links for 2009-12-22

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.

At their luncheon today, Senate Dems will get tips on selling health care that include focusing on immediate benefits, and the historic nature of the achievement. In a memo to be presented to senators, Democratic pollster Mark Mellman argues: “[T]he public continues to trust Democrats and the President over Republicans to deal with the issue. The news media has recently highlighted polls showing double-digit margins in opposition to the current healthcare plan. But these cursory stories … often ignore the fact that a chunk of opposition to the current plan comes from those who support reform, but would like to see Congress go further."

In a telephone interview, Mellman tells us: "There's still an education job that needs to be done. … Democrats can’t just move on from health care. They’ve got to spend the next 10 months, the next year — maybe the next four years — explaining what’s involved in this legislation, and why it’s to people’s benefit.”

A CAMPAIGN consultant to Republican 11th Congressional District candidate Brad Goehring, who anonymously bashed three challengers on a conservative blog, has issued a mea culpa.

David Creager, under the screen name "GOP Campaigner" on the fledgling ConservativeNewMedia.com, had slapped the carpetbagger tag on Tony Amador and Larry Pegram, and called Robert Beadles the equivalent of a radical wing nut.

"My thanks to those who pointed this (conflict) out to me because I didn't mean to get involved in anything other than to just write about some things that occurred to me personally," Creager posted midweek.

Goehring's campaign has paid Creager $14,000 for consulting services through September.

There is no evidence that Goehring's campaign paid Creager to launch blog bombs, and he has admirably admitted and corrected his error in judgment.

But the use of anonymity online is far more common in campaigns than folks realize.
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