By the way don't forget to check out Blue America's Bad Dogs page. It's been set up to help defeat Blue Dogs. As Media Matteres did a fine job of pointing out for everyone, this guy was already a Republican. How this House version of Tom Coburn on steriods was ever allowed to have a D behind his name is beyond me. He pulled out every Republican talking point during this press conference along with calling his former party the "Democrat Party". Since he voted against every single Democratic platform that he should have been well aware of before he threw his hat in with the party, I say goodbye and good riddance. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
As much as the GOP might like to claim this as some sort of victory, the wingers over at Red State are already ready to run a primary challenger against him. Welcome to the Republican Party Congressman.
John Amato:
What a great day for progressives. A horrible Blue Dog took his rightful place with his fellow conservatives. Good riddance. Howie Klein was the first one to point out how disgusting he was, but as usual the media ignored it. But suddenly yesterday they discovered that he existed. This is why blogs are so important. We analyze voting records and candidates thoroughly before we comment on them. The NRCC loved Parker so much they hit him with their usual fear-mongering ads about radical Islam. Now there surely will be an interesting primary fight between the teabagging conservatives.
Last August DWT posed the question How Does One Justify Singling Out Just One Blue Dog-- In This Case Parker Griffith Of Alabama-- As The Worst Democrat In The House? It wasn't a tough case to make, and back at the link I have a chart, a snarky photo and a video of another one nearly as bad. Then just over a month ago I tried to point out that Griffith, a multimillionaire whose personal self-interest is always with the GOP, was hysterical about the estate tax.
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Today, when the mainstream media suddenly discovered Parker Griffith for the first time, as he announced he would be joining the GOP, Media Matters was prepared to show that his voting record had never strayed from that of any slimy Republican. In fact there are 7 House Republicans with either an identical ProgressivePunch score on crucial votes or a better one! He opposed equal pay for women, opposed the stimulus bill, opposed clean energy legislation, opposed healthcare reform, voted against the budget and against regulating the banksters. Basically, from the day he slipped into the House he was a charter member of the Boehner Boys.
This is the guy, as we mentioned last summer, who promised his constituents that if they re-elected him, he would vote against Nancy Pelosi, who he referred to as a mental case, as Speaker next year. Now the DCCC won't have to waste another $1,000,000 trying to save a seat for someone who votes with the GOP all the time. Come to think of it, they'll need that money to try to save the seat of the only other House Democrat as bad as Griffith, Mississippi reactionary Travis Childers. Blue America has a page, Bad Dogs, dedicated to defeating Blue Dogs. If you have any interest in helping out, please let us know.
