US Rep. Ralph Hall (D) switches parties-

[TakebackAmerica]

WASHINGTON - Texas Rep. Ralph Hall switched parties Friday night, filing for re-election as a Republican after nearly a quarter-century as one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress.
"I've always said that if being a Democrat hurt my district I would switch or I would resign," Hall said in an interview with The Associated Press. He said GOP leaders had recently refused to place money for his district in a spending bill and "the only reason I was given was I was a Democrat."

In an interview in which he said he had filed to run as a Republican, he also said he didn't agree with "all these guys running against the president."

Hall's switch marked the first fallout from a GOP-led drive -- bitterly contested by Democrats -- to remake Texas' congressional districts more to their liking. Party strategists contend they can gain five or more seats through a mid-decade redistricting, a change that could greatly strengthen their grip on power in the House.

Before Hall's move, the House had 228 Republicans, 205 Democrats, 1 Democrat-leaning independent and 1 vacancy.
Snip.......


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20040103/ap_o n_go_ca_st_pe/party_switch

[frylock]

1. don't let the door hit ya on the way out..

numbnuts.

[dae]

9. More like NO nuts! IMHO.

:)

[Kathleen04]

2. Echhh

More DINOs coming out of the woodwork. :mad:

[BobbyJay]

3. We need to take the House back

How many seats are up for grabs in '04?

The Democrats need to have the power to "ivestigate", the way they did with Clinton.

[jfxgillis]

5. Don't worry about it

Hall hasn't voted for the Caucus nominee for Speaker for years anyway.

The only practical effect of this is that the GOP has to slot Hall in on one of their GOP Committee assignments instead of stealing it from Pelosi.

[NewJerseyDem]

7. Yeah

Now we will get to fill his seat on Energy and Commerce with a real democrat. Also, we can get a new ranking democrat on the Science Committee, probably Bart Gordon of Tennessee based on seniority.

The republicans have a vacant seat on Energy and Commerce because of the vacancy from Ernie Fletcher. John Sullivan of Oklahoma was probably going to get it but I assume Hall will get it now. It is good to actually have democrats in our committee slots. I think that Hall should have lost his ranking member position at least when he didn't vote for Pelosi but I guess they didn't want to offend the Blue Dogs.

[jfxgillis]

11. He didn't even fucking vote for Gephardt

And in a funny way, this chips away one of Delay's new GOP House seats.

Net positive all around for the Dems.

[Catch22Dem]

16. Fuck John Sullivan of Oklahoma

Fuck him Fuck him Fuck him!!!

[ChemEng]

20. Unfortunately, with gerrymandering rampant, not many....

[leyton]

24. Well there's another thread

that had a list of house retirements. It seems to me that there were about twice as many Republicans retiring as Democrats, so that might cancel out at least some of the disadvantage Democrats have because of gerrymandering.

[Military Brat]

4. He said he would switch or resign. Then resign, you weasel

For the benefit of his district, my a**. He's looking out for numero uno.

Goodbye, good riddance, no love lost on a defecting DINO.

[blm]

6. This is going to be a big part of 2004 GOP campaign...

They will be highlighting all those Democrats who have switched or who will stay Dem but vote for Bush, like Miller and Ed Koch. They will get as much air timre as Rove wants. Expect more, especially if Dems are deemed the Angry Democrats thanks to youknowwho.

[NewJerseyDem]

8. Hall endorsed Bush in 2000

And I don't remember him being used in the Bush campaign. I think that Zell Miller might be used though. I don't know about using Ed Koch though. Nobody really likes him. I think he went senile about a decade ago.

[blm]

12. Post 9-11 and terrorism. They'll use Koch.

Guaranteed. Most of the country associates him with NYC.

[pinkpops]

10. now wasn't that a brave thing to do

[NewJerseyDem]

13. The next Energy and Commerce Committee chairman?

Billy Tauzin used to be a Democrat before 1995 and then he became chairman of that committee only 6 years later. Hall is going to have the most seniority of any republican if he stays on the committee and I assume he will. Tauzin is expected to resign from the House soon or maybe retire at the end of the year. I know it is unlikely but maybe Hall will replace him instead of Joe Barton of Texas. Hall does have 4 more years of seniority than Barton.

[mmonk]

14. sift them all out now

[beanball]

15. Yo Ralphie you forgot to take Zell with you.

I guess the repugs pay better than the dems.

[sleipnir]

18. And Lieberman, they can have both of them!

Because we don't want 'em!!!

[are_we_united_yet]

17. I'm so sad sniff sniff

Take a hike!

[ButterflyBlood]

19. good

Hall was completely worthless to us anyway. He said he would vote for Hastert if that was neccesary to keep a GOP majority, so he had no value at all. Weed out the trash.

[goobergunch]

22. I concur.

That's basically what I said on the other thread before it got locked.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Minstrel Boy]

23. The story isn't Hall, the story is the GOP's tactics:

He said GOP leaders had recently refused to place money for his district in a spending bill and "the only reason I was given was I was a Democrat."

[leyton]

25. That's probably the reason

for not getting any money for his district, but that's no reason to switch parties. Maybe if he's a conservative who has found that his values are in now more in tune with the GOP's, then he might have a good reason to switch, but just because the GOP screwed his district over doesn't mean he should become a GOPer.

[Minstrel Boy]

26. It doesn't justify his action, but the GOP's blackmail accounts for

his action.

Hall was evidently a weak-willed DINO, but the lesson of the story isn't that Hall's a turncoat. It's as with redistricting: the Republicans are playing for keeps.

[aQuArius]

27. Someone remind me why he said he wa a Democrat in the 1st palce...

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[Freddie Stubbs]

29. The Democratic Party used to be more conservative

Especially in the South.

[NewJerseyDem]

30. This is Sam Rayburn's old district

The district voted 90% for FDR. This used to be democratic territory and he probably wouldn't have won if he was a republican, even as late as 1980. But, things have changed more recently. The district gave Bush 70%.

[aQuArius]

31. I know, but why'd he wait all this time

to "decide" he's republican. To me, it just sounds assinine.

[philosophie_en_rose]

28. Republican blackmail + DINO = Nothing

He said GOP leaders had recently refused to place money for his district in a spending bill and "the only reason I was given was I was a Democrat."

So let's get this straight. He's switching parties because the Republicans are petty bastards. He has been bought by the Republicans and it doesn't mean a damned thing about the democratic party.