Blue Dogs and DLCers: Not Really Our "Friends"

There are a minimum of 36 so-called 'Blue Dog' Democrats among the 225 (more or less) Democrats claiming the 'new' majority in the House of Representatives.

They are (according to Wikipedia): Joe Baca (California), John Barrow (Georgia), Melissa Bean (Illinois), Marion Berry (Arkansas), Sanford Bishop (Georgia), Dan Boren (Oklahoma), Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Allen Boyd (Florida), Dennis Cardoza (California), Ed Case (Hawaii), Ben Chandler (Kentucky), Jim Cooper (Tennessee), Jim Costa (California), Bud Cramer (Alabama), Lincoln Davis (Tennessee), Jane Harman (California), Stephanie Herseth (South Dakota), Tim Holden (Pennsylvania), Steve Israel (New York). Jim Marshall (Georgia), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (North Carolina), Charlie Melancon (Louisiana), Mike Michaud (Maine), Dennis Moore (Kansas), Collin Peterson (Minnesota), Earl Pomeroy (North Dakota), Mike Ross (Arkansas), John Salazar (Colorado), Loretta Sanchez (California), Adam Schiff (California), David Scott (Georgia), John Tanner (Tennessee), Ellen Tauscher (California), Gene Taylor (Mississippi), and Mike Thompson (California). [Harold Ford (Tennessee) was a member of the group, but lost his seat when he ran for--land lost--the US Senate seat held by Bill Frist.]

Then there is the 40-member (more or less) of the DLC (aka the 'New Democratic Coalition'): Brian Baird (WA), Shelley Berkley (NV), Lois Capps(CA), Russ Carnahan (MO), Ed Case (HI), Ben Chandler (KY), Joseph Crowley (NY), Artur Davis (AL), Jim Davis (FL), Susan Davis (CA), Rahm Emanuel (IL), Eliot Engel (NY), Bob Etheridge (NC), Jane Harman (CA), Stephanie Herseth (SD), Brian Higgins (NY), Rush Holt (NJ), Darlene Hooley (OR), Jay Inslee (WA), Steve Israel (NY), Ron Kind (WI), Rick Larsen (WA), John Larson (CT), Carolyn McCarthy (NY), Mike McIntyre (NC), Gregory Meeks (NY), Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA), Dennis Moore (KS), Jim Moran (VA), David Price (NC), Loretta Sanchez (CA), Adam Schiff (CA), Allyson Schwartz (PA), David Scott (GA), Adam Smith (WA), Ellen Tauscher (CA), Tom Udall (NM), and David Wu (OR). [Harold Ford, of Tennessee, also was a member of the DLC before foresaking his seat for that Senate run.]

There is, of course, some cross-over between the two groups. But it still means there are a minimum of 20 percent of House Democrats who cannot be counted upon to oppose the Busheviks (for whasoever reason, and they'll have plenty of 'reasons/excuses' to do so), but will compromise fundamental principles for political advantage. Thus if you compare the list of the Democrats who voted for, say, the Military Commissions Act--in which the fundamental right of habeas corpus was gutted and filleted--with these lists, you'll find every last one of them.

For liberals/progressives, these are the names to watch, because their interests are not wholly (or even mostly) consonant with the progressive/liberal interests. Watch to see which ones get 'leadership' positions, and in what areas.