Blue Dog Coalition Crushed By GOP Wave Election

WASHINGTON -- Tuesday was a tough night for Democrats, as they watched Republicans win enough seats to take back the House in the next Congress and began to ponder life under a likely House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). But one group hit especially hard was the Blue Dog Coalition, with half of its members losing their seats.

According to an analysis by The Huffington Post, 22 of the 46 Blue Dogs up for re-election went down on Tuesday. Notable losses included Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.), the coalition's co-chair for administration, and Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), the co-chair for policy. Two members were running for higher office (both lost), four were retiring and three races were still too close to call.

The Blue Dogs, a coalition of moderate to conservative Democrats in the House, have consistently frustrated their more progressive colleagues and activists within the party, especially during the health care debate. Blue Dog members pushed to limit the scope and the cost of the legislation and resisted some of the mandates of the bill. Last summer, seven of the eight Blue Dogs on the House Energy and Commerce Committee even threatened to block health care reform unless it met their cost requirements.

Other areas where Blue Dogs have helped put the brakes on ambitious progressive priorities are global warming measures and legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize.

"Since they can vote with the Republicans in order to get their way around here, that doesn't sit well with progressives -- who don't want to vote with Republicans ever," Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Cali.), co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, told the Wall Street Journal in July 2009.

In fact, some progressives blamed the Blue Dogs for losses on Tuesday across the ideological spectrum within the Democratic Party.

"From our perspective, our members did all that they could do and really left everything on the field," said Levana Layendecker, communications director of the progressive grassroots organization Democracy for America. "Of course we are disappointed with the results tonight, but not surprised. Unfortunately, progressive champions became collateral damage tonight in a toxic environment created by Blue Dogs who refused to stand up for real change."

The Blue Dog Coalition formed after the Republican Revolution of 1994, with some lawmakers believing that Democrats lost so many seats because the party drifted to the left. It remains to be seen whether the remaining lawmakers will be able to find new members, or whether the Progressive Caucus -- which lost far fewer members, in part because many of them are in solidly liberal districts -- will instead see its hand strengthened.

BLUE DOGS WHO LOST (22)
Mike Arcuri (NY)
Allen Boyd (FL)
Bobby Bright (AL)
Christopher Carney (PA)
Travis Childers (MS)
Kathy Dahlkemper (PA)
Lincoln Davis (TN)
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (SD)
Baron Hill (IN)
Frank Kratovil (MD)
Betsy Markey (CO)
Jim Marshall (GA)
Walt Minnick (ID)
Harry Mitchell (AZ)
Patrick Murphy (PA)
Scott Murphy (NY)
Glenn Nye (VA)
Earl Pomeroy (ND)
John Salazar (CO)
Zack Space (OH)
Gene Taylor (MS)
Charles Wilson (OH)

BLUE DOGS WHO STAYED (23)
Jason Altmire (PA)
Joe Baca (CA)
John Barrow (GA)
Dan Boren (OK)
Leonard Boswell (IA)
Dennis Cardoza (CA)
Ben Chandler (KY)
Jim Cooper (TN)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Joe Donnelly (IN)
Jane Harman (CA)
Tim Holden (PA)
Mike McIntyre (NC)
Jim Matheson (UT)
Mike Michaud (ME)
Collin Peterson (MN)
Mike Ross (AR)
Loretta Sanchez (CA)
Adam Schiff (CA)
Kurt Schrader (OR)
David Scott (GA)
Heath Shuler (NC)
Mike Thompson (CA)

BLUE DOGS WHO RAN FOR HIGHER OFFICE (2)
Brad Ellsworth (IN) -- Lost Senate race
Charlie Melancon (LA) -- Lost Senate race

BLUE DOGS WHO RETIRED (4)
Marion Berry (AR)
Bart Gordon (TN)
Dennis Moore (KS)
John Tanner (TN)

BLUE DOGS IN RACES TOO CLOSE TO CALL (3)
Sanford Bishop (GA)
Jim Costa (CA)
Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had Moore losing his seat. Moore is actually a retiring member. We regret the error.

Comments

[Stanwethep]

11:22 AM on 11/08/2010

Dennis Moore (D-KS) retired, but his wife Stephene ran for his seat and lost.

[Claudfin]

12:58 PM on 11/07/2010

Blue dogs need to become extinct and democrats need to stand stronger,like Nancy Pelosi.
There's no point in trying to reason with the unreasonable. Time to get things done.

[OrionStar]

11:49 PM on 11/06/2010

Good.

[SGlitz]

10:07 AM on 11/06/2010

This is why the Liberal definition of "Bi-Partisan" is: BY Partisan and you will agree with me completely and shut and go away.

[collettethehedgehog]

04:54 AM on 11/05/2010

Just sayin to all those brilliant minds in DC who say this was a mandate for Dems to become MORE Bluedog... Wake up and smell the friggin coffee already! Just sayin.

[Kenyatta J Yamel]

10:45 PM on 11/04/2010

There's an old saying about given a choice between Republicans and Democrats who act like Republicans, the true Republican will usually win.

[lmunoz]

10:25 PM on 11/04/2010

We dont need these jokers!
They are poseurs ready to swing any way the money is blowing.
Good riddance!

[Manx]

09:05 PM on 11/04/2010

"Blue Dogs crushed..."

The problem is, we still have a Blue Dog president.

[sammi 56]

08:23 AM on 11/07/2010

When did he vote with the REthugs???

[ohiotechie]

08:33 PM on 11/04/2010

If people are given a choice between R and R-lite they are going to pick R. All the more reason for D's to stand up and be proud to be D.

People need to be reminded again and again that it was the D's that brought about the standard of living that made us the envy of the world. Child labor laws? R's opposed them. Workplace safety laws? R's opposed them. Overtime pay and union protection? R's opposed them. Minimum wage? R's still oppose it. Unemployment insurance? R's opposed it. Social Security? R's opposed it then and still do today. Medicare and the social safety net? R's opposed it. Deposit insurance? R's opposed it. Regulation of Wall Street? You get the idea.... just keep thinking about the protections that built the middle class and made this country great and remember if the R's had their way none of these would have ever come to pass. Instead of Bedford Falls we'd all be living in Potterville...

Stand up and be D's, remind people what the party stands for and FIGHT for the common people. Do that and it will be one D tidal wave after another. Follow the Blue Dog example and be crushed again and again and again......

[RoofinReality]

11:44 PM on 11/04/2010

Fanned for telling it like it is.

[collettethehedgehog]

04:58 AM on 11/05/2010

Wel said, and fanned. You Know Harry Truman's career started as an uncorruptible road commissioner when he was past 40. Dont know your circumstances but Pres Truman also said as long as every smalltown or community in the US has a man of the caliber to be president America will be safe.

[Skyhawk]

08:01 PM on 11/04/2010

Some good came out of this corporate election.

[Hakumen]

07:20 PM on 11/04/2010

Good riddance to those who kept impeding the changes we needed to move this country forward. Moderates I'm fine with. One or two issues is one thing. Full-blown Republicans pretending to be Democrats are cause more problems for the party as a whole on a good chunk of the overall agenda need to go.

[sammi 56]

08:28 AM on 11/07/2010

I second that! those Blue Dogs were pandering to both sides of the fence and they got sacked! How can you be half Democrat and half Republican? They are stuck -- neither side wants them.

[dgvb]

07:07 PM on 11/04/2010

If the Blue Dogs prove anything, it is the Gump Maxim: "Stupid is as stupid does." This was never truer than on Health Care Reform. Nationally, and in each of their districts, single-payor, and a public option was favored by 2/3 of the voters. They ran to the right and gutted the bill to something unrecognizable as reform. And in the elections they STILL ran to the right, even though by that time it became obvious that not one single GOP voter was going to vote for them. They couldn't even keep their base, because they betrayed them on something as simple as real health care reform. They also managed to alienate the sane independents who stayed home. The same happened when they couldn't get a significant jobs bill. Add in the vote on the corporate bailouts, and ya gotta wonder if these people used a Magic 8 Ball for political advice...

[jodieez]

06:51 PM on 11/04/2010

The blue dog are the problem for the dems. because they make us look weak. They want to capitulate and compromise with the unreasonable rethuglkalan party.

[Goldengrl]

06:35 PM on 11/04/2010

When it comes to choosing real or imitation, most people will choose the real thing every time. Why would anyone vote for a blue dog democrat when they can have the real thing - a republican? It's so nice to see those blue dogs sent packing. Now we need to get rid of the rest of them. Bye Bye!!!!

[SF TKF]

06:03 PM on 11/04/2010

Good riddance to bad DINOs.

[ECB]

06:48 PM on 11/04/2010

X2

[cupcake77]

07:08 PM on 11/04/2010

yep....X3