http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/05/artur-davis-party-switch-democrat-virginia-/1
Former Alabama congressman Artur Davis, who seconded Barack Obama's nomination for president four years ago, says he's leaving the Democratic Party.
The one-time rising Democratic Party star -- once described as "the Obama of Alabama" -- said on his website that he is switching his voter registration to Virginia and is considering running for office as a Republican. Davis was also critical of the Obama administration, with whom he was sometimes at odds while in Congress on issues such as health care.
"This is not Bill Clinton's Democratic Party (and he knows that even if he can't say it)," Davis wrote.
Regarding specific policy differences, Davis said:
I have regularly criticized an agenda that would punish businesses and job creators with more taxes just as they are trying to thrive again. I have taken issue with an administration that has lapsed into a bloc by bloc appeal to group grievances when the country is already too fractured: frankly, the symbolism of Barack Obama winning has not given us the substance of a united country.
Davis, who served in Congress from 2003-2011, was once mentioned as a possible attorney general in the Obama administration. While in the House, he became a member of the centrist-minded New Democrat Coalition and occasionally bucked his party.
Davis voted against Obama's signature health care legislation and called on Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., to give up the chairman's gavel at the Ways and Means Committee amid an ethics investigation.
In 2010, Davis failed in his bid to become the first African American elected governor of Alabama. He lost the Democratic primary to Ron Sparks, and was criticized by some civil rights groups for bypassing their endorsement process.
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