Kentucky right-winger bolts GOP

Kentucky Democrats are cheering this story, but - as a registered Green - all this does for me is drive home the belief that the Democrats have become nearly a facsimile of the GOP.

Right-wing State Rep. Wade Hurt has announced that he's switching his affiliation from the Republicans to the Democrats. This grants the Democrats a 59 to 41 edge in the Kentucky House.

I guess Hurt - a longtime Louisville GOP activist - saw the writing on the wall, because Republicans aren't exactly becoming a popular cause in Kentucky. On the other hand, Hurt is so right-wing that why would the Democrats even want him? He's even listed among the cosponsors of the failed bill that would have required drug tests for not only welfare but also Social Security and veterans' benefits. I guess the Democrats allow stances like this because they're just as wussified as I suspected. The fact that the media calls Hurt a "moderate" proves that the press is teetering on the brink of exiting the fact-based world - and it again moves the center of debate rightward.

What's particularly outrageous is that Hurt won his seat when a judge barred the Democrats or any other party besides the Republicans from fielding a candidate. As in the Soviet Union, voters were told who to vote for, as Hurt was the only candidate. Now that he's switched parties, this makes it much harder for a progressive Democrat to win the primary and get elected to this seat. (Hurt's district is so heavily Democratic that the Democrats are almost sure to win when the GOP machine doesn't ban them from running a candidate.)

(Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110422/NEWS0101/304220085/Jefferson-County-GOP-House-member-switching-Democrats)