Posted on 11/08/2002 11:42:19 AM PST by flying Elvis
LAGRANGE -- State Sen. Dan Lee became the first Democratic legislator this morning to announce his switch to the GOP. Lee made the expected announcement as Gov.-elect Sonny Perdue's seven-city victory tour stopped in his hometown. "From this day forward, they can count me in the Republican aisle in the Senate," Lee said.
Perdue announced that Lee would be an assistant floor leader in the Senate when the Legislature convenes in January. Sen. Bill Stephens (R-Canton) will be the governor's floor leader, Perdue said. The floor leader carries the governor's legislation on the Senate floor, while the assistant floor leaders line up votes for the governor's initiatives.
When the caravan got to Columbus, Republican leaders announced that Linda Parker, an African-American member of the Muscogee County Board of Education, had also switched to the GOP.
Perdue, who himself switched from the Democratic to the Republican party in 1998, welcomed Lee to the fold. "We are here to work for the people of Georgia, not against anybody," Perdue said.
Lee, who was elected to the Senate in 1998, said that other Democratic senators who do not intend the switch had pledged to work with the Republican administration.
Perdue rode a strong rural vote to victory over Gov. Roy Barnes Tuesday, and the GOP has been working aggressively to court rural and small-town Democrats since then.
Lee's conversion was the first of two expected today. Sen. Don Cheeks is expected to announce his switch this afternoon when Perdue's airplane arrives in Cheeks' hometown of Augusta. Adding those two senators to the GOP will give the Republicans a 28-28 split, just one vote shy of their first majority in modern times. Negotiations are under way with other legislators to give the Republicans a majority.
Lee was a strong candidate for a switch from the start. He was at odds with the Democratic leadership in the past several years, most notably over redistricting last year. He complained bitterly about his district being divided up in an effort to strengthen Democratic candidates elsewhere.
Soon the democratic leadership will soon learn that NO ONE is leaving the democratic party, the democratic party is leaving them!!
Lawsuit Filed Over Ads
THE NASTY GEORGIA CONGESSIONAL RACE IN THE NEW 12TH DISTRICT IS HEADED TO COURT...
DEMOCRAT CHAMP WALKER HAS FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST HIS REPUBLICAN OPPONENT, MAX BURNS AND HIS CAMPAIGN. THE ACCUSATIONS INCLUDE LIBEL AND SLANDER. IT'S BASICALLY OVER BURNS ADS, WHICH WALKER CLAIMS ARE UNTRUE.
WALKER WOULDN'T ANSWER QUESTIONS ON THE SUIT, BUT SAID BURNS WON'T ADMIT ANY MISTAKES IN ADS. WALKER SAID IN A THURSDAY AFTERNOON NEWS CONFERENCE, "He has offered a back handed explanation that contains new falsehoods..
He has tried the old time tested trick by the guilty seeking to avoid responsbiliity for their actions...delay and delay, deny and deny." A BURNS CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN DEFENDED THE ADS.
LIKE RATS LEAVING A SINKING SHIP!!!!!!!!
This is truly a beautiful thing, and a very good sign. If we can make any inroads into the African-American community, even just a small amount, the Democrats will be staring into the abyss of permanent minority status for the forseeable future.
This is similar to what happened in Britain in the mid seventies. When the conservatives got a strong, principled leader in Margaret Thatcher, the Labour party shifted far left to try and counter her, since staying in the middle left them as the "me too" party. They went so far left they were christened "The Loony Left".
The upshot of all this was the birth of a new, centrist party, the Social Democrats, which was populated by wishy washy conservatives, moderate Labour, and some of the old Liberal party has-beens. They thought they could corner the balance of power in any administration but they never really never achieved anything.
Since then, Blair has taken the labour party right and stolen the Social Democrats high ground.
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