Todd Epp pulled a Sibby and left the Democrat Party and became an Independent. Here it is in his own words:
So today I made the fifteen minute or so trek to Canton from Harrisburg. Enjoyed the drive as usual. Stopped at the county auditor's office. Changed my voter registration from Democrat to Independent.
Today is my "Independents" Day, August 10, 2005. My Republican friends will be confounded. My Democrat friends will no longer be embarrassed about what I say as a Democrat. Most of the rest of you won't care. I'm just a liberal now, not a liberal Democrat.
Earlier Todd gave us the reasons:
I didn't get the job with the state Democratic Party as press secretary/communications director. I had a nice call from Chairperson Judy Duhamel.
With this rebuff, for the foreseeable future, my Democratic activist days are done. Someone else can wail about the need to radically change the party structure and attitudes. Someone else can go after Sen. John Thune. I will assist friends of mine who run for office and help my clients in political-type situations, but the days of carrying water for the donkey are done for the time being.
I think the Republicans should be happy that the Democrat Party continues to make stupid decisions such as not giving Todd the director position. I don’t think you can find one with more passion. Even though I disagree with Todd on the issues most of the time, he always has interesting things to say and has his heart set on doing what he thinks is best.
I know that this is not a great comparison, because the Democrats lost a lot more yesterday than they did in 1999 when I left the Party. I was not a hardcore advocate. I also went Independent until 2002, when the South Dakota Senate race helped me understand there is a war going on and its no time to be on the fence. So I joined the Republicans. I don’t see Todd Epp later becoming a Republican.
It is more likely that I will return as an independent. Perhaps Todd and I can change the Dem versus GOP conflict into a "new-age liberal" versus a "classical liberal" one by co-hosting a talk radio show someday. Wouldn’t that be a riot?
