Party Switching 101

This article first appeared on Dec 27, 2009.

It is hard to envision that excited and proud liberals were writing the obituary for modern Conservatism less than 12 months ago.  To hear their hubris-filled tones, the "progressive majority" was underway and they were ready to enact their legislative agenda. 
 
My how times quickly change……
 
This week, one of the "Blue Dog Democrats" (Parker Griffith, formerly-D (now-R) from Alabama) announced a mid-term switch.  It is one thing for a politician to decide and announce a party switch after a hard-fought election to move into a newly-elected majority.  It is something entirely different for one to make this type of change during the middle of a term leaving what is the majority caucus.  It sounds as if recent events surrounding Healthcare Reform legislation were the final straw on the back of his camel.  He is quoted describing the bill as "bad for our doctors…bad for our patients, and…bad for the young men and women who are considering going into the healthcare field".  By Griffith’s own description, he (an oncologist, himself) fails to see benefits for doctors, patients, or even people who will be entering the field of healthcare.  Apparently, he shares an opinion that the legislation has little to do with healthcare at all and is instead a boon and power grab by politicians.     
 
Admittedly, Representative Griffith does serve a district that in 2008 voted against President Obama by an almost 2-to-1 margin.  However, he represents a district that has not been held by a Republican in years!  He is possibly only the first in a number of Democrats from red-leaning states that choose (either for legislative or political reasons) to depart the Democratic caucus by choice instead of Congress entirely by action of their electorate. 
 
In an article (linked here), Dick Morris writes for Townhall.com that Griffith’s switch marks the death of "moderate" Democrats.  He correctly notes the reality that Americans are seeing that the campaign promises and rhetoric of their candidates matters little when they ultimately cast votes for extremist party leaders once elected.  In the case of the soon-to-shrink roster of "moderate" Democrats, votes for Reid and Pelosi are not representative of the moderate-to-conservative electorates who offered their support and votes. 
 
If Morris is correct, it could be a long and difficult campaign for Democrats during 2010.  To that end, it is time for Conservatives to go to work!