Democrats Of Convenience And Conservative Rehab: Now With Blue Jerseys

When Nothing Means Anything, The Party's Over

And now he may "be" a Democrat

Is politics just a team sport? You put on a different uniform and you’re part of the other team? The way Charlie Crist did— utterly destroying the Democratic Party brand in Florida. In recent years, conservative Republicans, uncomfortable with the GOP’s turn towards fascism, have decided to bring their conservative values over to the Democratic Party. Like Crist, they’ve gravitated towards the Blue Dogs and New Dems. Now David Jolly, a former Republican congressman defeated by Crist (when Crist was pretending to be a Democrat) is about to declare he’s running for governor of Florida, making believe he’s a Democrat. What a mess!

Remember Tom O’Halleran, a Republican state legislator in Arizona who switched to the Dems, joined the Blue Dogs, voted frequently with his old party, deflated Democrats in his district and eventually was defeated by a fascist-aligned Republican, Eli Crane.

Plenty of conservative Democrats have gone in the other direction. Look at Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat of convenience in blue Hawaii who finally switched to the GOP, as did Jefferson Van Drew (NJ)— Blue Dog to Republican. Jim Justice ran for governor of West Virginia— for whatever reason— as a Democrat and then decided he was just wild about Trump and switched to the GOP.

And now we have David Trott, Michigan's former eviction king and ex-Republican congressman from the Detroit suburbs who didn’t run for reelection because of Trump. He switched to independent, which he still is but now wants to run for his old seat— which is being abandoned by conservative Democrat Haley Stevens who is running for the open Michigan Senate seat. Trott, whose rich enough to fund his own campaign, hasn’t decided if he’s going to run as an independent or pretend he’s a Democrat.

"I'm not sure who all is looking at Michigan 11, but I find it increasingly difficult to just sit back and watch what's happening to our country. So it certainly has given me some things to think about."

Trott said he's taken no formal steps toward a campaign and has no set timeline for making a decision.

Since leaving Congress, the former foreclosure attorney splits his time between Florida and Michigan, where he still owns with a partner 16 legal newspapers in Michigan, commercial real estate properties and is chairman of ATA National, a national title insurance company. Before his time in elected office, Trott was a major Republican donor.

"I've got a lot of work to do if I'm going to get serious about it," Trott told The News. "I have to do some polling, and I would not be running as a Republican, so I have to figure out how that would resonate with the voters and certainly have a lot of discussions with my family before I did anything."

Trott has left the Republican Party, saying it's become a cult. He endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 and 2024 and then Vice President Kamala Harris after she took over the 2024 Democratic ticket. He co-chaired the Republicans for Harris Coalition and campaigned for her in Pennsylvania last fall.

"I'm not a MAGA believer, and I think Donald Trump is a singular threat to our democracy," Trott said. "I think he's just unfit to be president. I said that back in 2019; I believe it's even more true today."

Part of Trott's desire to run is that he wants to see more representatives approach the job with a bipartisan, problem-solving mentality. He doesn't see this happening if a contender like progressive former Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, were to be reelected. Levin has said he's being urged to run in the 11th District.

Trott sees some appeal in running as an independent, as many voters say they no longer identify with either of the two major parties. He called Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's independent candidacy for governor "very interesting."

"I'm not interested in just running just to make a point, although I have a lot of things I want to say. ... We need to solve problems, and Trump is not doing anything in a bipartisan fashion. And so I would try and bring some common-sense solutions and solve problems," Trott said.

"It takes 217 other people to cooperate to accomplish that ― forgetting about the Senate for the moment ― but at least I would be one of the people saying, 'Well, I can't take extreme positions because that doesn't lead to solutions.'"

The 11th District was competitive when Trott held it. But since redistricting, it has leaned heavily to the Democrats, with Stevens winning reelection last fall by nearly 19 percentage points.

Trott's history of giving to and voting with Republicans in Congress is a public record that opponents would likely highlight if he were to run as an independent or Democrat. Vance Patrick, chair of the Oakland County Republican Party, said running for Congress isn't like running for a nonpartisan school board post.

"I think the Democrat Party is going to see through that and say you're just a carpetbagger coming in here just to win a seat when you really have no affiliation with the party you are claiming to represent now," Patrick said.

"I would say, in all truthfulness, there's better Democrats that will be running for that seat."

No Republicans have raised their hands to run in the 11th District or expressed interest in the seat yet, he said.

So what even is a political party anymore? A brand? A flag of convenience? A shell you inhabit until you’ve wrung every ounce of personal gain out of it, then toss aside like a campaign yard sign the morning after Election Day? When conservatives cycle through the Democratic Party not to evolve, not to build, but to water it down— to defang it, derail it and reshape it in the image of the party they claim to have fled— what’s actually being preserved? What’s being fought for? If someone doesn't stand behind the New Deal, why should they be allowed to even call themselves a Democrat?

It’s not just a matter of jerseys and team colors. It’s a matter of survival. Because when the opposition is marching toward fascism, and the supposed resistance is too busy recruiting former enablers of that very project, the whole game becomes theater. Worse— it's complicity. And what’s left for those of us who still believe in something deeper than party, something better than “lesser evilism”? We’re told to fall in line, to get behind candidates who despise us, because the alternative is worse. But how long can a party keep cannibalizing its base before it collapses under the weight of its own cowardice?

If there’s no line that can’t be crossed, no principle that can’t be compromised, then it’s not a party at all— it’s a revolving door for careerists, charlatans, and opportunists. And that’s not just a branding problem. That’s a death spiral.