Liberals and the liberal liberals who... liberalize

Luther Strange's latest television ad in the Republican lieutenant governor campaign is an extended reminder that while he is a lifelong GOP man, his runoff opponent, George Wallace, Jr., once was a Democrat who (shockingly!) ran for office alongside other Democrats, many of whom were -- you guessed it -- liberal. (Strange's ad also employs the sandbox tactic of using Democrat as a pejorative adjective, but that's tangential to the point.)

The overarching implication seems to be that Republicans can be "real Republicans" only if they never were active in another party. That'd probably come as a surprise to the thousands of Alabama voters who have switched their party affiliation since the 1980s and to the scores of major GOP officials who once were Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, former Gov. Fob James, and former Lt. Gov. Steve Windom. I even hear tale that a guy named Ronald Reagan used to vote for some Democrats now and then, and I'm pretty sure he didn't end up as a flaming lefty.

OK, enough historical context for one night. We now return you to your regularly scheduled empty rhetoric.