The shift in public opinion against today's Republican party continues to expand. With the election of Jim Webb, the Reagan Democrats began to come home to the Democratic party, but that may have just been the beginning.Pete McCloskey, California Congressman and one-time Presidential candidate comes from a family that joined the Republican party the year before the election of Abraham Lincoln. He, himself joined the Republicans 59 years ago.
This week, he joined millions of others, leaving the madness of a party that has long since left him, to register as a Democrat.
His testimony encapsulates an expanding sentiment felt across the nation.
I finally concluded that it was a fraud for me to remain a member of this modern Republican Party, that there were only a few like Chuck Hegel, Jack Warner, Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins I could respect.Two of the best, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, and Jim Leach of Iowa, after years of battling for balance and sanity, were defeated last November, and it seems that every Republican presidential candidate is now vying for the support of the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells rather than talking about a return to the values of the party I joined nearly 59 years ago. My favorite spokesmen have beome Senators Jim Webb and Barack Obama.
And so it was, that while at the Woodland courthouse the other day, passing by the registrar's office, I filled out the form to re-register as a Democrat.
"A pox on (Republicans) and their values," writes McClosky. Amen to that. Welcome to the big tent and the best hope for the future of the American Greatness.
WASHINGTON - A former congressional aide pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in an influence-peddling scandal that has touched the White House, Interior Department and congressional Republicans. Mark Zachares was the 11th person to be convicted in the Justice Department probe.http://news.yahoo.co...Zachares admitted engaging in official acts on Abramoff's behalf while working for Rep. Don Young (news, bio, voting record), R-Alaska, who chaired the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
And there will be more:
WASHINGTON - The FBI has asked U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney for information about his dealings with Jack Abramoff as part of its ongoing investigation into the lobbyist convicted of defrauding clients.http://www.sptimes.c...FBI agent Kevin Luebke refused to say whether Feeney, a Republican from the Orlando area, is under federal investigation.