Turncoat

A citizen is entitled to switch Political Parties and we all are entitled to our opinions but when voters elect a person of one Political Party should that person either stick with the Party that put him there or resign and run in a new election?

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/14/jeff-van-drew-change-parties-085036


Besides supporting Trump, what else did Van Drew do to make his Democratic voters so unhappy?

The stunning move comes amid new polling that shows Van Drew’s approval ratings are under water with Democratic voters in his district. According to a survey conducted between Dec. 7 and Dec. 10, just 24 percent of respondents think he deserves to be reelected, while 60 percent said they want someone new to represent them.

didn't the local Democratic party just tell him to take a leap though? I think they withdrew their support for his re-election. Or something?

(Can't find it on google. Maybe I dreamed it.)


The seat belongs to the person elected to it, not the party.  I hope he's angered enough of his constituents that they do something about it when he runs for re-election as a Republican.


See also: Senator Arlen Specter, spring 2009.


nohero said:

The seat belongs to the person elected to it, not the party.  I hope he's angered enough of his constituents that they do something about it when he runs for re-election as a Republican.

he's probably the only person in Congress who's united the Democrats and Republicans in his district


nohero said:

The seat belongs to the person elected to it, not the party.  I hope he's angered enough of his constituents that they do something about it when he runs for re-election as a Republican.

 The seat belongs to the people of the District. They choose who gets to sit in it.


STANV said:

nohero said:

The seat belongs to the person elected to it, not the party.  I hope he's angered enough of his constituents that they do something about it when he runs for re-election as a Republican.

 The seat belongs to the people of the District. They choose who gets to sit in it.

Right, and they elect the person, not the party.  They get to elect again this coming November.  Until then, Van Drew has the seat.  If he thinks that switching means he'll be the GOP candidate for that seat in 2021, he doesn't know the GOP.  Some right-wing extremist  will  oppose him in the primary, and that person will have a base of support, while Van Drew has none.


I guess Van Drew is a case where nominating a "moderate" wasn't the  path to success in a conservative district. He won a close election only because his opponent was an extremist nut. His reelection has been in jeopardy pretty much from the start because his conservatism has lost him the Democrats in his district. 


Richter, a Republican who wants to run for Drew'sseat isn't worried. He knows that Drew will be thrown under the bus after Trump gets what he wants.

Mr. Richter, 53, said he had been told by Republican leaders in the district that crosses Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties that Mr. Trump was expected to endorse Mr. Van Drew. Still, he said he had no plans to step aside to clear an easy path to the Republican nomination for Mr. Van Drew.

“I’ve talked to a lot of Republicans,” he said. “Nobody is happy about the switch.”

Mr. Richter added that any support Mr. Trump offered Mr. Van Drew, in exchange for the distraction a high-profile Democratic defection could offer in a week when the president faces impeachment, would quickly fade once Mr. Trump had “gotten what he wanted.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/nyregion/jeff-van-drew-democrat-republican.html


Considering the way the House of representatives functions going from being a Freshman Majority member to being a Freshman Minority member is tantamount to resigning, except you keep the salary.



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