THE DEMOCRATS--HOMOGONEITY-R-US :

Independent Rep. Goode Switching to Republican (Reuters, 7/26/02)

U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, a former conservative Democrat turned independent, formally announced on Thursday he will switch party affiliation on Aug. 1 to Republican.

On the one hand, the loss of Goode, Traficant, and Condit--and maybe Jim Moran--doesn't affect voting in the House much, because all three (or four) were moderate or even reasonably conservative. But it's still a terrible thing for the Democrats. They continue to shed conservatives and moderates, making for a party that is really nothing more than the sum of its leftist special interest groups and therefore obligated to vote in certain prescribed ways on most issues, with no freedom of thought or dissent allowed. We see this particularly on things like abortion, affirmative action, socialized medicine, school choice, and saw it on impeachment. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 27, 2002 7:24 AM