I’m really not sure what these guys are thinking:
Alabama Republican Rep. Parker Griffith was soundly defeated in a Republican primary tonight, the second party switcher to lose an intraparty fight in the past two weeks.
Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks had 51 percent of the vote to Griffith’s 33 percent and 16 percent for Les Phillip with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Although the Associated Press had not called the race, local media reported that Griffith had conceded the contest to Brooks.
Griffith, who had been elected as a Democrat to the northern Alabama 5th district, switched parties last year with promises from House Republican leaders that they would back him to the hilt.
So, in Pennslyvania, given a choice between a Democrat and a Republican who switched just to keep office, Democratic voters chose the Democrat. In Alabama, given the choice between a Republican and a democrat who switched just to keep office, Republican voters chose… a Republican.
I’m shocked.
jeffreyw
And Artur Davis campaigned as a republican for the dem primary, was handed his ass.
TR
In the same vein, Artur Davis learned that Democratic primary voters expect you to act like a Democrat.
Violet
OT – Chris Matthews just compared Obama to Jimmy Carter. Has he been doing this for awhile?
mr. whipple
@Violet: Obama has an oil crisis on his hands, complete with a daily clock of days since it started.
Yup, I’d say he’s been Carterized.
Ash Can
The part of this that did catch my eye was the bit about “promises from House Republican leaders that they would back him to the hilt.” Either they threw him under the bus after all was said and done, or the backing of House Republican leadership doesn’t mean squat these days with the teabaggers and other head cases running amok. I’m thinking it’s more of the latter than the former, which really should make for an interesting general election.
Halteclere
OT – I expect Reason to host a “Jesus Cartoon Day” any time now.
Rhoda
@mr. whipple: What pisses me off the most: the week after the well is capped; in August at the latest if we’re blessed the MSM will forget about this until the anniversary of the crisis.
But now, when they’ve got time to fill, why not put up a clock?
Asses.
Allison W.
It’d a bad year for opportunists.
Why do people still listen to Matthews? I stopped watching him when he wondered out loud if Obama looked too elitist wearing a pair of sunglasses as he came off his campaign plane. Matthews was quite serious.
Bulworth
Good riddance to Griffith and Davis.
dmsilev
@Allison W.: Chris Matthews was one of the guys involved in the rather surreal conversation about how Obama lacked the common-guy touch because he asked for a glass of orange juice in a diner.
dms
Ash Can
I bet Tweety (and other daily blatherers) would sound a lot more intelligent if his show were weekly, instead of daily. He simply has too much time to fill with a daily show. He’s in over his head.
And this, of course, leads to the question (I’ve learned not to say “begs” here) of what David Gregory would sound like if his show were daily instead of weekly.
geg6
@Halteclere:
I will watch that even if it sucks. I want that show’s ratings to be through the roof. Any idea who is the creative force behind it? Hopefully, Bill Maher has a piece of that pie. LOL!
beltane
And don’t forget Ron Spark’s unexpected trouncing of Artur Davis, which was entirely due to the latter’s opposition to the HCR bill. The days of Democratic primary voters blindly supporting hacks like Davis and Blanche Lincoln appear to be over.
jwb
@mr. whipple: Obama’s long been Carterized. Nothing new there.
beltane
@Violet: Being that “Black Jimmy Carter” is a well known tag here, I’d say the comparison has been going on for some time. On other days, though, Obama is also the Black Ronald Reagan, so one must either take it all with a grain of salt or turn off the TV.
DanF
Did anyone see the Les Phillips TV spot? What a POS that man is. I hope his defeat is the last we see of him in national politics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-IwcTjAI4w
geg6
OT, but has Glenn Beck finally gone one step too far?
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/glenn-beck-gets-ricks-list-attacks-1
This is completely out of bounds. I had no idea he’d sunk so low. Glad to see middle American says fuck that.
Napoleon
OT, for the last 2 days when I view the comments threads on this site the text runs out way to the right, so that any paragraph appears as a single line. It formats/views fine when I am just looking at the main site with no comments. Anyone else have this problem?
Bill E Pilgrim
Thank God, Jon Stewart is back. We’ve been at defcom one comedy emergency level for weeks.
I suppose the fact that it seems like he’s always saying “What a week to have missed!” should make us realize that really, they all are.
Still, we need to get a bat signal for that guy or something.
IndieTarheel
@Ash Can:
I’d take that bet and give the points any day – the man is an idiot, and the only good thing about him only being on the air once a week would be a decrease in the televised stoopid.
__
The fact that the same applies, in droves, to Morning Schmoe, StephanoPOSnuffulufagus, and the rest of the insane clown posse that is our failed media experiment gives scant comfort.
mr. whipple
Methinks this won’t end well for this dimwit governor:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said on Tuesday that she intends to press the issue of border security in a meeting this week with President Barack Obama at the White House.
Shalimar
@jeffreyw: I think Davis is done in politics, which is pretty shocking since he has been the rising star in the Alabama Democratic party for the last few years. People who lose that badly in a primary rarely ever manage a comeback at the state level, and he moved so far to the right and pissed off so many people with his healthcare vote that he would be unlikely to get his old seat back in 2 years against whichever Dem wins it this year.
Brian J
The lesson isn’t that party switching is always a bad thing. It’s that it’s a bad thing if it’s done for nakedly political reasons right as an election is approaching.
@Ash Can:
That makes sense. I don’t think he’s a dumb guy or a bad guy, just someone who, yes, has too much time on his hands if he’s not going to devote an entire show to one in-depth topic and who, like Bill Maher, has his attempts at lightheartedness and humor go awry. He can be frustrating, but he’s not a belligerently ignorant like, say, Sean Hannity.
jeffreyw
@Shalimar: I haven’t followed his career closely, I do remember being impressed at his relentless questioning during hearings of one kind or another. (Libby?) I have noted dismay at his posture recently.
smith
Napolean: I have the same problem.
Anya
@Shalimar: Mr. Sparks beat Mr. Davis 63% percent to 37% and he deserved every bit of the humiliating defeat he got. His district is one of the poorest in the country and his constituents were most impacted by the health care fiasco, yet he decided to play politics with them.
There are rumors in the interwebs that Obama might offer him a job at DOJ. I really hope not. He should be a lesson to anyone who blatantly disregards the needs to the people he represents for naked political gain.
Jay C
Unfortunately for Mr. Griffiths, none of those “leaders” were registered in his district!
But still: this sort of thing really doesn’t make the national and Congressional “leadership” of the GOP look good at all – shouldn’t be a surprise, really; given the assclowns that they are – and I’m wondering what this will bode for the Fall elections? Newt Gingrich’s fantasies notwithstanding,
PeakVT
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Mr. Griffith.
Did the DCCC recover any of its cash from him?
Violet
@beltane:
I know the comparison has been coming from the right for ages. Limbaugh started doing even before the election. But that’s wishful thinking and rightwing talking points.
I hadn’t heard the comparison being made in a more serious manner, so that’s why I asked the question. Tweety did make the comparison in all seriousness. Said Obama “wasn’t in control” and the American people “don’t like the President to be out of control.” And then compared him to Carter.
@Ash Can:
He would be terrible. He did have that show, “The Road to the White House” on MSNBC before the election, or some title like that. It sucked moose wang.
catclub
Semi On Topic;
In my district MS-04, the Teabagger candidate lost
in the GOP primary 57-33.
Reason #1 for his loss: He could easily be called a carpetbagger since he has only lived in the state for three years.
As Yogi Berra said: “Doesn’t anyone know how to play this game?”
I’ve lived here 15 years and know that I would still be called a carpetbagger if I ran for public office.
The sense of entitlement of the teabaggers knows no bounds,
but happily meets disappointment regularly when elections come around.
The bad news? Even if the incumbent Democrat wins, it is still Gene Taylor – who makes about one non-GOP vote per session – to elect the speaker. This may be BETTER than the new WV democratic candidate!
Sentient Puddle
@beltane:
Is this something we have any sort of exit polling data to back up? This sort of statement strikes me as “I want it to be true, so it must be!” logic.
colby
One of my Grand Unifying Theory of Politics is that people vote for the guy faking it LESS every time. And yes, I know, George W. Bush wasn’t a cowboy, Ronald Reagan wasn’t a wise, kind grandfather, but they at least THOUGHT they were, while the Dems going up against them were all patrician wonks half-heatedly pretending to be good ol’ boys.
Ash Can
@Violet: You know, I’m just tickled by the whole idea of someone with as lovely a handle as “Violet” using a phrase like “sucks moose wang.” God, I love this joint. :D
Shalimar
@Anya: Davis’s embarrassing loss hopefully will be a lesson to others who think about tacking right due strictly to personal ambitions. I’m glad he lost because I don’t like what he did to get elected and don’t want anyone else to emulate it.
Having said that, Artur Davis was a rising star for a reason and I do hope he can get a job in the administration and reflect on what he did wrong. He could use a break for 2-6 years before trying to run for office again. His career as an elected officeholder shouldn’t be over as long as he doesn’t pull the same try-to-please-everyone crap again, but I think it probably is anyway.
slag
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Or a Rubik’s Cube signal.
Citizen Alan
@catclub:
The teabagger in MS-01 almost pulled it out. Well, almost made it to a runoff — 51% to 33%. I actually choked back my bile and voted for the teabagger hoping to force Alan Nunnelee to waste money in a runoff election.
Angela McGlowan went nowhere, btw. Surprising that a conservative black woman who wants to abolish Social Security and Medicare would have no meaningful constituency in North Mississippi.
Oh well, now it’s Nunnelee vs. Childers. But who is dumb and who is dumber?
PeakVT
Artur Davis was a rising star for a reason and I do hope he can get a job in the administration and reflect on what he did wrong.
The Dems never, ever learn the right lesson from incidents like this. The answer is always to tack further to the right.
Tsulagi
I hear you. Damn purity voters.
Anya
@Sentient Puddle: He lost the African American vote, is that not a statement?
Sentient Puddle
@Anya: Uh…no. It isn’t. I don’t even see how that’s remotely related.
(See also: Steve Cohen vs. Nikki Tinker in ’08)
Cyrus
@Shalimar:
Well, what reason? It’s not evident from the link in the original post. He distanced himself from Obama and current Democratic policy, which is relatively common in conservative areas but far from a good sign in a leader. He also, apparently, has a “long-running feud with the state’s unelected black leaders”, which is distressingly vague but even that much shows a failure of diplomacy. Not that I particularly trust the WaPo, but the article makes this Davis guy looks like an idiot. Why do you say he’s not?
So you think the administration should hire/appoint/support/whatever even more DINOs? I would disagree, and I don’t think I’m alone.
manwith7talents
On the whole black Jimmy Carter thing, most people under 40 think of Carter as a revered elder statesman and not a failed President, so this tactic really doesn’t work. Tying Republicans to Bush still seems to work great though, and the Democrats should do it as much as possible.
Joseph Nobles
I was born and raised in Artur Davis’ district. As soon as I heard about his vote against the health care bill, I knew he was toast in the state.
I compare party-switching like that to the Alabama-Auburn football rivalry. Most families are one way or the other, and rebellious teenagers get one chance, one, to dabble with the other side. But by the end of high school, you’re on one side or the other and that’s the end of that. You might as well sign up right now to decorate the church meeting room with the other side’s colors if and when they win. That’s just how it is, and don’t you dare bring up how illustrative it is of the Alabama take on the late Northern Oppression.
It’s about loyalty. Check out a county-by-county breakdown of the voting patterns in Alabama sometime. You will see that right through the gut of bright red Alabama, there is a bonny blue slash. The core of that blue slash is Artur Davis’ district. What was he thinking? What could he have been thinking?
Well, maybe it was all about failing up. Sure, Democrats in Alabama would have sucked it up and voted for him in the general against, who is it for the Republicans? Ah, hell, it’s still a three-way tie. That’s a bit of good news, and the other bit is that Roy Moore, he of the Graven Image of the 10 Commandments, only got 20% of the GOP vote. Yeeeeeeeeeesh.
But first Davis had to get pass an actual choice of a Democrat, and that’s the way the vote went. Find your team and stick with your team. That’s the lesson of Alabama.
(P.S. This whole thing started with Joe Lieberman, and everyone should be reminded that he didn’t switch parties. He ran as an Independent when the Democrats rejected him for the nomination. If Davis could pull off an independent bid right now, he might still shake things up. Oh, hell, who am I kidding? Don’t you dare come home rooting for Notre Dame.)
Cyrus
@manwith7talents:
Heh, that might be a good point. “Revered” might be putting it too strongly, but elder statesman, sure. Habitat for Humanity and trying to help out in the Middle East a bit are the biggest things he’s done since I’ve been old enough to read. Being a peanut farmer is a funny career for a politician and I know things didn’t go so well under him, but the Seventies in general seem like a crazy time. Let’s see, we can blame Carter for a swimming rabbit and disco, but hippies and bell bottoms began much earlier, right? When was Patty Hearst in the news? Basically, in my mind he’s no worse than anything else left over from the 1970s and probably a lot better than average.
A factoid I mention every chance I get: people born after the Berlin Wall fell were old enough to vote in 2008, and it’s not hard to guess who they voted for. And millions more Americans technically lived for a while before the fall of the USSR, but were young enough at the time that they really don’t remember anything. (Personally, I’m 27. This means I was seven when the Berlin Wall fell, and the first memory of it I can definitively place came in an X-Men comic book.)
As dumb as right-wing nuts ranting and raving about Communism and sociali…zing must look to you fortyish liberals, trust me, it looks even dumber to people for whom Communism is hypothetical and the face of “socializing” in the world is Sweden.
(Does the spam filter still catch stuff like “socializing”? That’s annoying.)
fucen tarmal
@DanF:
the les phillips ad is 11th dimemsional whiskey-tango-foxtrotting.
Mark
@Cyrus
+7 for that one
maus
@Violet:
Every time he opens his mouth.
Why does anyone watch Tweety? He’s a babbling psycho that always seems to make sense until you listen to him long enough that he says something so ungodly stupid that it counteracts anything plausibly intelligent he accidentally said.
@Ash Can:
gooooooooooooooooood. :D
CarolDuhart
@Cyrus: So true. I was in my early twenties when Carter was President, and I remember that it was a relatively relaxed time in American politics. He was on the verge of legalizing pot (look it up), and his policies pretty much helped the Civil Rights thing along too. The anger against him came from inflation (no longer relevant) and from Iran (also ancient history). So a lot of middle aged people think of Carter fondly too.
Since then, he’s worked to help people in so many ways instead of just piling up wealth for himself or sitting around playing endless rounds of golf. That caring has softened attitudes even more and more.
Shalimar
@Cyrus: Davis is very smart and has the ability to be a good leader. Watch him on C-Span compared to your average moronic congresscritter and you will see a huge difference in basic intelligence. Selling out your main constituency in a futile attempt to become popular statewide was a stupid decision and I don’t think there was any chance he could have won a general election that way, but he wanted to be governor so he made the bad decision that he thought would get him there. And it did make him the favorite in the Democratic primary up until around a month ago so it wasn’t as obviously stupid at the time as it clearly is in hindsight.
As far as selling out his supposed principles for personal ambition, my general opinion based on growing up around politicians is that very few people who get into politics on a state level have real principles in the first place so you have to judge him against his peers rather than the ideal. Davis was a slightly more conservative Democrat for his district than average before last year and I assume that would be what he would go back to being if he ever became a Rep again. There could be better people in that seat and hopefully will be this year, but there also are much worse Democrats out there. Davis isn’t the worst of the worst like he has been painted as lately. He’s just a politician who made a horrible decision to tack right and was thankfully punished for it. I was for Sparks for that reason, but I don’t have any animosity towards Davis.
Also, regarding Davis’s “long-running feud with the state’s unelected black leaders”, I think his motives were personal rather than value-driven since Reed and company opposed him in 2002. At the same time, the state’s unelected black leaders are exactly what you would think they are upon hearing the term: an unaccountable political machine hearkening back to those many decades ago in major cities. There are good points to that from a Democratic party organizational perspective, but my personal opinion is that opposing those organizations is a point for Davis, not against him. Machines are antithetical to real democracy.
Paul in KY
I think Mr. Davis is a fool & should have no rehabilitation position in the administration.