Georgia State Rep. Mike Jacobs to Switch Parties
While this story is somewhat local to Georgia, I believe that there are some interesting lessons here as it relates to partisanship.
Today, my own state representative, Rep. Mike Jacobs, has announced that he is switching parties from Democrat to Republican. This is big news. While a number of conservative rural Democrats have made the switch here in Georgia, Mike becomes the first Metro Atlanta Democrat to switch parties.
(Full disclosure: Not only am I one of Mike's constituents, but I consider Mike a friend. Mike and I did discuss this issue prior to his decision today. I encouraged Mike to do what is best for the district regardless of party affiliation.)
In order to dispel various rumors about this move, Mike has written a blog post today to explain in his own words how he has come to this decision. Here is a summary:
As you know, I have always strived to represent all of my constituents, Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike, to the best of my ability. You have a right to know that the people elected to represent you, regardless of whether you voted for them, are listening and care what you have to say.That hasn’t changed, nor will it. What has changed is that my strong belief in fiscal responsibility and restraint – a belief that the vast majority of my constituents share – is not a good fit within the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Mike has very clearly stated the reason for this change, but I am going to weigh in with my own thoughts.
I started hearing rumors that Mike might switch parties earlier this year. The rumors were primarily coming from Democrat/left-leaning blogs here in Georgia. I know and like many of the people who were talking about this but feel that they have done their party a disservice.
I have either lived in or near this district for over 30 years so I feel like I have a pretty good sense of the people here. District 80 is almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans and has long been filled with a fairly non-partisan crowd. The constituents of District 80 care about results, not partisan politics. While there are certainly some hard-core Democrats and Republicans in the district, most people here vote for the man or woman not the party.
Unfortunately, there are some in both parties that have no tolerance for diversity of opinion within the party. At various times and places, each party exhibits this tendency to varying degrees. At this time, the state Democrat party is showing little tolerance for straying from the party line. It is a shame that Georgia Democrats are not more open to moderates and it is bad for the state. Contrary to what some people might think, I do not want to see Republicans dominate the state. Our state is served best when the party out of power is still strong.
Update: Here is a phone interview that I did with Mike today to discuss his decision.
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Will, I have no tolerance
Will, I have no tolerance for cuts to children's healthcare in our state or the return of payday lending, two issues that the caucus was "intolerant" on.
Moderate as District 80 may be, the Georgia GOP is not. As they pursue a tax realignment that will destroy education funding and local control of schools, which will no doubt shortchange District 80's schools where property taxes are higher than the average, I think these moderates will sour on Mike's "moderation".
Hey, when Mike is on the phone for his interview later ask him why he endorsed Cathy Cox in the primary in 2006 and then later switched his endorsement to Mark Taylor the week before the primary. Ask him if that decision was underwritten by the same principles that informed his party switch today.
Rep. Mike Jacobs
For more information on Rep. Mike Jacobs, please visit Rep. Mike Jacob’s Project Vote Smart Profile or call our hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART.
Curious, but not dumb
This site strives to see both sides of the isle (in theory), but in reality it's heavily leaning to the right and so is Will and I'm not willing or wanting to bring on the thunder from that majority around here - nor do I know anything at all about the reality of Georgia state politics and that district or any of that. So please, if you don't like what I am about to say, ignore it and move on. My one thought upon reading this is that it seems odd with the given Republican presidential administration that someone would switch to become a Republican based upon the ideal of having a "strong belief in fiscal responsiibility and restraint". Of course I think what I really would have loved to see is that if someone wanted to leave either party they would go and start a strong third party - that is what we really need, I think.
guru: you make me
guru: you make me smile!
This site is heavily leaning to the right? I don't think that the poll running on the right column shows that nor do I think that the contributions from such right-wing luminaries as Expat, Dustin, and rjohnson bear that out.
Am I right-leaning on certain issues? Sure. Do I toe the conservative party line? I don't think so. There are many issues that I part company with conservatives on.
Glad to make you smile, Will
Yes, perhaps my experience is not the same as others, but I completely stand by what I said about this site - despite the highly conclusive evidence of the very scientific and definitive poll there. At any rate, my actual point and question were ignored or perhaps overlooked. That's fine.
Only as left or right as the content drives it...
gurufrisbee-
Sometimes I get frustrated with the tone or content on the site, but that is only because I haven't been posting lately. If you, me, rjohnson and other center-lefties posted more diaries/blog entries we could move the discussion to topics that are more interesting to progressives like health care or playing a role in slowing down dramatic climate change. If you don't like the tone and slant here, change it with some diaries of your own.
I thought you actually liked us conservatives...
And wanted to talk to us.
But now I find that we just frustrate you.
Sigh.
I like you, but you won't come over to the my side of the issue
Joseph,
I enjoy dialogue, but I get frustrated by conservatives because, well, they won't come over to my side of the issue. That's all. Let's keep talking. ;-)
I like lots of people
Most of my closest friends are conservative Republicans. What I don't like around here (or anywhere) is the abrassive, offensive, intolerant extreme conservative Republicans who dominate several threads around here. I don't like the same thing from liberal Democrats either, but I've never seen them rear their ugly heads here yet. And I don't really think it has anything to do with how much or how little the rest of us post or comment around here.
Abrasive? Offensive?Intolerant?Extreme conservative Republicans?
guru-
Do you ever visit LittleGreenFootballs? RedState? Michelle Malkin? That's abrasive, offensive, intolerant and extreme. The folks here aren't any of that.
They may be annoying because they don't see the world like us, but they aren't offensive, intolerant or extreme.
Can you name the last time someone called you an offensive term? Or when they were intolerant to your views and tried to silence you? As far as extreme, what is extreme here? No one is bashing gays. No is screaming about a possible Hillary campaign. We rarely even hear talk of how the Congress is failing.
Frustrating? Sure. Abrasive, offensive, intolerant and extreme? Absolutely not.
Let's not blow this place up. The relationships we have here and the quality of debate shouldn't be lost over some ill-advised words.
I'm glad
...that you haven't experienced the same thing I have Expat, but I have actually experiencd people here being exactly what I said. I never claimed this place was the worst offender of that kind of behavior in the blog world - far from it. But it's not the glorious beacon of acceptance and centrism caused by an even mix of left and right as some around here pretend it is either. But I'm certain that a forum which prides itself on tolerance and acceptance like this one does isn't also going to sit there and try to deny and silence my frustrations when my opinion of it doesn't match that either, right?
Ok, let's do what we always do with kool-aid drinkers...
guru-
Prove it. When people show up on GWH and spout craziness, we make them prove it. So that's my challenge to you. Prove your assertions. Dig up some old comments that show closed-mindedness, abrasiveness, etc. directed at you or other lefties on this site.
No you don't
No one did when it happened in the past, so pretending that now after the fact you will call these people out is totally ridiculous. Nor is it remotely the point either.
Huh?
"Nor is it remotely the point"
You are calling people offensive and abrasive. Isn't asking for examples, exactly the point? You are welcome to pull the quote and not name names. However, examples are needed to back up your assertion.
Re: curious
I know and like Mike Jacobs, though probably not as well (on both counts) as Will. I regard him as a principled moderate in a state where the bigger tent belongs to the Republicans. Twenty years ago, that wouldn't have been the case, but the unpopularity of national Democrats in Georgia has driven almost everyone who can't support that agenda out of the party. What's left behind is a party whose agenda sells well in college towns and majority African-American districts, but almost nowhere else. Believe it or not, they're much less tolerant of dissent than are the Republicans, who are welcoming Jacobs (who's pro-choice) and have made room for (and offered positions of responsibility to) other folks who don't conform to the Bible-belt Republican stereotype.
I write this as someone closer to that stereotype than Will, not to mention Mike Jacobs.
you are right
Gurufrisbee,
While I do not share your opinion on the culture and nature of this blog, I would completely agree with your assessment of the irony of a democrat switching parties due to the stance of many republicans on spending at the federal level. The national republican party (at the federal level) is in fact much more fiscally irresponsible when it comes to this issue. And it is not even close. Government spending has increased at near a 20% annual rate under Bush and the republican led congress.
But alas, this is not the issue and the point of the switch. In fact, it is quite consistent at the local level here in GA. The governor, Sunny Perdue, has in fact cut spending several times without raising taxes in an effort to balance the state budget. This is indeed a fact. Sunny, like him or hate him on the issues, has been extremely tight with the budget.
Also, I know Will personally. I would say that he often breaks ranks with the conservatives on many issues, and it is quite apparent with many of his blog entries here and many of the contributors to this blog. With all due respect, I think that you are prejudging him because of his Christian beliefs.
Andy
Thanks Andy
I appreciate you looking at what the real point of my comment was and addressing it. Like I said, I don't know about Georgia politics - I'm a long way from you here in Washington state. And I appreciate the insight and information that makes what Jacobs says actually make some sense then.
But you're way off in thinking I'm doing any prejudging of Will based on his Christian beliefs. For one, I'm not "perjudging" anything or anyone - I'm responding to things that have actually happened and actually been done and said. Two, I'm a Christian and I don't think any of what I'm responding to on here has anything to do with anyone's Christianity or other religion or lack thereof. Three, I've never had a problem with Will's blog entries or most of his comments either. It's when he chooses to hammer on some people for what he feels is unacceptable content in their comments and lets others get off scott free for theirs and the great disparity in the political positions of those two groups is where I have a problem with Will's actions here. And honestly that wouldn't even bother me that much if it weren't so totally opposite of the supposed idea that this place is open to both sides and interested in bringing them together.
Where's the update?
Hey, I thought "Stay tuned for a phone interview with Mike Jacobs later today" meant that you would POST that interview! You expecting us to just listen in? We're not the NSA you know!
Seriously, Will- is there an interview coming or not? And how is Mike taking the bricks the Dems are throwing at him? And is anything coming on the 27th?
I'm with the "I have no
I'm with the "I have no tolerance" comment above. I voted for Mike, I campaigned for Mike and if there had been a whisper that this might be in his mind (and there had to have been) I would have done everything I could to defeat him. I am as disgusted with myself as I am with him. Voting against Peach Care? Voting for the return of payday lending? Yes, if "fiscal restraint" means "I don't give a hoot about children or the poor" he is showing remarkable fiscal restraint. I'm just not sure when that phrase became a synonym for "uncaring deceiver". As the "georgiafordemocracy" site states "For being the most conservative Democrat in the State House when you were one of the most liberal just two short years ago. Apparently Mr. Jacobs has had his "conservative epiphany". Jacobs voted with Glenn Richardson & the Krazy GOP on every major split except the Mandatory Ultrasound Bill, Private Cities, & One of the Criminal Justice Votes (HB197). Advocacy groups should be on notice that Jacobs cannot be trusted for common-sense votes any longer on issues ranging from Environment (he voted to strip the Jekyll Island protections) to Education (was the deciding vote on vouchers)." I'm not sure how much more he could have betrayed his principles than these votes. Thank goodness he's only a State representative...the damage he would do at the Federal level rivals that of Joe Lieberman. I will do everyting I can to find a Democratic opponent to challenge him in the next election and I urge everyone to do the same.
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