Defections
From kos over at The Daily, we learn that a PA Republican is defecting from his party:
A) the conservative mandate has pushed the entire political spectrum so far to the right that Republican centrists who no longer pass the "moral litmus test" of abortion, women's rights, right-to-life issues as in the Terri Shiavo case, etc, have found themselves stuck in a world where they are suddenly, almost by default, more "democrats" than they intended. The extreme left, of course, is galvanized by this shift; but it is notable that many centrists, while they don't sympathize with the extreme left, find themselves amongst that company.
B) It is suddenly a viable method of political marketing to move toward the center or to the left of center. That Delay has become an emblem of political antagonism (if Delay were pushing for the EU Constitution, I would wager that very few would support his brand of political elitism here in America as well) points toward a kind of loss of capital on the right, but also a gain of capital on the left. It, suddenly, is a platform to run for office on.
C) There's a genuine disenfranchisement among certain populations who used to be old-school Republicans with the far-right Republican "mainstream" of the moment. They are feeling left out, left behind, unheard [and they are right, to an extent]. It goes without saying that there are many Democrats that have shifted further and further right [Zell Miller, etc] over the past few years as they've found themselves sympathizing more with these protective morals.
So what does all of this side-changing mean in the end?
Anything else? Not sure.
Calling Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick a "DeLay Disciple" and decrying the Republican Party's move to the right, former Republican Bucks County commissioner Andy Warren on Wednesday announced he has become a Democrat and is not ruling out a run for office.Kos says:
Warren, the longest-serving commissioner in county history and now head of the regional state transportation office, said he switched his party registration over the weekend.
The change comes, Warren said, after years of watching the national Republican Party move further and further to the right.
"When one finds that his philosophy is so out of step with the organization, you either sit silently by, hypocritically, or you do something about it," he said. "It was time to move on. So I did."
Warren clearly would like to challenge Fitzpatrick, but doesn't want to be "presumptous" demanding the nomination having been a Democrat for three days.The AntiCentenarian thinks it's indicative of one of a number of things:
This is Ginny Schrader's district. This time around, there are several Dems interested in challenging freshman GOoPer Fitzpatrick. And like everywhere else next year, DeLay is the preferred line of attack.
A) the conservative mandate has pushed the entire political spectrum so far to the right that Republican centrists who no longer pass the "moral litmus test" of abortion, women's rights, right-to-life issues as in the Terri Shiavo case, etc, have found themselves stuck in a world where they are suddenly, almost by default, more "democrats" than they intended. The extreme left, of course, is galvanized by this shift; but it is notable that many centrists, while they don't sympathize with the extreme left, find themselves amongst that company.
B) It is suddenly a viable method of political marketing to move toward the center or to the left of center. That Delay has become an emblem of political antagonism (if Delay were pushing for the EU Constitution, I would wager that very few would support his brand of political elitism here in America as well) points toward a kind of loss of capital on the right, but also a gain of capital on the left. It, suddenly, is a platform to run for office on.
C) There's a genuine disenfranchisement among certain populations who used to be old-school Republicans with the far-right Republican "mainstream" of the moment. They are feeling left out, left behind, unheard [and they are right, to an extent]. It goes without saying that there are many Democrats that have shifted further and further right [Zell Miller, etc] over the past few years as they've found themselves sympathizing more with these protective morals.
So what does all of this side-changing mean in the end?
Anything else? Not sure.
posted by General Stan at 3:22 PM
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