The Democratic Party. like its Republican cousins, does not walk in lock-step. What Howard Dean referred to as "Republican-lite" is a core group of swing voters in the House called the Blue Dog Democrats. A story in Truthout does a good job of describing their values. The point is does the Democratic party really need to be the party of the Blue Dog? The truth is, apparently it does to control the House where the Democrats hold a majority and 47 ot its members are in the Blue Dog Coalition.
The Blue Dogs have sided with the ongoing war in Iraq, with allowing the Bush administration to continue unwarranted surveillance, and increased defense spending. They claim a moderate ground on issues of compassion, but a strongly pro-business and anti-labor.
The Blue Dog Coalition consists of:
Mike Arcuri (NY-24) Joe Baca (CA-43) John Barrow (GA-12) Melissa Bean (IL-08) Marion Berry (AR-01) Sanford Bishop (GA-02) Dan Boren (OK-02) Leonard Boswell (IA-03) Allen Boyd (FL-02) Dennis Cardoza (CA-18) Christopher Carney (PA-10) Ben Chandler (KY-06) Jim Cooper (TN-05) Jim Costa (CA-20) Bud Cramer (AL-05) Lincoln Davis (TN-04) Joe Donnelly (IN-02) Brad Ellsworth (IN-08) Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20) Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08) Bart Gordon (TN-06) Jane Harman (CA-36) Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD) Baron Hill (IN-09) Tim Holden (PA-17) Nick Lampson (TX-22) Mike McIntyre (NC-07) Tim Mahoney (FL-16), Jim Marshall (GA-03) Jim Matheson (UT-02) Charles Melancon (LA-03) Mike Michaud (ME-02) Dennis Moore (KS-03) Patrick Murphy (PA-08) Collin Peterson (MN-07) Earl Pomeroy (ND) Mike Ross (AR-04) John Salazar (CO-03) Loretta Sanchez (CA-47) Adam Schiff (CA-29) David Scott (GA-13) Heath Shuler (NC-11) Zack Space (OH-18) John Tanner (TN-08) Gene Taylor (MS-04) Mike Thompson (CA-01) Charles Wilson (OH-06)
The saving grace for the party is that the largest coalition in the house is the Progressive Coalition which has 70 members. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove on progressive issues, the Blue Dogs are Red Dogs and vote with Republicans. This is why we are still in Iraq and why we need a dog of a different feather.
No comments:
Post a Comment