Blue Dogs face uncertainty

[FLAprogressive]

WASHINGTON - To appreciate how much the economic crisis is scrambling the political battle lines on Capitol Hill, consider the plight of the Blue Dog Democrats.

The influential coalition of fiscally conservative House Democrats saw their ranks swell on Election Day, and they stand to gain even greater clout with a White House alliance they spent months cultivating. Just days after his victory, President-elect Barack Obama reportedly assigned economic adviser Jason Furman to consult regularly with the Blue Dogs on economic issues. Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged the centrists' new power when she said, a few days after her party gained 20-plus House seats, "The country must be governed from the middle."

----

MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27804220/

Good to see that PE Obama is not only reaching across the aisle to Republicans....but also to the RWoDP (Republican Wing of the Democratic Party).

[IndianaJones]

1. its got you members of the WWoDP all bent out of shape, huh? nt.

[democrattotheend]

2. Are you being sarcastic about Obama reaching out?

If you are, that's pretty dumb. There are not enough progressives in the House for a majority...he's going to need some blue dog support if he wants to get anything done. And not all blue dogs are bad...most of them still vote the right way on most issues, and many of them are from districts that simply would not elect progressives.

[sharp_stick]

3. But thinking like that

is realistic and doesn't allow people to think that they can have an "ideologically pure" party just the way they want it.