Washington Post-Matthew Dowd launches a bid for Texas lieutenant governor -- as a Democrat

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. The eeffects are different in Red States than in Blue States

I can accept that in red states and red leaning purple states in the short term, if the ex-Republican in question has some personal integrity and reasonable core convictions, even if they are to the right of where I want our Party to be. In a sense it is a transition strategy away from Republican rule. At some point if that state's electorate keeps trending blue, than a "centrist" of that sort will no longer be able to get past a Democratic primary to run as a Democrat, unless they move to the left along with the base.

The reverse happened in the past when many Southern Democrats, including Party leaders, defected to the Republican Party, solidifying Republican rule in those states for decades to come

Charlie Crist, an ex-Republican Governor in Florida, is now a Democratic Congressman from that State