Howling At The "Bush Dogs"

The only reason I’m linking to this column from Froma Harrop of the Providence Journal, which extols the supposed virtues of the Blue Dog Democrats, is to refute it by linking to this Matt Stoller Open Left post which explains what these people are, for the most part, really all about, including this excerpt from Stoller’s Q&A…

Why are you doing this? Why are you criticizing Democrats from conservative districts?!? You're a bad Democrat!

First of all, the 'I've voting my district' argument (concerning the Iraq War) doesn't hold. There are basically no districts where the war is popular, and warrantless wiretapping as an electoral issue moved numbers against Republicans last cycle. These members are not voting their districts, they are just conservatives. There are also a number of districts represented by a Bush Dog Democrat, such as Dan Lipinski's in Illinois and Leonard Boswell's in Iowa, which lean Democratic.

Second of all, Bush Dog Democrats are dragging down the rest of the party.

According to Zogby, 80% of Democrats disapproval of the job that Congress is doing. This is a remarkable statistic. Historically, Congress gets low marks from the opposite party, but the party in power tends to think their leaders are doing a pretty good job. Yet, currently, four fifths of Democrats do not approve of the job their leaders are doing, which is amazingly high for a partisan Democratic group.

In other words, the term 'Bush Dog' is just giving a name to the frustration of many Democrats.

As for why we're doing this, well, despite the 2006 election, George W. Bush is still able to govern along right-wing lines and has formed an effective conservative working majority in Congress, with this block of members as the pivotal swing block.

Without challenging these members, we will never be able to get progressive legislation through Congress. Or, to put it another way, we think expanded warrantless wiretapping authority is awful for any President to have because we don't want to be spied on. We think the Iraq war is really bad and that troops should be withdrawn. We don't agree with Bush Dog Democrats on the substance of their policy ideas, nor do we think it's a good thing that they are helping George W. Bush govern in an effective working conservative majority.

However, there is at least one notable exception when it comes to the “Bush Dogs,” and his mere presence gives them more credibility than they deserve (I recognize the group’s fiscal argument, but practically nothing else, and he definitely voted against the war and the gutting of FISA, as we know).

And to help him out, click here.