ALABAMA REP JUMPS SHIP, BECOMES REPUBLICAN

Too early to call this a trend but a 46% strong disapproval number for Obama, this health care monstrosity about to pass despite the will of the people, and now an Alabama Democrat turning Republican, it'd be a good start. POLTICO has the story:

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.

Griffith’s party switch comes on the eve of a pivotal congressional health care vote and will send a jolt through a Democratic House Caucus that has already been unnerved by the recent retirements of a handful of members who, like Griffith, hail from districts that offer prime pickup opportunities for the GOP in 2010.

The switch represents a coup for the House Republican leadership, which had been courting Griffith since he publicly criticized the Democratic leadership in the wake of raucous town halls during the summer.

Let's see how blue those blue dogs really are.

h/t to MM