The full
quote from the Round Mound of Rebound:
"I was a Republican until they lost their minds," he said. "The word 'conservative' means 'discriminatory,' practically. It's a form of political discrimination. What do the Republicans run on? Against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. That's all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain."
First off I was never a Republican. And I remember all too painfully in the 80's and 90's the defections of the Southern Democrats to the other side. I remember too well the trite phrase "I didn't leave the party it left me" followed usually by a line of bullshit. The fact of the matter is Since the 20th century at least, the national Democratic party has always stood for economic, political and social opportunity and the Dixiecrat
Boll weevil Democrats were an aberaton as a whole.
So with great glee I'd like to start the Republican defection thread. Audience participation requested. The rules are simple. The defections can be straightforward party switchers or the openly disgruntled. The candidates should be (in order of importance) politicians, GOP strategists and pundits, evangelicals, famous, infamous, celebrities with citation links. Dailykos links are fine if they include an original link. If at all possilble a short blurb regarding the reason for the defection. disgruntlement would be great.
Also welcome are multiple quote citations from a single disgruntled member of the GOP. Finally the disgruntled can be someone unlikely to actually switch parties as long as they vocal with their complaints to the point of not likely to support Republicans this election. What I hope to accomplish here is a composite list in one place for easy reference party switchers and disgruntled Republicans.
Here are a couple of examples. The revolt of the elders on ethics and lack of public confidence in the GOP:
Mark Andrews, represented North Dakota in the U.S. House, l964-l980, and the U.S. Senate, l98l-l987
John H. Buchanan, represented Alabama in the House, l965-l981
M. Caldwell Butler, represented Virginia in the U.S. House, l972-l982
Paul Findley, represented Illinois in the U.S. House, l961-l982
Bud Hillis, represented Indiana in the U.S. House, l970-l986
James Johnson, represented Colorado in the U.S. House, l973-l982
Richard W. Mallary, represented Vermont in the U.S.House, l972-l975
Wiley Mayne, represented Iowa in the U.S. House, l967-l975
Pete McCloskey, represented California in the U.S. House, l967-l983
G. William Whitehurst, represented Virginia in the House, l969-l987
You can't get much more disgrunlted than Pete McCloskey's letter stating the need to elect a Democratic Majority. Or can you?
Michael Schiavo said he had been a "lifelong Republican" before President Bush and a GOP-led Congress tried to thwart efforts to remove his brain-dead wife Terri's feeding tube.
So if you can spare a minute or two, help out. I haven't listed all I am aware of it, by a long shot and there have been examples of party switching already listed on Dailykos, feel free to reference them.