2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumArtur Davis switches from Democratic to Republican party
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/artur-davis-switches-from-democratic-to-republican-party/2012/05/29/gJQAbB25zU_blog.html
Artur Davis switches from Democratic to Republican party
Posted by Rachel Weiner at 08:36 PM ET, 05/29/2012
Its official: Former Democratic Alabama House member and gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis is becoming a Republican and laying the groundwork for a potential political future in Virginia.
If I were to run, it would be as a Republican, he wrote on his Web site. And I am in the process of changing my voter registration from Alabama to Virginia, a development which likely does represent a closing of one chapter and perhaps the opening of another.
Davis added that he has been approached about running for a House seat in Northern Virginia in 2014 or 2016 or the Virginia state legislature in 2015. As The Fix reported earlier this month, he could run against Rep. Gerry Connolly (D).
I welcome this development, Connolly said of the possibility on MSNBC last Friday. The fact that they feel they need to recruit a former Democrat from Alabama who does not yet live in our district is a very welcome development, and I look forward to debating him.
Since losing the 2010 gubernatorial primary in Alabama by a wide margin, the moderate Davis has become a critic of his own party and broken with Democrats on a number of high-profile issues, including voter ID laws.
The Republican Party, Davis said in his statement, is fighting the drift in this country in a way that comes closest to my way of thinking: wearing a Democratic label no longer matches what I know about my country and its possibilities. The Alabama Democratic Party in particular, he says, has weakened and lost faith with more and more Alabamians every year.
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)Inuca
(8,945 posts)I remember him from some hearings some years back, he seemed really smart and I liked him.
butterfly77
(17,609 posts)a few years ago and their are many more fake Dems just like him in the party blocking everything the President has tried to do,,
zbdent
(35,392 posts)well, how big D "Democratic" can you be in Alabama to win a seat in the Alabama House???????
Probably no great loss to the Democratic party.
former9thward
(32,122 posts)He was my Congressman when I lived in Birmingham and the District has a plus 18 Democratic registration. In 2007 he was the first congressman outside of Illinois to endorse Obama for president. He gave a seconding speech for Obama at the convention in 2008. In the 2008 election the district gave Obama 73% of the vote.
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)possibilities is that it is now favoring the current move toward fascism, which Republicans favor.
It certainly no longer mirrors true "small d" democracy that most true Democrats favor.
In other words, he wants to use his name to cash in.
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)Oh well, good riddence.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)They need a sucker to run, they found a sucker to run. It's like kismet or something.
Response to babylonsister (Original post)
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Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)former9thward
(32,122 posts)Davis was the first congressman outside of Illinois to endorse Obama for president in 2007. He gave the seconding speech for Obama at the 2008 convention. He was my congressman when I lived in Birmingham and you have no idea what you are talking about.
Stuckinthebush
(10,847 posts)He is nothing more than a self absorbed politician.
GoCubsGo
(32,100 posts)Good bye and good riddance.
Response to babylonsister (Original post)
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LiberalFighter
(51,266 posts)Davis was the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to demand that former House Ways and Means chair Charlie Rangel surrender his gavel in the wake of ongoing ethics issues.
Davis twice voted against Democratic-supported health care reform legislation, first in November 2009, and again in March 2010 when the legislation passed and was signed into law by President Obama. He was the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the legislation in March 2010; he was also the member from the most-heavily Democratically-leaning district to vote against the legislation.
Despite his early endorsement of Obama it doesn't look like he was ever a believer in Democratic beliefs.