POLITICO has learned that Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, will announce today that he's switching parties to become a Republican.
According to two senior GOP aides familiar with the decision, the announcement will take place this afternoon in Griffith's district in northern Alabama.
Important notes and context on this shift:
The partisan composition of the House will now be 257-178, in favor of Democrats.
On top of Griffith, three Blue Dogs had already announced their retirement this year. Dennis Moore (KS-03), Bart Gordon (TN-06) and John Tanner (YN-08). However, rather than depleting Blue Dog ranks, this allowed the Blue Dogs to just welcome in three members from their waiting list: Betsy Markey (CO-04), Scott Murphy (NY-20) and Kurt Schrader (OR-05).
Blue Dogs cap their membership at 20% of the entire Democratic caucus, in an attempt to maintain cohesion. They have rejected quite a few applicants, and won't have any difficulty filling Parker Griffith's slot. In fact, while one would think that massive Blue Dog defeats would result in the caucus being discredited, even if two-dozen Blue Dogs lose in November, the list of applicants to their waiting list will probably only get longer. It simply never occurs to center-right Democrats that strengthening their relationship with the center-left base is smarter than moving to the right.
Personally, I say good riddance to Griffith. He was costing us money in re-election, and providing no key votes. He was just a monetary black hole.
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