Griffith Officially Announces Switch to GOP, Slams Democratic Leaders

Updated: 2:45 p.m.

Freshman Rep.Parker Griffith (Ala.) made it official Tuesday afternoon, announcingthat he is switching parties and joining the Republican Conference,effective immediately.

“As the 111thCongress has progressed, I have become increasingly concerned that thebills and policies pushed by the current Democratic leadership are notgood for North Alabama or our nation, and more importantly, they do notrepresent my values and convictions,” Griffith said at a newsconference in Hunstville, where he keeps a Congressional office. Citinghis votes against top Democratic priorities since he entered Congressin January, he said now needs to “go even further and stand with aparty that is more in tune with my beliefs and convictions.”

Griffith saidthe decision to quit the majority was not an easy one, but he wasted notime blasting his former party for an agenda he described as reckless.

“I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear,” he said.

Griffith beatRepublican Wayne Parker in a bitter 2008 general election to replacenine-term Rep. Bud Cramer (D). The Democratic Congressional CampaignCommittee spent over $1 million in independent expenditures to helpelect Griffith and the National Republican Congressional Committeespent more than half a million dollars trying to swing the seat to theGOP.

Since hiselection, Griffith has distinguished himself as one of the mostconsistent votes against his Democratic leadership, lining up againstthe party on the stimulus package, the budget, the climate change bill,the health care overhaul, Wall Street reform and the most recent jobsbill. And he has been an outspoken critic of the leadership team,declaring during an August town hall on health care reform that hewould not support Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) re-election asSpeaker.

“Someone thatdivisive and that polarizing cannot bring us together,” he said,according to a report in the Huntsville Times. The National RepublicanCongressional Committee had a field day with the comment, using it tocirculate a “pledge” to other vulnerable Democrats asking them toaffirm they would join Griffith in opposing Pelosi.

Through Sept.30, Griffith had received more than $75,000 in campaign contributionsfrom the political action committees and campaign committees of variousHouse Democrats, including Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer(Md.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman ChrisVan Hollen (Md.). Griffith had donated just more than $1,000 to theDCCC from his campaign account this cycle.

A seniorDemocratic aide said Tuesday that Griffith had not informed partyleadership or his staff about the impending switch before news brokeTuesday morning. One GOP aide said Griffith has been discussing theswitch with House GOP leaders and statewide officials for weeks.

In a statement Tuesday, Van Hollen demanded that Griffith return all donations from Democrats.

“HouseDemocratic Members and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committeetook Parker Griffith at his word and, as a result, invested a greatdeal in working with Alabamans to bring Mr. Griffith to Congress,” VanHollen said. “We were committed to helping Mr. Griffith deliver for hisconstituents and successfully helped Mr. Griffith fend off the personalattacks against him from the far right. “Mr. Griffith, failing to honorour commitment to him, has a duty and responsibility to return toDemocratic Members and the DCCC the financial resources that wereinvested in him. His constituents will hold him accountable for failingto keep his commitments.

Van Hollen’scounterpart at the NRCC, Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas), called Griffith’smove a powerful signal of Democratic misery to come.

The decision, hesaid, “is emblematic of the message that millions of concerned citizenshave been trying to send to a Democrat Party that has becomeincreasingly unwilling to listen. Whether Democrat leaders choose topay attention now or wait for the electorate to send them a resoundingmessage next November, Parker Griffith’s willingness to put theinterests of his district first sends a positive signal to others whohave grown just as disappointed with their party as the American peoplehave.”

The NRCC had been at work Tuesday morning scrubbing its Web pages of anti-Griffith material that had previously been available.

But Griffith’s switch certainly won’t be embraced by all conservatives.

The anti-taxgroup Club for Growth — a conservative powerhouse that has had noqualms about taking on the Republican establishment in the past — wroteon its official blog Tuesday that “this party switch signals Griffith’snervousness, but it doesn’t signal that his incumbency is safe.”

“Griffith’svoting record is far from conservative,” club Vice President Andy Rothwrote. “His vote on the budget is slightly deceptive since heoriginally voted for 9 of the 12 spending bills that make up thebudget. And he voted against all the Stimulus amendments that wouldreduce its size.”

Two Republicanshave been running for Griffith’s seat: Navy veteran Lester Phillip, anAfrican-American who has helped the state and national party withminority outreach, and Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks. It is notclear whether either will yield to Griffith now.

Griffith willbecome the first House Member to switch parties since Rep. RodneyAlexander (La.) jumped from the Democrats to the GOP. Sen. ArlenSpecter (Pa.) left the Republican Party to become a Democrat thisspring.

Griffith’s partyswitch adds to the House Democrats’ woes in the South, where thedistricts held by retiring Reps. John Tanner (Tenn.) and Bart Gordon(Tenn.) are in danger of flipping to the GOP. Griffith’s north Alabamadistrict gave 61 percent of the vote to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) inthe 2008 White House election.

Democrats didreceive some good news in that region this week when House BudgetChairman John Spratt (D-S.C.), who had been the subject of retirementrumors, announced his plans to seek re-election.

Jackie Kucinich contributed to this report.