Parker Griffith Surprised us and became a Republican

Parker Griffith jumped into the political spotlight in 2004 running for Mayor of Huntsville. With a large vote from north Huntsville, Griffith made the run off, but lost to Loretta Spencer. In 2006, Parker Griffith won the Democratic nomination for Alabama State Senate, and won against Republican Cheryl Baswell Gurthrie in November 2006. In 2008, Parker Griffith won the nomination of the Democratic Party for Congress and went on to win against Republican Wayne Parker in November 2008 in a hard fought spirited contest.

Note: Parker Griffith, Mo Brooks, Les Phillip are announced candidates. Doc's Political Parlor lists Wayne Parker and Todd Slyman as potential candidates.

But can Griffith win the GOP Primary? Comments from Flashpoint

Griffith has FIVE MONTHS to win over GOP Primary voters, many of whom remember the Huntsville Hospital unwarranted pain and suffering documents which implied that Griffith was a monster. Griffith either plans to ignore those voters or somehow mitigate the damage caused by last years campaign.

Griffith must somehow make peace with Dale Jackson of WVNN, who is engaged in a death match against him. Facing Dale on his radio show could mitigate this issue, since IIRC the death match began because Griffith didnt carry out his promise to appear. Jackson doesnt reach all of AL05, but I think hes influential in Huntsville. IMO these two issues only reach Huntsville GOP primary voters.

Another mostly Huntsville factor is the Tea Party. My guess is that the Tea Party had some role in electing Senator Paul Sanford so they are on a roll. Christie Carden of the Tea Party said that she doesnt consider Griffith to be a constitutional conservative, which is her biggest criteria for voting (she will vote for Griffith when pigs fly). Clearly Griffith has his work cut out there.

The biggest obstacles Griffith faces are Mo Brooks and Les Phillip. Both of these guys are solid conservatives. There is a good chance that Griffith will draw much more money due to the power of incumbency.

Parker Griffith - The Candidate on the Hot Seat

Alabama Representative Parker Griffith announced on Tuesday that he is changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Griffith, a member of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, previously asked to be called just a Blue Dog, and now prefers to be called Republican, after changing party affiliations last week. He says he made the change because he can no longer align himself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy and drives us further into debt.

Unfortunately there are those in the Democratic Leadership that continue to push an agenda focused on massive new spending, tax increases, bailouts and a health care bill that is bad for our healthcare system [Griffith is an oncologist]. I have always considered myself to be an independent voice and I have tried to be that voice in Congress but after watching this agenda firsthand I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear and that for me to be true to my core beliefs and values I must align myself with the Republican party and speak out clearly on these issues.

I want to make it perfectly clear that [the health care] bill is bad for our doctors, our patients and will have unintended consequences far beyond what we know today. As a doctor and as a Republican, I plan to once again oppose this measure and hope that we can defeat this bill that is a major threat to our nation. Randy Hinshaw