Pelosi Likes Her Blue Dog “Rare”
After Supporting the Failed Stimulus and Government Healthcare Takeover, Blue Dogs Learn That Being Lap Dogs for Pelosi Won’t Keep Them Off Her Menu
- After seeing their ranks halved in the 2010 elections, tough times are only getting tougher for Blue Dog Democrats, with recent elections pushing the Blue Dog caucus ever-closer to extinction.
- Not only are Blue Dogs struggling, they’re not welcome within their own party. It’s a cruel betrayal for Blue Dogs, many of whom were lap dogs for Nancy Pelosi in the last Congress, providing the decisive votes for passage of ObamaCare and the Democrats’ failed stimulus.
- Apparently the Blue Dogs’ key votes for the Democrats’ job-destroying agenda weren’t enough for Pelosi and her allies, who are now trying to “purify the caucus.” The Democrats’ left-wing interest group friends are helping the process along by backing left-wing candidates against the remaining few Blue Dogs.
After seeing their ranks halved in the 2010 elections, tough times are only getting tougher for Blue Dog Democrats, with recent elections pushing the Blue Dog caucus ever-closer to extinction:
THE WASHINGTON POST: “IT’S BEEN A VERY TOUGH CYCLE FOR BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS, BUT TUESDAY TOOK THE CAKE”: (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)
NATIONAL JOURNAL: “BLUE DOGS AN INCREASINGLY RARE BREED IN CONGRESS”: (Shane Goldmacher, “Blue Dogs an Increasingly Rare Breed in Congress,”National Journal, 4/25/2012)
POLITICO: “BLUE DOG DEMS FACE EXTINCTION”: (Alex Isenstadt, “Blue Dog Dems Face Extinction,” Politico, 4/17/2012)
BLUE DOG CAUCUS HALVED FROM 54 TO 26 AFTER 2010 ELECTIONS COULD BE HALVED AGAIN IN 2012: (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)
NUMBER OF BLUE DOGS COULD FALL TO AS FEW AS 10: “In other words, only about 10 Blue Dogs are sure-things to return next Congress, and the caucus needs new blood.” (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)
FIVE OF REMAINING 25 BLUE DOGS ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT, 2 LOST PRIMARIES, AND ANOTHER 8 “ARE LEGIMITATELY VULNERABLE”: (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)
Not only are Blue Dogs struggling, they’re not welcome within their own party. It’s a cruel betrayal for Blue Dogs, many of whom were lap dogs for Nancy Pelosi in the last Congress, providing the decisive votes for passage of ObamaCare and the Democrats’ failed stimulus:
BLUE DOGS “MORE LIKE LAP DOGS” WHEN IT COMES TO PELOSI, VOTED WITH HER ON 80 PERCENT OF THE VOTES SHE CAST IN 111TH CONGRESS:“And with one leader in particular the Blue Dogs are more like lap dogs. Of the 62 votes cast by Speaker Pelosi during the current 111th Congress on economic issues, the Blue Dogs voted with her 80 percent of the time.” (“All Bark and No Bite: The Blue Dog Coalition and the Myth of the Fiscally Responsible Democrat,” The Club for Growth, 10/4/2010)
BLUE DOGS HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF VOTING FOR PELOSI’S AGENDA:“Of the 54 Blue Dogs serving at the end of the 111th Congress, 26 voted for the climate change bill in June 2009, 30 voted for the final version of health care reform in March 2010, and 42 ultimately backed the financial services bill in late June this year.” (Josh Israel and Aaron Mehta, “PACs Flocked to Conservative Blue Dog Democrats, then Fled After Crucial Votes,” Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News, 12/7/2010)
91% OF BLUE DOGS VOTED FOR THE STIMULUS: (“All Bark and No Bite: The Blue Dog Coalition and the Myth of the Fiscally Responsible Democrat,” The Club for Growth, 10/4/2010)
THE SOUND OF SILENCE: BLUE DOGS COMPLAINED ABOUT PELOSI IGNORING THEM AFTER THE 2010 ELECTIONS: “Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), who challenged Pelosi for the leadership spot, said on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ that ‘there’s been really no communication whatsoever’ between his group and the California Democrat. ‘We still have not had the connection between the Blue Dog members and the leadership.’” (Jennifer Epstein, “Heath Shuler: Nancy Pelosi Ignoring Blue Dogs,” Politico, 2/7/2011)
ADVISERS TO RETIRING BLUE DOG REP. DAN BOREN (D-OK) SAID “UNPOPULARITY” OF NATIONAL DEMOCRATS HAD TAKEN A TOLL ON BLUE DOGS: “But there was also a private acknowledgement among Boren loyalists that the unpopularity of his national party in deep-red Oklahoma had taken a toll on him.” (Alex Isenstadt and Dave Catanese, “Another Blue Dog Bites the Dust,” Politico, 6/8/2011)
Apparently the Blue Dogs’ key votes for the Democrats’ job-destroying agenda weren’t enough for Pelosi and her allies, who are now trying to “purify the caucus.” The Democrats’ left-wing interest group friends are helping the process along by backing left-wing candidates against the remaining few Blue Dogs:
DCCC NOW SPURNING “MODERATE” DEMOCRATS IN ITS CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT: “An aide within the Blue Dog organization told The Fix that the group ‘is not happy with DCCC’s progress in recruiting moderates.’”(Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)
PELOSI ALLIES RECENTLY MUSED ABOUT DEFEATING BLUE DOGS TO “PURIFY THE CAUCUS”: “Another liberal, Pete Stark of California, had referred to [the Blue Dogs] as ‘brain dead,’ while Henry Waxman mused to a reporter that the loss of a few Blue Dogs might purify the caucus.” (Robert Draper, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do,” Free Press)
POLITICAL PAYBACK FOR VOTING AGAINST OBAMACARE? BIG LABOR TARGETED OBAMACARE OPPONENT REP. JASON ALTMIRE (D-PA): “Union leaders were furious at Altmire over his vote against Obamacare, claiming he had promised them he would vote for it before reneging in the end and opposing it….As a result, the unions went all out for Representative Mark Critz.” (John Fund, “Liberals Unseat Moderate Democrats in Pa. Primary,” NRO, 4/25/2012)
AND MORE POLITICAL PAYBACK AGAINST KEYSTONE DEMS? LEFT-WING LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS SPENT $238K AGAINST REP. TIM HOLDEN (D-PA): (“League of Conservation Voters Recipients, 2012,” OpenSecrets.org, 4/25/2012)