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Zell Miller and the GOP

On the way in to work today my carpool buddy talked about a Democrat that spoke at the GOP convention this week.. I had missed that and was really interested to see what it was all about and what would cause a member of my party to support the President. So over lunch I did a little digging around and found out that the comments were those of Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia… Upon further digging I found this interesting article on Slate. Most interesting was this paragraph:

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Since then Miller has supported Bush on virtually every major Senate vote: No Child Left Behind, drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, the Patriot Act, the GOP Homeland Security Department plan, the Iraq war, and a partial-birth abortion ban. Two years ago, he stopped caucusing with Democrats and now meets each week with Senate Republicans. More than that, Miller churns out more elaborate anti-liberal invective than most actual Republicans. Earlier this year he published A National Party No More, a long indictment of effete Democratic values and the party’s subservience to groups like NARAL and the trial lawyers. During the Democratic Convention last month, Miller agreed to be a member of a Republican National Committee “truth squad.” And while just three years ago Miller praised John Kerry as “one of this nation’s most authentic heroes, one of this party’s best-known and greatest leaders, and a good friend,” today he belittles Kerry as “so out of touch with the average American it would be comical if it were not so dangerous.”
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I also found this interesting tidbit on Vote-Smart.org:

Year	Voting Participation	Party Support	Presidential Support
2003	77%	9%	97%
2002	92%	40%	92%
2001	95%	42%	82%
2000	100%	25%	100%

All very interesting… And, quite frankly, if the party has drifted away from the ‘middle’ that Zell referrs to toward a more ‘Dean-Gore-Pelosi-Sharpton-Kerry’ bent then THANK GOD for that… And if he still wants to be a part of a party that has drifted away from his ideals as a political tool more power to him - the party is open to any American who chooses to join. I just hope that when he speaks at events like this as a representative of the Democratic Party that people see him for who he is.

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