If we need further proof that this country's two-party system is shaky, look no further than the Dirty South, where downtrodden Democrats are jumping the aisle to become Republicans.
After the beatdown that Democrats suffered to lose control of the House, Democrats in statehouses down South are defecting to the other side. At least 13 blue lawmakers in five different states are now sporting red.
The AP writes:
In Alabama, four Democrats announced last week they were joining the GOP, giving Republicans a supermajority in the House that allows them to pass legislation without any support from the other party. The party switch of a Democratic lawmaker from New Orleans handed control of Louisiana's House to Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction.
In Georgia, six rural Democratic state legislators - five from the House and one in the Senate - have switched allegiance to the GOP since Nov. 2. In Maine, a House Democrat flipped; in South Dakota, a Democratic state senator.
Most of the party swaps are in the South, where GOP rule is becoming more entrenched and Democrats - many of them already more conservative than their counterparts elsewhere - are facing what looks like a long exile in the minority.
How weak is that? The idea of sticking to one's principles in politics was already on life support. Now, we might as well plan the funeral.
The AP reports the switching is especially prevalent in the South, where the GOP has been gaining ground since the 1960s:
"Republicans now control both chambers of the state Legislature as well as the governorship in 21 states," the AP reports.
"This was a wave election," said Tim Storey, an elections expert with the National Conference of State Legislatures. "So you will probably see that wave continue with even more Democrats moving over as the impact of the election settles in."
And this is a particularly bad time for Democrats to be jumping ship. The once-a-decade process of redistricting is about to begin. The party with the largest majority usually has the power to push through changes that eliminate certain districts or make it more likely that one party will win that disitrict.
"We know that in some cases folks are scrambling to keep their districts," Carolyn Fiddler, spokeswoman for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, told the AP.
And that's the problem. Serving the public, not working to keep your seat, should be the priority.
Maybe if there were other major parties in this country, there would be more options than left or right. What about all the moderates out there who are looking for a viable option. Those who find themselves in the middle could band together and force changes.
The way it works now, moderate Republicans, for example, find themselves marginalized. Crossing the aisle to vote with the other party on certain issues is like getting a death sentence. Back in the district, there is another candidate waiting to portray himself or herself as the true Republican or true Democrat.
In New York, I heard the Green Party candidate for governor tell voters that he deserved their vote simply because the party was trying to get more traction in the state, such as an automatic spot on the ballot. He knew he was going to lose big to Andrew Cuomo. In reality, he was just asking for an opportunity to compete.
Life is filled with gray. Voters deserve more than black and white.