Parker Griffith defects to the GOP

Some good news in the midst of all the bad news out of Washington D.C.:

POLITICO has learned that Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, will announce today that he’s switching parties to become a Republican.

According to two senior GOP aides familiar with the decision, the announcement will take place this afternoon in Griffith's district in northern Alabama.

Griffith’s party switch comes on the eve of a pivotal congressional health care vote and will send a jolt through a Democratic House Caucus that has already been unnerved by the recent retirements of a handful of members who, like Griffith, hail from districts that offer prime pickup opportunities for the GOP in 2010.

The switch represents a coup for the House Republican leadership, which had been courting Griffith since he publicly criticized the Democratic leadership in the wake of raucous town halls during the summer.

via Exclusive: Rep. Parker Griffith switches to GOP – – POLITICO.com.

Ed Morrissey has good analysis here on this one, head on over and read it. Personally, I believe that this is a sign that the writing is on the wall for this party. The era of Blue-Dog Democrats is over, you are either in the tank with the far-left progressives or you are out in the cold. While this might seem to be good strategy for the far-left; some are just not into the far-left progressiveness of Pelosi and Co. Some are saying that this is not a good sign on the left. It would mean the era of hope and change is cracking up. Which, in this writers opinion is a good thing.

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