Former Rep. Artur Davis (Ala.), who switched from the Democratic to Republican party earlier this year, said Monday he is disappointed in President Obama, who he thinks “has gone too far to the left.”
“Like so many other people, I didn’t get what I voted for,” he said, pointing to Obama’s current mid-forties approval rating. “That means that the 53 percent who voted for Obama, literally close to ten million people have left his camp. I am one of many, many people.”
Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room," Davis continued, "Fast forward four years later, I think the Obama administration has candidly gone too far to the left. You can raise all kinds of questions on whether that's good politics or not, but obviously the election will determine that.”
Davis strongly advocated Obama’s nomination for president, officially seconding the nomination at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
“The reason I got behind him was two-fold. No. 1, perhaps naively, I believed if Barack Obama got elected, it would completely change race relations in this country,” he explained. “No. 2, I believed that the Democratic party would change because I believed, again perhaps naively and it turns out mistakenly, that Barack Obama represented the kind of center wing of the Democratic party that I thought that [former President] Bill Clinton represented.”
When Davis
switched parties in May, he said he no longer felt “comfortable” with the policies of his party,
citing as an example “an agenda that would punish businesses and job creators with more taxes just as they are trying to thrive again.”
He has maintained that his decision is not simply about Obama, who he respects “as a person” and role model.
However, he confirmed that he plans to vote for GOP nominee Mitt Romney in November.
