Bobby Bright is the Democratic Congressman from southern Alabama. He's deliberating whether or not to switch parties, and it makes not a lick of difference whether he does or not. He votes with the GOP on all important issues so why not actually be one.
Since winning (in 2008), Mr. Bright has been such a purebred Blue Dog that he is practically red. He has voted with the Republicans on every significant piece of legislation of his term, including the health care overhaul, the budget and the “cap and trade” energy legislation.
Last month, Parker Griffith, in northern Alabama, switched parties--we had two Democratic members of Congress from Alabama?--and his staff promptly resigned. For all his trouble, Griffith may wind up getting beat in the GOP primary. Hope so.
The GOP is mainly a regional party and Alabama is one of the most conservative states within that region. Democrats can win in the south, but on the "fringes," and not here. Virginia is a contested state now, and North Carolina is becoming increasingly so, as is Florida. We can chip away at them that way, but when the Democratic Party starts looking good in Alabama, it might be time for a major re-shuffle of the political deck.
North Carolina is not a "contested" state. We have 8 Democrats out of 13 in the House, and we've never had fewer than 5 out of 12 or 6 out of 13. Once Jesse Helms got a lock on his seat, there was a long period in which Democrats and Republics traded the other. Whether Burr holds onto his seat next year depends a lot on Obama's standing, the economy, and whatever scandals are roiling the state Democrats.
As for the state level, we have a Democratic governor and the Democrats control both state houses. The Democrats have certainly traded control with the Republicans from time to time, but in a way that suggests the state's political allegiances are balanced, and probably always will be.
It's true that Obama was the first Democrat to win at the TOP of the ticket in 32 years, but to describe a southern state's political allegiances based on its presidential ballots would miss almost everything that is happening in that state.
There's a strain of economic populism that runs very deep in the south. Not to mention a lot of African-American voters who have yet to vote Republican in anything like real numbers.
Posted by: Jody | January 06, 2010 at 01:29 PM
Also, Alabama had 3 Democrats in the House until Griffith's switch, and he's the first Republican to hold that seat/district since ... wait, he's the first ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_delegations_from_Alabama
The damning fact for the good people of Alabama, of course, is that they never elected any Republicans ever until 1965. Gosh, I wonder what made them change their minds.
Posted by: Jody | January 06, 2010 at 08:10 PM
Say, wasn't that about the time the civil rights bill passed?
Thanks for the report on North Carolina. I was reading James McPherson's civil war history recently, and he made note that North Carolina was a more moderate state than South Carolina, even then, and was a tad slow to join the confederacy.
Posted by: John Petty | January 07, 2010 at 03:12 PM