General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow do you feel about GOP politicians switching parties to Democrat?
I can see, broadly stated, two schools of thought on this.
On the one hand, if they switch it broadens our base and makes our control of the Congress more likely. We get judges. Etc.
On the other hand, having these people join us serves to move us to the right.
How do you see it?
broiles
(1,361 posts)unblock
(51,974 posts)too few politicians switch parties to make it anything meaningful.
it may, however be a tiny bit of an indicator of a more broad movement among the populus.
politicians tend not to switch from the growing party to the shrinking party.
but mostly it's noise. on a par with trying to make something out of the odd-year elections. booker won big in nj! what does that say about the democrats' chance to take back the house in 2014? uh, not much at all, actually....
It doesn't happen very often. There are situations where people have a change of heart on an issue or issues that make them more aligned with the other party. In this case we are talking about a governor where a teabagger is running the state. I don't think it will make a huge difference.
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)so, his move to the Dem party only makes sense.
But I am always wary when they change.
kydo
(2,679 posts)Crist was a pleasant surprise. I didn't vote for him and when he switched parties it actually made sense because of the policies he was doing as Gov. and not doing. Baggers (although this was before we really called them baggers) were not happy with Crist.
Crist pissed me of when he ran for Senate. Because remember when he switched he didn't become a Dem, he went Independent (it wasn't until later did he become a Dem well after he left office). So we had 3 people on the ballot a dem, bagger (rubio) and indie (Crist). Crist split the dem and some mod repub votes and we ended up with rubio.
dsc
(52,130 posts)kydo
(2,679 posts)Republican - Marco Rubio - 2,645,743 - 48.9%
Independent - Charlie Crist - 1,607,549 - 29.7%
Democratic - Kendrick Meek - 1,092,936 0 - 20.2%
dsc
(52,130 posts)then Crist did cost us.
Meek was never a viable candidate
with Crist out - Meek would still not win
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)On the flip side, polls showing a two way race between Rubio and Crist were very close.
This is probably why Skinner and the rest of the admins allowed an exception to the rule regarding supporting a non-Democrat in a race. If a Democrat is not going to win, and there was no chance for Meek here, we need to prevent the Republican from winning, particularly a very right wing teabagger favorite like Rubio.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)ceasing their attacks on actual Democrats who have a policy criticism of Obama because the 'Moderate' Crist went on stage with Palin to chant 'drill here, drill now' then went on TV to explain why Palin was more qualified than Obama. That is now a welcome Moderate background, public boosting of Palin and attacking of Obama is what 'Moderates' do, according to those who say Crist is a Moderate.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)Supporting a candidate strategically in a race, or allowing support of that person on a Democratic message forum as an exception in order to allow others to support a candidate strategically is hardly an example of one's ideology on issues.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)and a durable majority in the House.
If folks want to compare what Congress did 2009-2010 vs 2011-present, I think they'd agree.
CTyankee
(63,771 posts)poker hand. I want to see their bona fides on reproductive rights, unions, universal health care and a host of other progressive policy stands. My bottom line. If you are going to run as a Dem, you have to BE a Dem. Period.
Turbineguy
(37,212 posts)where Right is better than loony-tunes crazy.
I long for those liberal/progressive administrations of Eisenhower and Nixon. Even Goldwater wasn't too bad.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)even by today's standards.
He voted against the Civil Rights Act.
leftstreet
(36,081 posts)To hear the media, columnists, and forum people screeching RED TEAM!! BLUE TEAM!!! you'd think the country was on the verge of a violent civil war every day
But when these millionaire pols just slide in and out of allegedly competing interest parties...
hmm
Awknid
(381 posts)Even though I don't really think having a third party is a good thing, the Dems are getting too close to falling off the edge of the right side. I love our Pres., but he is much more moderate than we need. What happened to FDR-like thinking?
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)sandyshoes17
(657 posts)Not sure if it's good or bad. Maybe we should get some of the really good liberal/ progressives and start a new party, let them have the blue dogs. Get rid of the whackos all together.
libodem
(19,288 posts)But there ya go. None of these doofs are trustworthy. Republicans have ruined any and all faith in government or politicians.
That being said in this red state you almost have to have an 'R' behind your name or you don't have a chance. I've heard conversations about changing parties, in certain counties, to win elections.
Nick Junior
(12 posts)To help push a progressive agenda.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Chan790
(20,176 posts)The last of the moderate Republicans left office with Linc Chafee.
There are no Republicans left not worth slamming the tent-door in their faces.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Gain politically for those switching. Rick Perry switched from Democrat to Republican but he does not remember why, oops. I think the GOP has gone too crazy and perhaps it is time to bring back sensible candidates who want to govern. I would be happy for the hate to go away but wonder how long it will take the talk show gang to cut their hate mongering. Let's hope we have a stronger DNC.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)hughee99
(16,113 posts)than on the outside pissing in...
In any case, think of all those districts were people flat out WON'T vote for a Dem so the repuke wins by default. Now, their repuke (or maybe one in a neighboring district) switches parties and some people think "well, that guy isn't THAT bad". It might help a little bit to make future D's more competitive in those districts.
Brother Buzz
(36,217 posts)
McCloskeys have been Republicans in California since 1859, the year before Lincoln's election. My great grandfather, John Henry McCloskey, orphaned in the great Irish potato famine of 1843, came to California in 1853 as a boy of 16, and joined the party just before the Civil War.
By 1890 he and my grandfather, both farmers, made up two of the twelve members of the Republican Central Committee of Merced County. My father's most memorable expletive came when I was a boy of 10 or 11: "That damn Roosevelt is trying to pack the Supreme Court!"
I registered Republican in 1948 after reaching the age of 21. We were the party of civil rights, of free choice for women and fiscal responsibility. Since Teddy Roosevelt, we had favored environmental protection, and most of all we stood for fiscal responsibility, honesty, ethics and limited government intrusion into our personal lives and choices. We accepted that one the duties of wealth was to pay a higher rate of income tax, and that the estates of the wealthy should contribute to the national treasury in reasonable measure.
I was proud to serve with Republicans like Gerry Ford, the first George Bush and Bob Dole.
In 1994, however, Newt Gingrich brought a new kind of Republicanism to power, and the election of George W. Bush in 2000 has led to wholly new concept of governance. The bureaucracy has mushroomed in size and power. The budget deficits have become astronomical. Our historical separation of church and state has been blurred. We have seen a succession of ethical scandals, congressmen taking bribes, and abuse of power by both the Republican House leadership and the highest appointees of the White House.
The single cardinal principle of political science, that power corrupts, has come to apply not only to Republican leaders like Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney and John Doolittle, but to a succession of White House officials and appointees. The stench of Jack Abramoff has permeated much of the Washington Republican establishment.
The Justice Department, guardian of of our rule of law, has been compromised. It's third ranking official, a graduate of Pat Robertson's dubious law school, has taken the 5th Amendment.
Men who have never felt the fear of combat, and who largely dodged military service in their youth, have led us into grievous wars in far off places with no thought of the diplomacy, grace and respect for other peoples and their cultures which has been an American trademark for at least the last two thirds of a century. We have lost the respect and affection of most of the world outside our borders. My son, Peter, one of the U.S. prosecutors at The Hague of the war crimes in Serbia and elsewhere, tells me that people of other countries no longer look at the country which countenances torture as a beacon for the world and the rule of law.
Earth Day, that bi-partisan concept of Gaylord Nelson in 1970, has become the focus of almost hatred by today's Republican leadership. Many still argue that global warming is a hoax, and that Bush has been right to demean and suppress the arguments of scientists at the E.P.A., Fish & Wildlife and U.S.Geological Survey.
I say a pox on them and their values.
Until the past few weeks, I had hoped that the party could right itself, returning to the values of the Eisenhowers, Fords and George H. W. Bush.
What finally turned me to despair, however, was listening to the reports, or watching on C-Span, a whole series of congressional oversight hearings on C-Span, held by old friends and colleagues like Pat Leahy, Henry Waxman, Norm Dicks, Nick Rahall, Danny Akaka and others, trying to learn the truth on the misdeeds and incompetence of the Bush Administration. Time after time I saw Republican Members of the House and Senate. speak out in scorn or derision about these exercises of Congress oversight responsibility being "witch-hunts" or partisan attempts to distort the actions of people like the head of the General Service Administration and the top political appointees in the Justice and Interior Departments. Disagreement turned into disgust.
I finally concluded that it was a fraud for me to rema'n a member of this modern Republican Party, that there were only a few like Chuck Hegel, Jack Warner, Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins I could respect.
Two of the best, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, and Jim Leach of Iowa, after years of battling for balance and sanity, were defeated last November, and it seems that every Republican presidential candidate is now vying for the support of the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells rather than talking about a return to the values of the party I joined nearly 59 years ago. My favorite spokesmen have beome Senators Jim Webb and Barack Obama.
And so it was, that while at the Woodland courthouse the other day, passing by the registrar's office, I filled out the form to re-register as a Democrat.
The issues Helen (McCloskey) and I care about most, public financing of elections, a reliable paper ballot trail, independent re-districting to replace gerrymandering, the right of a woman to choose not to bring a child into the world, a reversal of the old Proposition 13 and term limits which have so hurt California's once superb education system and the competence of our Legislature, are now almost universally opposed by California's elected Republicans, and the occasional attempts at reform by our Governor are looked on with grim disdain by most of them.
From Helen's and my standpoint, being farmers in Yolo County gives us the opportunity to work for purposes which were once Republican, but can no longer be found at Republican conventions and discussions.
I hope this answers your questions about the party and a government I have served in either civil or military service under ten presidents, five Republican and five Democrat ... I doubt it will be of much interest other than to our friends, but it has been a decision not easily taken.
Respectfully, Pete McCloskey
URL: http://able2know.org/topic/94882-1
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)Doesn't mean I will vote for them.
But I see nothing wrong with it.
There is a long tradition of party switching both ways.
Before 1968, Hillary Clinton was a Republican who supported Goldwater and Markos Moulitsas was a Republican precinct captain in the 1988 election and supported Henry Hyde.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)Senator, Presidential Candidate, and Secretary of State.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Pretty big difference between 'raised by Republicans and cast early votes for them before becoming a Democrat in my 20's' and 'Last year I was elected to office as a Republican for the 3d time and now I am a Democrat at age 53'. Big Big Difference.
Charlie Crist acted as surrogate and endorser for Sarah Palin in 2008, said she was more qualified than Obama and he said that as a Republican Governor. Exactly the same as Kos, a writer, voting for a Republican 24 years ago. Sure it is.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)kydo
(2,679 posts)I would rather not have politicians that are repub to switch to Dem right now. While the views they have are not the same as the current version of the gop, they aren't democratic either. And they will still end up voting with the baggers on many issues. We have enough of that now and we don't need any more. Just remember what happened with gun control in the senate, how many dems voted no? And did gun control pass the senate?
Now if theses mod repubs switched to indie and caucus with the dems, I'd be open for that.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)the Democratic party farther right. What I think the moves do is make more likely that the country will once again have political parties that can talk and compromise. As more republicans move into the Democratic party, the republican party dies, the quicker moderate and liberal republicans join the Democratic party, the quicker the republican party dies.
I continue to claim that as more republicans move into the Democrat party two events will happen. The first is that the republican party will cease to exist. The second is that the Democratic party will split at the Center into two dominant political parties that will lead the country forward. The new parties will have the capacity to talk and compromise and neither will want the racists and haters that dominate the modern republican party joining their party.
mucifer
(23,374 posts)Republicans don't win in Chicago and we are stuck with him.
Sorry I know that was off topic just venting.
Stinky The Clown
(67,697 posts)Faygo Kid
(21,477 posts)Let the Tea Partiers kick all the RINOs out. We can win elections, govern and still stick to our principles by growing the Democratic Party.
Besides, my significant other knows Charlie Crist, and says he's a good guy. That works for me, and certainly Rick Scott is horrendous.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
ruffburr
(1,190 posts)Auggie
(31,067 posts)Alan Grayson admitted to spending 20 to 30 hours a week securing donations on a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. Those without scruples will remain in control of special interests.
Let's be clear: I AM NOT IMPLYING GRAYSON SELLS OUT. I love the guy, and I wish he represented me.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)and force these people to develop policy in line with the party platform. If the Democratic Party brings them to office, they should be expected to reciprocate with some loyalty.
polichick
(37,152 posts)blue dogs and the WH trashed the liberals?
WonderGrunion
(2,995 posts)From that perspective, I'm all for it.
Otherwise, not so much.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)Okay, that was a lame joke but honestly I do not want them. I'm a liberal first, not a Democrat and they make the Democratic party less liberal. I daresay if they won't stop defecting to the Democratic party, we may need to start defecting to more-liberal pastures. I'd rather lose than acquiesce to their corrupting presence.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Rather than just voting the same way but with a "D" by their name.
I wonder if there have been any studies done like this: looking at how many republican voters continue to vote for the candidate after the party switch.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Thanks to DUer RC for this graphic ...
mike_c
(36,214 posts)...to fit under the Democratic party umbrella, then that umbrella is WAY too far to the right.
randome
(34,845 posts)If any Republicans want to switch parties, we should welcome them. Without greater numbers, we will not prevail. It's that simple.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)shows their intolerance which is no better than the teaparty element of the GOP. Democratic party is THE BIG TENT party. We take in ALL points of view.
We should be REJOICING and encouraging more of it
shame on the whiners
scheming daemons
(25,487 posts)It is why the teabaggers are marginalizing the GOP.
The bigger tent gets the reins of power.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)don't need anymore! I want to vote Democratic, and I expect them to act like democrats!!
Autumn
(44,762 posts)They should stay and pull their party back from crazy town instead of dragging my Democratic Party toward the republican party.
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)but I don't fully trust them and I don't want the party moved to the right.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)The powers of the Speaker and Majority Leader in the House are immense, and shape the legislative agenda profoundly.
Also, having a conservative Democrat in the House doesn't "pull" Pelosi to the right any more than having a Republican in the House does: either way, if she needs that Member's vote on an issue, she needs that vote, and it doesn't matter what party that member is in (except that getting that vote is easier if the Member is a Democrat).
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)difficult if not impossible for a progressive at this time to get elected
treestar
(82,383 posts)Just as likely to move them to the left. Or they already did before the switch.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)...which Citizens United might just erase.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)the distinction if anything is growing further apart. Teaparty element is making GOP more intolerant....the opposite of Democrats and progressives (except those who whine)
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)I guess he was fine with extremist Palin and her policies fairly recently. Very extreme, very recently.
ancianita
(35,813 posts)rurallib
(62,346 posts)I don't trust a thing anyone with an (R) behind their name says, so why should I believe them when they tell me they are now democrats. They have pulled so many shenanigans, such as always naming groups almost the same as legitimate government or democratic groups that I get suspicious it is just another misdirection
EG healthcare.com and healthcare.gov - world's of difference
Response to Stinky The Clown (Original post)
Johnny Ready This message was self-deleted by its author.
rock
(13,218 posts)First render them unconscious by stunning using electric current, stunning using a bolt pistol, or inhalation of CO2.
Then hoist on a rail and exsanguinate them.
After the blood is gone, drench the carcass in hot water in a device called a scalder which helps in the removal of hair, and is subsequently completed by using scissor-like devices and then if necessary with a torch.
Oh wait. You asked about repiggies becoming Democrats. Just a second while I check. -- Nope, I had it right all along.
(Partial excerpt from Wikipedia for "Pig Slaughter"
alarimer
(16,245 posts)They are holding a finger up to see which way the wind blows.