See If These "Blue Dogs" Hunt

As noted in the following Inquirer story by Steve Goldstein (and confirming what has been mentioned online over the last few days), U.S. House PA-08 Congressman-elect Patrick Murphy has joined the “Blue Dog Coalition” of Democrats.

What follows is Goldstein’s report…

WASHINGTON - President Harry S. Truman famously said: If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.

For the new Democratic majority in Congress, the maxim should be changed: Get a Blue Dog.

The Blue Dog Coalition, a pack of conservative-to-moderate Democrats, has grown to 44 members in the new House of Representatives, including Bucks County's Patrick Murphy, and represents a powerful and pivotal voting bloc that could determine what legislation is passed in the 110th Congress.

Resident scholar Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute said the Blue Dogs "hold the balance of power" for the Democratic agenda.

Political analyst Charlie Cook said a prominent Republican told him that if House Republicans want to remain relevant, "they would take their cues not from the White House" but from the Blue Dogs.

"Who would have thought even six months ago that one of the largest groups in the Democratic House caucus would be conservative to moderate Democrats," said Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, communications cochairman for the group.

There are nine new blue "puppies," in the group's cuddly lexicon, an increase of about 25 percent and a voting coalition that makes up about one-fifth of House Democrats.

One of the litter is Murphy, of Bucks County's Eighth District. He actively sought the group's endorsement early in his race against incumbent Republican Michael G. Fitzpatrick.

"While campaigning over the last 18 months, there were two issues that families were most concerned with: the war in Iraq and irresponsible spending in Washington," Murphy said. "I reached out to the leaders of the Blue Dog Coalition to show my dedication toward restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington."

Murphy's application was seconded by Rep. Tim Holden, the only other Pennsylvania Blue Dog member.

Wanting to be a Blue Dog is not nearly enough. Aspirants must undergo an extensive interview and screening process, according to Ross.

"We want hands-on participation and we want members that aren't just trying to look conservative back home, but who really do share our values and priorities," said Ross.

The Blue Dog endorsement carries a financial benefit, too. The coalition's political action committee raised $1.3 million for this election - much of it from the usual special-interest groups - and Murphy received $5,000 for his general election campaign.

Coalition members are expected to attend twice-weekly meetings and actively participate in making proposals and discussions. Murphy said he looked forward to "rolling up my sleeves and getting our fiscal house in order."

Ross said the group would focus on the budget, the debt and the deficit. "We have a 12-point plan for budget reform and a package of accountability bills to hold federal agencies accountable for their spending," said Ross. The latter is sometimes referred to as "paygo," for pay-as-you-go government spending programs.

Blue Dog Democrats also support strong defense policies, while steering away from "bedroom," or social, issues.

The Blue Dogs may already have had an impact.

Shortly after the election, the coalition wrote to incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) to object to her plans to award the chairmanship of the House intelligence committee to Florida Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, bypassing Californian Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the panel. Hastings is the only member of Congress ever to have been impeached and removed from office as a federal judge. He was acquitted by a jury of bribery charges in 1983, but an appeals court called for impeachment on different charges and referred the case to Congress, which removed him in 1989. Three years later, he was elected to the body that voted to end his judicial career.

On Tuesday, Pelosi told Hastings that he would not be chairman. She will choose someone other than the two top candidates, she said. The about-face on Hastings was welcomed by the Blue Dogs, though Harman, one of their pack, won't get the job.

The Blue Dog Coalition was formed by 21 House members in 1995 in the wake of the GOP congressional sweep. The name is a reference to "yellow dog Democrat," an old phrase describing Southerners so loyal to the party that they would sooner vote for a yellow dog than a Republican.

A Blue Dog Democrat is a yellow dog that has almost been choked to death - turned blue - by party extremists. Or one that's been left standing out in the cold.

Former Rep. Charlie Stenholm of Texas, a founding member, used to say that a Blue Dog "has a little better sense of smell than a yellow dog, and sometimes will bite you, which a yellow dog won't do."

Ross said the election results showed that Republicans were defeated by conservative to moderate Democrats, not liberals, so the new majority should let its Blue Dogs howl.

"We do not plan to be obstructionist," said Ross, "but we also do not plan to be rubber stamps." Or to follow the pack.

That's nice. Oh, by the way, I wonder if Patrick knows that Tim Holden voted for the following:

HR 861 on June 20th, which ruled out any deadline for removing U.S. troops from Iraq?

Or HR 4761 on July 6th that ended a policy that for a quarter century has banned oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters except the western Gulf of Mexico?

Or voted in favor of changing the Voting Rights Act (HR 9) and taking out its requirement that certain jurisdictions provide ballots, notices and other voting materials in languages in addition to English (it lost)?

Or voted for HJ Res 88, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage (it also lost, fortunately)?

Or voted for S 403, which would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion to evade a parental notification law in her home state, except when the abortion is necessary to save her life?

Holden also voted for that stupid border fence, but Patrick supported that also in his campaign, to be fair.

Now please don't get me wrong; Patrick hasn't even been sworn in. This definitely is NOT buyer's remorse - he already is a quantum improvement over Mikey, and he hasn't even done anything yet.

All I'm saying is that, though you can argue that the "blue dogs" deserve to emerge as the biggest winners of the election, they (and Patrick, of course) should still be careful. They should stay true to their centrist, populist themes and positions, sure - most notably, the Iraq war, balancing the budget, stem cell research, and fixing Medicare Part D are the most obvious ones - but just know when not to imitate the Repugs is all I'm asking.

Also, Glenn Greenwald had some interesting thoughts on Jane Harman recently (the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee under the Repugs who will be in charge now with the departure of the challenge of Alcee Hastings, as noted above). Greenwald may have been a tad harsh, but I always find his observations to be interesting and well founded (and I mention her because she is a "blue dog" favorite). Besides, I think Greenwald was attacking the incestuous Beltway punditocracy and Washington "group think" more than anything else; Harman isn't innocent, but when it comes to accepting bad intelligence on Iraq and voting for war, a lot of other people are guilty also.

Update 12/1: I'm prepared to give Pelosi the benefit of the doubt on this - we'll see.