime reason for his decision to switch parties—and is expected to cite his medical background as his authority on the subject.

This makes it even more notable.

People who have a clue how fu*ked up the health care bill is are doing what they can to stop it.

-t

[Montezuma58]

Griffith is the representative for my district. It's a shrewd move on his part. As a democrat there's a good chance he would lose re-election. His election was pretty close. There are enough people to around here fed up with the Democrats to vote him out. Since it is his first term the voters would loose practically no seniority on committees by voting out Griffith.

[ort888]

Maybe he just wants to keep profiting off of human misery like the rest of the health care industry does.

[mduell]

Not surprising to see a few new members leave when the president (who, despite the actual structure of the party, is seen as the party's figurehead) is at net -21. I suspect he was just riding the anti-Republican sentiment in the last election; I don't see AL democrats being too close to the core of the democratic party.

[besson3c]

So what is "it" that is starting?

[The Final Dakar]

You know, at this point I'd love to see Arlen Specter switch back.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

So what is "it" that is starting?

It'll change the world! We'll redesign cities around it!

[SpaceMonkey]

You know...for kids!

[Montezuma58]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Not surprising to see a few new members leave when the president (who, despite the actual structure of the party, is seen as the party's figurehead) is at net -21. I suspect he was just riding the anti-Republican sentiment in the last election; I don't see AL democrats being too close to the core of the democratic party.

There was not that much anti-republican sentiment here. He served as dem at the state level. He would not have made it past the primaries if started out as a republican. Bud Cramer (D), who Griffith replaced, was extremely popular here. Cramer's support was one key to Griffith winning. Also there were probably a few more democrats than normal showing up at the poles to vote for Obama. Many of those voters won't be showing up at the poles next year.

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Maybe he's just tired of profiting off of human misery and poverty like the rest of the Democratic party.

There made it more accurate for ya.

[ort888]

Is it time to start making cat food jokes again?

[besson3c]

I would like to hear your cat food jokes ort.

[Doofy]

My cats don't want to hear your cat food jokes.
But would probably quite like it if I went and fed them.

[besson3c]

Can you post a picture of you with your cats Doofy?

[Laminar]

No, he's too badass to own a camera.

[ort888]

This woman has her bridge club every Thursday night and after a peaceful game or two with the ladies, she goes home to fix her husband dinner when he gets home from work. Well, one Thursday, she's playing a great game and she has an incredible hand when she notices the time. "Oh, no! I have to go fix my husband his dinner! He's going to be so angry if it's not ready on time." And she dashes out fo her friend's house, her great hand forgotten on the table.

When she gets home, she realizes she has very little time, not enough time to go to the grocery store, and all she has in the cupboard is a wilted lettuce leaf, an egg, and a can of cat food. In a panic, she opens the can of cat food, stirs in the egg, and garnishes it with the lettuce leaf just as her husband is pulling up. She watches in horror as he sits down to his dinner, and then she realizes he is loving it!

"Mmmm, honey, this is the best dinner you have made for me in forty years of marriage. You can make this for me any old day, mmmmm!" And that night they had sex for the first time in months and it was great!

Needless to say, every Thursday from then on, she made this dinner for her husband. She tells her bridge cronies about it and they are all horrified. "You're going to kill him," they say, or "He's just yanking your chain," but she continued to make him his cat food dinner and then, afterwards, they would boink like fiends.

Two months later, her husband died and all the bridge women the Thursday after the funeral attacked our new widow for being so callous. "You killed him! We told you that feeding him that cat food every week would do him in! How can you just sit there so calmly and play bridge knowing you murdered your husband?"

The wife stoicly replied, "Ahh, I didn't kill him, he fell off the mantel when he was licking his ass."

[SpaceMonkey]

I don't get it.

[besson3c]

I don't get it either, but I liked the ass licking part.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

I don't get it.

You've obviously never seen a cat clean itself.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

You've obviously never seen a cat clean itself.

Yes, I have.

[besson3c]

How could you die from falling off a mantel? I've fallen off of at least 7 mantels and I'm fine.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

How could you die from falling off a mantel? I've fallen off of at least 7 mantels and I'm fine.

Most people have spikes on the floor under their mantel. It's a tradition that I've never understood.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

Most people have spikes on the floor under their mantel. It's a tradition that I've never understood.

These people are obviously atheists that hate Christmas enough to want to attempt to murder or badly injure Santa Claus!

[hyteckit]

And so it begins.

People switching parties and turning gay.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by hyteckit 

And so it begins.

People switching parties and turning gay.

Not surprising, they're all doing X at the other party.

[stupendousman]

McCain, GOP secretly courting another Dem to switch - - POLITICO.com

Uh oh.

It looks like Bill Daley sees the warning signs as well:
William M. Daley - Keep the Big Tent big

The announcement by Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith that he is switching to the Republican Party is just the latest warning sign that the Democratic Party -- my lifelong political home -- has a critical decision to make: Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come.

Rep. Griffith's decision makes him the fifth centrist Democrat to either switch parties or announce plans to retire rather than stand for reelection in 2010. These announcements are a sharp reversal from the progress the Democratic Party made starting in 2006 and continuing in 2008, when it reestablished itself as the nation's majority party for the first time in more than a decade. That success happened for one major reason: Democrats made inroads in geographies and constituencies that had trended Republican since the 1960s. In these two elections, a majority of independents and a sizable number of moderate Republicans joined the traditional Democratic base to sweep Democrats to commanding majorities in Congress and to bring Barack Obama to the White House.

These independents and Republicans supported Democrats based on a message indicating that the party would be a true Big Tent -- that we would welcome a diversity of views even on tough issues such as abortion, gun rights and the role of government in the economy.

This call was answered not just by voters but by a surge of smart, talented candidates who came forward to run and win under the Democratic banner in districts dominated by Republicans for a generation. These centrists swelled the party's ranks in Congress and contributed to Obama's victories in states such as Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado and other Republican bastions.

But now they face a grim political fate. On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, "true" Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with a party that seems to be advancing an agenda far to the left of most voters.

The political dangers of this situation could not be clearer.

Read the whole thing. I don't agree with everything Daley says, but he makes a lot of sense. Whenever either party caters too broadly to it's "base" it alienates everyone else, and you need a good chunk of that "everyone else" to progress towards the goals of the base. If you lack patience and/or ideas that will resonate with the majority of Americans long-term, any gains you make will be short-term. That's the mistake the Democrats made in 1994 and are making now. The Republicans to a smaller degree did the same thing in between, but it took them longer to do it.

Think about it.

[stupendousman]

Dorgan says he will not seek re-election in 2010 - Yahoo! News

[besson3c]

I still want to know what "it" is... I don't know whether to be excited or not if I don't know what it is.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

I still want to know what "it" is... I don't know whether to be excited or not if I don't know what it is.

It's a secret.

-t

[besson3c]

Do you mean the "it" is a secret, or just that it's a secret?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Do you mean the "it" is a secret, or just that it's a secret?

Yes.

-t

[besson3c]

Hi Turtle,

Have you eaten any turtle pellets today?

I'm just wondering, why do you always write in your -t signature to every message? Why don't you move your -t right beside the turtles in your signature so that you don't have to type this each time?

You're welcome if you hadn't thought about doing that...

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

So what is "it" that is starting?

The global shift towards conservatism that Abe was talking about 5 years ago.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak 

The global shift towards conservatism that Abe was talking about 5 years ago.

Damnit, I knew there was something foreshadowing about Abe! I just hope that he was wrong about the next great flood.

[ebuddy]

Y'all are just messed up.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

Y'all are just messed up.

I'm disappointed in you ebuddy... Why are you calling us mean names? I'm not messed up! Your face is messed up!

[stupendousman]

The Fix - Chris Dodd to step aside

"It" is rats jumping off a sinking ship. Back in 1994 a lot of Democrats switched sides or announced they would be retiring AFTER big Republican wins. It seems as though some are getting an early start. You're not seeing the same pattern of Republicans retiring or switching sides right now.

[stupendousman]

Funny thing....

I just looked at the Drudge Report and their link to the Dorgan story says:

"IT BEGINS: Dem. Sen. Dorgan Says No More; Will Not Run Reelection..."

Apparently no one had to tell Matt what "it" was.

[Orion27]

Switching parties is putting a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'd vote against any party switcher in a primary or election.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak 

The global shift towards conservatism that Abe was talking about 5 years ago.

Well, people are gullible, after all.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Orion27 

Switching parties is putting a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'd vote against any party switcher in a primary or election.

Why? All people's ideas change over time. Political parties are composed of people and therefore political parties change over time as well. Therefore it is completely reasonable that over one's lifetime, the party which is most appropriate for you would change.

[stupendousman]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

Why? All people's ideas change over time. Political parties are composed of people and therefore political parties change over time as well. Therefore it is completely reasonable that over one's lifetime, the party which is most appropriate for you would change.

In general, if it's a "shift" this should be seen in how the person in question votes and his political philosophy. I buy Leiberman and "Magic Bullet" Specter changing parties. It was clear that both weren't anywhere near being on the same page as the leadership of their party or it's base.

I do question however when people switch parties when "the writing is on the wall" and there are clearly other reasons for switching other than philosophy. People changing parties just because the people in their district are unhappy with the party in question is kind of a silly reason to do it, and I'm pretty sure that's why a lot do.

[SpaceMonkey]

I found it on eBay:

[Orion27]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

Why? All people's ideas change over time. Political parties are composed of people and therefore political parties change over time as well. Therefore it is completely reasonable that over one's lifetime, the party which is most appropriate for you would change.

Core values. I think you would agree there are differences between Democrat and Republican, though
one would have had trouble distinguishing between the two the past few years. The handwriting is on the wall. The nation has seen how Democrats intend to govern and they want no part of it. Both parties are in the peoples gun sights. Incumbents of both sides are vulnerable. If one is credibly right of center you are safe. If not look out.

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by Orion27 

Switching parties is putting a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'd vote against any party switcher in a primary or election.

yes. Flip, meet Flop.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

Why? All people's ideas change over time. Political parties are composed of people and therefore political parties change over time as well. Therefore it is completely reasonable that over one's lifetime, the party which is most appropriate for you would change.

People hate party-switchers because they serve as reminders that none of these career politicians believe in any of this crap anyway.