Parker Griffith, the first-term Democrat elected last fall in the Alabama 5th Dist., turned his coat, so to speak, and became a Republican shortly before Christmas. It was in all the newspapers and was the cuttlebone-du-jour for all the cable-news parrots. Parker Griffith was a blue dog. He was so blue, he turned black.Funny thing: Go to Mr. Griffith's official Capitol website and you won't find a word about it. There's political conviction for you.
Some of the (long-time) Republicans in Alabama also weren't buying Mr. Griffith's "conversion" to Republicanism. Said Republican State Treasurer Kay Ivey, who also happens to be running for governor this year, "I can't help but regard this 'Road to Damascus' conversion of Parker Griffith's as solely a ploy to cling to his seat in 2010. We're all well-aware of the increasingly negative poll results for Democrats in Alabama and around the nation. Political self-preservation isn't a virtue. In fact, political expediency is an insult to every grassroots activist who commits untold hours in devotion to getting candidates elected."
True dat.
Apparently, no one felt more insulted by Mr. Griffith's lack of virtue ("political expediency") than members of his Washington staff. They've all resigned, en masse, save one lone scheduler. Even the interns quit him.
Said Griffith's former chief of staff, Sharon Wheeler, "We cannot in good conscience continue working for him."
It's the rarest of traits in contemporary politics, good conscience.
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