The announcement by Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith that he is switching
to the Republican Party is just the latest warning sign that the
Democratic Party -- my lifelong political home -- has a critical
decision to make: Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or
risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many
elections to come.

Rep. Griffith's decision makes him the fifth centrist Democrat to
either switch parties or announce plans to retire rather than stand
for reelection in 2010. These announcements are a sharp reversal from
the progress the Democratic Party made starting in 2006 and continuing
in 2008, when it reestablished itself as the nation's majority party
for the first time in more than a decade. That success happened for
one major reason: Democrats made inroads in geographies and
constituencies that had trended Republican since the 1960s. In these
two elections, a majority of independents and a sizable number of
moderate Republicans joined the traditional
here is more for ya clowns......

Democratic base to sweep Democrats to commanding majorities in
Congress and to bring Barack Obama to the White House.

These independents and Republicans supported Democrats based on a
message indicating that the party would be a true Big Tent -- that we
would welcome a diversity of views even on tough issues such as
abortion, gun rights and the role of government in the economy.

This call was answered not just by voters but by a surge of smart,
talented candidates who came forward to run and win under the
Democratic banner in districts dominated by Republicans for a
generation. These centrists swelled the party's ranks in Congress and
contributed to Obama's victories in states such as Indiana, North
Carolina, Virginia, Colorado and other Republican bastions.

But now they face a grim political fate. On the one hand, centrist
Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and
partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, "true"
Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their
association with a party that seems to be advancing an agenda far to
the left of most voters.

The political dangers of this situation could not be clearer.