Multiple members of the Congressional Black Caucus blasted Arthur Davis as a traitor after the former Democrat and staunch President Obama supporter crossed the political aisle. Davis will speak against Obama during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Davis is a former Democratic House member from Alabama-turned-failed gubernatorial candidate turned current Republican House candidate in Virginia who has been busy tearing into Obama, Fox News reports, saying the Democratic Party is not the “party we used to know.”
The 14 members of the CBC call Davis’ 180-degree political turn and switch to the Republican party as “unconscionable” and say it smacks of unscrupulous “opportunism.”
The CBC released this statement about Davis to members of the media on the day Davis is to address the GOP convention:
We are writing to express our disdain over several recent comments you have made about the important issues facing voters in November, your total distortion of President Barack Obama’s record, and your complete flip-flop on certain core principles you once held dear. Given the magnitude of your recent transformation, we can only conclude that, rather than a true conversion, your actions are the result of a nakedly personal and political calculation or simmering anguish after failing to secure the Democratic nomination for governor of the State of Alabama in 2010.
[…]
It’s unconscionable that you now claim Voter ID laws do not violate civil rights or suppress minority voter turnout. Yet in 2007 while still representing Alabama’s 7th congressional district, you joined then-Senator Obama in calling for the resignation of the Justice Department’s Voting Rights chief after he claimed that Voter ID laws did not hurt minorities, saying, “you can’t argue that voter ID laws don’t disfranchise African-Americans.”
You also may recall that less than two years ago, you routinely touted your progressive record as a member of the House of Representatives. You supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Wall Street reform bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and ending tax subsidies for oil companies. Despite voting against the final bill, you even supported major pillars of the Affordable Care Act like banning discrimination against pre-existing conditions, expanding Medicaid, and providing tax breaks to small businesses that provide health care, to name a few.
Contrary to your recent declarations, you hailed President Barack Obama as a “beacon of leadership,” touted President Obama as your “model,” and widely described the President as a friend. As a member of the House of Representatives, you supported President Obama’s agenda 95% of the time, were quoted saying “I agree with him on everything,” and repeatedly invoked President Obama in your failed gubernatorial campaign.
The CBC members who endorsed the letter, published in the HuffPost, emphasize that Davis’ record should automatically invalidate his current stance — and anything he has to say against Obama in the future — because Davis supported the exact opposite of what he claims he now opposes.
