By By Criag Ziemba / guest columnist
Dec. 8, 2002
Craig Ziemba is a pilot who lives in Meridian.
Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck's long-anticipated conversion to the Republican Party will be just one of many in the near future that indicate a growing movement away from the national Democratic Party and its failed policies of socialism and moral relativism.
Democratic politicians in the South are increasingly embarrassed by the politics of the Left and are tired of having to justify their membership in a party whose indefensible platform of abortion on demand, bigger government, and denial of our Judeo-Christian heritage offends their constituents.
It's better late than never for politicians to join a party whose platform they can in good conscience support, but it's also important for politicians to do right by those who supported them when they ran for office as Democrats. Citizens support candidates not only as individuals, but also as members of a political party whose causes they believe in.
Most of our state legislators and our lieutenant governor won their elections thanks to the contributions and good faith efforts of members of the Mississippi Democratic Party. Therefore, it's important that when a politician decides to switch political parties, he or she does so with a great deal of humility and consideration for those who voted them into office.
Before leaving the British Empire, the signers of the Declaration noted that, "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." In the same manner, politicians who switch parties should publicly and clearly declare the causes that impel them to do so. And they'd better be good ones.
Jumping on a bandwagon, distancing yourself from an unpopular executive, or bettering your chances for reelection or pursuit of higher office in the future are not good reasons. Coming to the realization that you must be true to your convictions and aligning yourself to stand with like-minded Americans regardless of the political consequences are honorable reasons to change.
The obvious question then becomes how and when should a politician switch parties? Should they resign and run again in the next election cycle, or should they wait until they serve out the remainder of the term with the party under which they were elected? These are individual questions of conscience, to be sure, but they have very public ramifications.
If David Cutcliffe left Ole Miss to coach Mississippi State mid-season, would his fans ever forgive him?
Mississippi voters may give party switchers the benefit of the doubt or they may castigate them as political opportunists. As the Democratic Party declines and more and more politicians become Republicans, some on both sides will question their conversions. There's no easy way around this, but that doesn't release anyone from their obligation to do what they believe is right.
Things change. Politics is all about persuading people to join you as you fight for your beliefs. It's a good thing when voters and politicians are willing to break out of their ruts and join a political party that truly represents what they believe.
Ultimately, though, the only person who really knows their heart and the only one who can judge their motives is the one they have to face in the mirror.