Rebranding rift guts Blue Dog Dem ranks - Politico

[GGoss]

Rebranding rift guts Blue Dog Dem ranks - Politico

Congress’ influential Blue Dog Coalition is getting chopped nearly in half after an internal blow-up over whether to rebrand the centrist Democratic group.

Seven of the 15 members expected to join the Blue Dogs this year, including Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), are departing after a heated disagreement over a potential name change for the moderate bloc. For now that’s left the Blue Dogs with seven, all male members — their smallest roster in nearly three decades of existence. One freshman member remains undecided.

At the core of some of the breakaway Blue Dogs’ demands was a rechristening as the Common Sense Coalition that, they argued, would have helped shed the group’s reputation as a socially moderate, Southern “boys’ club.” Blue Dogs have long stood for fiscal responsibility and national security, issues with broad Democratic appeal, but some members felt the name had a negative connotation that kept their colleagues from joining. A majority of other members disagreed, saying they saw no reason to toss out a longstanding legacy.

Those tensions came to a head earlier this month as Blue Dog members met for a lengthy debate over the reboot that culminated in a secret-ballot vote to reject the new name, according to interviews with nearly a dozen people familiar with the situation, on both sides of the dispute. Shortly after that vote, Reps. Ed Case (D-Hawaii); David Scott (D-Ga.); Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.); Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Spanberger and Sherrill all left the group.

Link: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/24/democrats-departing-blue-dog-coalition-00079113

[GGoss]

1. Sorry... Thought This Might Be Of Interest

[Elessar Zappa]

2. It is, thanks for posting!

[GGoss]

4. You're Welcome, Thanks

[Starry Messenger]

3. Just go back to DLC

[Hortensis]

5. It's interesting. Don't like Politico's misleading initial description

of the Blue Dogs caucus as "influential," given that its more usual 20-35 mixed moderate conservative/liberal members are typically outnumbered by something like 200 solidly progressive liberals. They of course have the influence of their votes and that respect for those who elected them requires.

But they're far too few to wag the Democratic dog, a claim a lot of hostiles use to try to subvert understanding of who Democrats are and thus suppress the vote for.

Both of the two who often vote with Republicans are among the seven males remaining.

Looking forward to learning more.