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(PA State Treasurer) Hafer switches to Democratic Party
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | December 30, 2003 | Associated Press Wire

Posted on 12/30/2003 1:34:22 PM PST by buzzyboop

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- After months of speculation that she would switch her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, state Treasurer Barbara Hafer told The Associated Press today that she had officially changed her registration.

Hafer, who is in her second term as treasurer and previously served two terms as auditor general between 1988 and 1996, said she had completed the paperwork for making the switch and had it filed yesterday.

She said she made the switch simply because she felt her progressive stance on social issues, such as her support of abortion rights, no longer fit with the Republican Party.

"I decided to change to a party that's more in line with my thinking," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Saltsburg, Indiana County.

Hafer, whose current term expires in 2005, has been mentioned as a possible opponent to Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in 2006 if she did switch parties. She said that while the prospect of running against Santorum was "interesting," she had not decided on any future political plans.

"I'm not there yet. I haven't made up my mind. It's a very big issue, and it's a ways off," she said.

Hafer angered Republicans when she endorsed Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell in the 2002 election.


TOPICS: Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: democrats; hafer; pennsylvania; rendell; seeya
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To: buzzyboop
Better a declared enemy than a traitorous "friend".
21 posted on 12/30/2003 2:01:57 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: MarkeyD
Whatever a liberal wants it to mean.
22 posted on 12/30/2003 2:04:53 PM PST by hawk1
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To: Tallguy
Losing Hafer is kinda like losing that light-hitting utility infielder to free agency.

Nah, it's more like a never-was that some dimwit signed to a long-term contract quitting. A light-hitting utility infielder might be useful as a defenseive replcement in late innings. Hafer never was useful for any role except snake-in-the-grass.

23 posted on 12/30/2003 2:09:57 PM PST by Vigilanteman
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To: buzzyboop
Well, given that child-kiling is her number one priority, she has joined the correct party to advance her cause.
24 posted on 12/30/2003 2:14:46 PM PST by tomahawk
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To: MarkeyD
Leftist policies can't create a great civilization. You could never build a successful long-term society on socialism, feminism, secularism, pacifism, pro-homosexual policies, etc.

There will never be a successful society where the centuries-old traditions and customs are things like wealth redistribution, gender equality, acceptance of gay marriage, and so forth, because societies that practice such things won't last for great periods of time or prosper greatly for long periods.

Only conservative values build successful, prosperous, long-surviving civilizations. So leftists are forced to infect those civilizations and hijack them from within.

Unlike conservatives, leftists can't market their ideas as having a proven track record of success. Take marriage as an example. We can point to the success and durability of heterosexual marriage, but advocates of gay marriage can't.

So, lacking any historical track record of success, leftists are forced to use various marketing tactics to sell their agenda. The most successful such tactic has been to label their ideas "progressive", and then to call conservative ideas "reactionary". This allows them to cover up the fact that their ideas have never built a civilization or worked over the long haul.

Since many people, especially young people, like things that are new, hip, and fashionable, they hop on the leftist bandwagon. The very lack of success of leftist policies historically requires the left to make the argument that their views are "progressive". If their ideas worked, they'd be fighting to conserve the civilizations they built, which is what we on the right are doing. But leftist policies fail, and eventually kill any society they infect, so the only way such ideas can be sold is by telling people that the ideas that built their civilization are old-fashioned and that the leftist ideas replacing them are new and progressive.
25 posted on 12/30/2003 2:33:11 PM PST by puroresu
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To: puroresu
Bye-Bye Barbara ---- your career=end
26 posted on 12/30/2003 2:40:32 PM PST by Erik Latranyi
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To: buzzyboop
Wow... not many making THAT switch lately. It seems like about 90+% of the switchers lately are Dem-to-GOP.
27 posted on 12/30/2003 3:16:28 PM PST by Teacher317
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To: buzzyboop
Did she say, "I didn't leave the party. The Republican Party left ME"? You get 10 points if you say that.
28 posted on 12/30/2003 3:19:49 PM PST by HostileTerritory
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To: zarf
Doesn't "progressive" mean being silent in the face of mass murder?

Not necessarily

Sometimes it means criticizing your government for prosecuting wars that interfere with regimes that practice rape, torture, and mass murder. You really must get the ProgressiveTalkingPoints.

It's all Bush's fault that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, raping, pillaging, and murdering his subjects.

29 posted on 12/30/2003 3:48:24 PM PST by af_vet_1981
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To: buzzyboop
no longer fit

When did it fit ?

30 posted on 12/30/2003 4:34:25 PM PST by VRWC_minion (Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and most are right)
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To: buzzyboop
Good riddance to bad rubbish. Babs the Heiffer was never really a Republican. Now if only the rest of the stinking RINOs would follow suit--it'll make them easier to bounce out of office.

Are you listening, Arlen?

Toomey for Senate!
31 posted on 12/30/2003 7:48:24 PM PST by Antoninus (In hoc signo, vinces †)
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To: buzzyboop
Never pull the straight party lever. A RINO is a Democrat. Just like Hafer proved.

Hafer is what they now call a "moderate" Republican.

32 posted on 12/30/2003 7:49:54 PM PST by He Rides A White Horse (For or against us.........)
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To: He Rides A White Horse
Anyone remember bumper stickers that AFSCME distributed when Hafer ran for Governor against the late Bob Casey?

"If you like Saddam Hussein, you'll love Barbara Hafer."
33 posted on 12/30/2003 8:35:40 PM PST by UserFPC
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To: anoldafvet
Sort of like leaping from a lifeboat back on to the Titanic.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

34 posted on 12/30/2003 8:41:14 PM PST by AmishDude
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