It's A Curious Thing To Be Accused Of Depressing Democratic Votes, When Elected Democratics...

[LooseWilly]

14. I'm guessing you have to include votes to praise the heroism of Gabby Giffords' Aide to hit 80%

voting "with" Democrats for those Blue Dogs.

When the votes "mattered", I seem to recall nearly all the Blue Dogs "bailing out".

Strategically... I think sacrificing all the "matters" votes in the name of supporting a Blue Dog, rather than sacrificing the "don't matter much" votes while fighting to build support for a Blue Not-So-Dog... is a better long-term strategy.

I might be wrong, or I might be right... but as long as the DLC holds sway over the top-level party positions, I don't figure any of us will ever know... because DLC strategy has consistently worked the Blue Dog strategy... an ironic throw-back to the roots of the Democratic Party— to the pre-FDR days when the Democrats were, as often as not, Dixie Crats... and working hard to turn back any popular politics/policy (including fierce resistance, at the time, to any attempt to undermine Jim Crow).

{Just to make clear... I'm not saying the DLC supports Jim Crow... I'm saying the conservative Blue-Dog-courting ways of the DLC are reminiscent of a pre-FDR Democratic Party which was so conservative that it did support Jim Crow, rather than workers and immigrants and reform. And as for the technicality of the "dissolution" of the DLC, I point to the New Democrats— http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats —"... They are represented by organizations such as the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the New Democrat Network, and the Senate and House New Democrat Coalitions."}