The original Blue Dog scold, Huckleberry Hound
In yesterday’s political tsunami that swept the Dems out of control of the House of Representatives, a silver lining in that dark cloud is the evisceration of the Blue Dog Caucus that was the brainchild of President’s Obama‘s former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel (now trying to ply his bs to the residents of Chicago in his quest for that city’s mayoralty).
As we righteously mourn the loss of progressive stalwarts like Russ Feingold and Alan Grayson, we should take some comfort in the overall math. Granting the contribution that Teabaggers made to the the Rethugs’ reclamation of the House, it also cost them the Senate. Think Sarah Palin‘s endorsement of Sharon Engle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Deleware, seats that would have otherwise would have been won by traditional Rethug candidates and that would have, in turn, given them control of the Senate as well.
Update: The Denver Post and AP have declared Senator Michael Bennett the winner in Colorado, defeating another Sarah Palin darlin’, Ken Buck.
Just ask Karl Rove— privately, of course. Don’t expect him to confront Grandma Mama Grizzly just now in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, which begins today. Can’t wait to watch that particular fur begin to fly.
As for the Dems, yesterday’s losses of the Doggie Caucus exceeded those of the Progressive Caucus by an order of magnitude. Before the election, their respective numbers were: Blue Dogs =54, Progressives = 79. Discounting the six Doggies that either chose not to run and the the two who chose instead to run for the Senate (and suffered defeat), that means the Doggie Caucus has been cut in half while the Progressive Caucus lost 5% of theirs.
Meteor Blades at Kos does the Doggie autopsy:
More than half the caucus, including two of its leaders, will thus be gone when the 112th Congress is seated in January. The reconstituted caucus will comprise only 13 percent of the Democrats in the House as compared with the 21 percent it does now.
As Harry S. Truman once said:
Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time.
President Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party– take note.
[Edited slightly for sucky math]
