Posted on 03/15/2008 7:57:43 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Democratic state Senator Tom Butler will announce that he is changing parties and run for the state’s 5th Congressional District seat as a Republican, according to two sources close to the situation. Sen. Butler of Madison is one of the “dissident Democrats” who caucuses with Senate Republicans in a minority coalition.
Many believed that Butler’s differences with Senate Democrats were more personal than political. State Sen. E. B. McClain (D - Midfield) once described Butler’s relationship with the party as wounded. (Another Senate insider described it to the Parlor in much the same way. See also here.) Democrats had hoped that he would return to the party’s mainstream (for example, in 2000 he was an Al Gore delegate to the Democratic convention and in 2004 he endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark) to provide Senate Democrats a 21-vote, “filibuster-proof” majority. Instead, Gov. Bob Riley has apparently welcomed Butler, and Butler has put aside unhappiness he was reported last year to have with Riley, at least to the point that he will run for Congress as a Republican.
Butler is four years older than the man he seeks to replace, Democrat Bud Cramer. If he loses the race, his party switch will not dramatically alter the state Senate landscape since he had caucused with Republicans already, though it will presumably squash Democrats’ efforts to bring him back to the majority caucus.
Good news! Thanks for posting.
“Gee whiz, Uncle Barack, I thought this was the year Dimocrats were gonna win everything?”
LOL!
That is great news, lets hope a few more Blue Dogs come to their senses and jump ship. It’s not ungeard of to run under one party just to get elected, a while back i read on a blog in oregon where someone suggested doing just that.
sad to say that millions of Americans still believe the Dem party represents the average working person. What they need to realize is that the party really stands for ruining the average workers employer.
Could the GOP please grow a pair and expose these liars?
This is very good news. As a former Alabamaian, I so much enjoy hearing good news coming out of the South...the SANE part of the Country...and I surely hope he can oust Cramer. How does it look for that to actually happen? Oh, and by the way, I now live in the bluest of states, CA, but do have a wonderful Congressman, John Campbell.
Cramer is retiring. That’s the reason for the aprty switch.
‘Sen. Butler of Madison is one of the “dissident Democrats” who caucuses with Senate Republicans in a minority coalition.’
He may prefer the term “maverick” Democrat.
He will have some competition if John Robinson (D) from Scottsboro also runs for Cramer’s seat. Robinson is another slick politician and he’ll have some mighty money behind him.
*ping*
While I don’t necessarily have a problem with his party switch as long as he remains in the AL Senate, I’m not sure this is a great recruitment for Congress. Butler’s older than Cramer (64 in April) and won’t be settling in for a very long stay (I doubt he’ll remain 18 years as Cramer did, at which time he’ll be nearly his mid 80s). At least Mo Brooks is a decade younger (54) and Sen. Arthur Orr (44 in May) yet another decade younger. We should be backing young Conservatives for these seats in most circumstances.
“We should be backing young Conservatives for these seats in most circumstances.”
More often than not, that is true. Of course, in a constituancy that is not accustomed to voting Republican, even an older conservative can set useful precedent that younger ones can benefit from later on.
Problem is, Butler doesn’t sound like much of a Conservative. Probably a moderate Democrat (by that equivalent, a liberal Republican) whose problems with the party are less one of ideology and more one of personalities. Then, of course, that’s how the anti-Jacksonian Whigs came to be in Tennessee.
IMHO, Morris Brooks would be the best candidate.
Can you by any chance give me some bio info on Morris Brooks. Both of those names are big in my family names and being from Alabama, perhaps I’ll know this person which would interest me alot. I’m originally from B’ham but family all over Alabama...father’s middle name is Morris and have lots of cousins named Brooks.
I say welcome welcome aboard. I’d say the same to Lieberman if he came over but I still wouldn’t want him as VP. Voting for Gore and that w*ore Wes Clark (considered running for something as a Republican first) shows a lack of judgment. There’s no reason to back him congress against the other Republicans in the race, he can’t really switch back to the rats now without looking like a tool.
IN Alabama they should be backing young conservative veterans; there are plenty of them.
No argument there. Why we try to persuade rodent fossils or perennial retreads to run, I have no idea. It’s a recipe for disaster. I’m betting now this seat remains in the rodent column for 2 more years. Isn’t 140 years in one party long enough ?
My fear is that once elected, the incumbent will rack up selective conservative votes sufficient to sustain regular reelction...just like Bud Cramer did.
We have the same problem north of the border here in TN, where the rodents (thanks to gerrymandering) have a majority of House seats. It’s extremely hard to dump House incumbents in my state and hasn’t happened since 1974.
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