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Party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith (R) is bringing a bit of bipartisanship to northern Alabama next week. On Monday, a group of Democratic and Republican protesters, which includes tea party activists and college Democrats, will rally against Griffith’s fundraiser featuring House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The protest is to take place outside the Huntsville Marriott, where Boehner will be holding the $100-per-head event for Griffith, who switched parties and became a Republican in late December.

“Bipartisanship is not dead. People of all political persuasions see that Parker Griffith is an opportunist who cannot be trusted to keep his word. As such, he is not — nor can he ever be — an effective representative for North Alabama,” said Sherry Walker, publisher of the liberal Left In Alabama blog.

Some local conservative groups are backing Griffith’s primary challengers in the race and continue to call on the Congressman to return the money he raised when he was a Democrat before he runs in the GOP primary.

“We are sending a message to the national Republican establishment: stay out of our primary,” said Christie Carden, founder of the Huntsville Tea Party in Friday’s release. “We also want to support the true conservative candidates that tea party activists and the local GOP have gotten behind, Les Phillip and Mo Brooks. We’re pushing back against the political machine.”

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