You make the call. Who is the bigger idiot? Two politicians from Alabama, one Democrat Republican, and one Republican Democrat.
Parker Griffith, AL-05
Ol' Parker first got elected in the 2008 Democratic wave in this Huntsville-area conservative district -- McCain won it 61-38. Despite its conservatism, the district had a history of electing Democrats. Griffith was preceded by 9-termer Bud Cramer. Griffith himself won a tough race 52-48 in a seat that was at best a toss-up, at worst a lean-Republican given the district's tilt.
The DCCC spent $1.2 million on the race.
In Washington, he got off to a surprisingly bad start, even for a Blue Dog. His first vote was against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He apparently figured that women didn't deserve the same pay as men for the same work. Then he voted in lockstep with Republicans against everything else. Apparently spooked by the teabaggers, he decided in late December to switch parties. Said a top Republican:
Added Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican in a statement, "When a Member of congress decides to leave a 258-seat majority to join a deep minority, it is a sure sign that the majority has become completely disconnected from seniors, young workers and families in America."
Or, it means that that Member of Congress is an imbecile. And from the beginning, it was clear that Griffith had drastically misread his political situation. Because if he thought running for reelection as a Democrat would be tough, running as a Republican was an impossibility. It didn't matter how many times (all of them) Griffith had voted with Republicans on legislation, he had cast a single vote with the Democrats -- for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
As such, he was DOA in the inevitable teabagger feeding frenzy. Griffith ended up with a pathetic 33% of the vote.
Meanwhile, over in the Montgomery area, another Democrat won an even MORE conservative district in 2008 -- Bobby Bright in AL-02. McCain won that district 63-37, while Bright won the seat by mere hundreds of votes. Bright's Congressional tenure, given his district, is what you'd expect. He was rated the most conservative Democrat in the House by the National Journal, and has certainly cast votes against key Democratic legislation. But on the other hand, he has voted with Democrats 72.1 percent of the time.
After Griffith defected, speculation was that Bright would follow. But he's not an imbecile and decided to stick with the Democratcs. While his seat is considered a prime GOP pickup opportunity, House Republicans are seeing their chosen candidate, Martha Roby, teabagged from the right by teabagger Rick Barber, and the two candidates (crazy and crazier) are headed to a runoff. Crazier will win. And as tough as you think this seat might be, Democrats are feeling pretty good about holding it.
In head-to-head scenarios, Bright leads Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby by 24 percentage points (54 percent to 30 percent), state school board member Stephanie Bell by 26 points (55 percent to 29 percent), and businessman Rick Barber by 32 points (58 percent to 26 percent).
In other words, sticking with the Democratic Party was the smart choice.
Artur Davis, AL-Gov
You have to survive the Democratic primary. You have a chance to vote for a historic health care reform bill that also happens to be the president's key legislative priority of his entire freakin' presidency. You a) vote for it, or b) you're a fucking idiot.
Davis chose (b).
Ag commissioner Ron Sparks, who didn't go around shooting crops (or Facebook) as part of his job, came out for the health care reform, and it was game, set, and match.
And lest anyone wonder whether Davis suffered from being African American, turns out the counties in the majority-minority district he represents in Congress voted heavily for Sparks. Crazy, I know, but apparently African Americans like Obama's health care law. No one could've predicted that being a dick about it would cost him in a Democratic primary.
So who is the biggest moron? The Democrat who thought running in a Republican primary was a smart idea, or the Democrat who thought acting like a Republican would help him win a Democratic primary?