Blue Dogs rocket to prominence in House

By Bob Keefe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fifteen years after pawing their way into existence amid the 1994 Republican Revolution, members of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats — including four of Georgia’s six Democrats in the House — are suddenly the big dogs on Washington’s political porch.

Two weeks ago, to the chagrin of President Barack Obama and the House Democratic leadership, they forced changes in the health care revamp bill over concerns about costs and potential tax burdens on small businesses. Before that, they pushed though federal spending curbs that hadn’t been in place in more than a decade.

And the Blue Dogs may just be starting to run.

“They’ve really become the swing vote in Congress,” said Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz. “That’s giving them a great deal of influence. ... They have a real opportunity to shape legislation now.”

The Blue Dogs’ quick rise to power has surprised even some of the most seasoned political strategists — including the architect of the Republican Revolution himself, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“I knew it would happen sooner or later ... but I didn’t think it would happen this quickly,” Gingrich said in an interview last week. “They’ve actually become the balance of power in the House and they’re discovering they can stand up to [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and get away with it.”

So who are these Blue Dogs and why are they suddenly a force to be reckoned with on Capitol Hill?

Officially, the Blue Dog Coalition includes 52 Democrats from nearly every part of the country who are generally considered moderate or conservative.

The name is derived from the Southern political expression “Yellow Dog Democrats” — party loyalists so devoted that they would vote for a yellow dog before voting for a Republican. The Blue Dogs say they get their color because their middle-of-the-road stance leaves them choked blue by liberals on one side and conservatives on the other.

Georgia members are Reps. David Scott of Atlanta, Jim Marshall of Macon, Sanford Bishop of Albany and John Barrow of Savannah.

“The basic drift of the American people is to the center ... and we reflect that,” Scott said. “And he who controls the center controls the political debate. That’s what we’ve proven.”

What the Blue Dogs said or did didn’t make much difference back when Republicans controlled Congress.

“We had the voice ... but we didn’t have the votes,” Barrow said. “Now that the Democrats are in the majority, we ... are the majority makers.”

Doug Moore, chief of staff for Marshall, characterized the coalition as something of a support group for Democrats who don’t automatically agree with the party’s leaders.

“Frankly, when you’re out there and you don’t support the leadership, it’s kind of lonely,” Moore said. “These are guys who understand your position, value it and will help protect you when you need it.”

When Congress returns in September, the Blue Dogs will undoubtedly continue to play a major role in shaping health care changes. They’re also likely to try to push to reduce the federal deficit, keep taxes low and boost military spending.

Blue Dogs are quick to point out that Democrats wouldn’t be in the majority in Congress today if not for them. Many coalition members won election in mainly Republican districts. In 2008, for instance, 49 Democrats were elected to the U.S. House from districts that also voted for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

If Democrats from conservative districts — like Georgia’s Blue Dogs all are — were to constantly side with the liberal-leaning Democratic leadership in the House, they’d hear it from Republicans in their districts back home, Gingrich explained.

“The key to understanding the Blue Dogs is realizing what drives them is a combination of philosophy and survival,” he said.

David Simons, a political consultant in Savannah, agreed.

“If you want to be re-elected in a Democratic-leaning district, but you know you can’t give away the conservative base ... the easiest way to do that is to vote conservatively on some issues.”

Blue Dogs also know they’ll face political pain if they buck the Democratic leadership too much, however. In addition to risking the loss of re-election support from party leaders, they also face losing key committee seats and assignments if they stray too far.

Among Georgia’s Blue Dogs, Barrow is getting the most heat from his party’s supporters these days. That’s because he’s the only Georgia Blue Dog on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he and a handful of other coalition members broke with other Democrats who approved the health care reform bill in an Aug. 1 committee vote.

While Barrow said he supports the idea of reform, he doesn’t support some of the proposed taxes on small businesses to help pay for it.

Like other Blue Dogs, Barrow wants to exempt small businesses that make less than $500,000 in annual revenues from a requirement to provide health care for employees or pay additional taxes. He said he also wants to ensure that a public health care option Obama wants remains only an option, not a requirement.

Health care reform is definitely needed, Barrow said — just not the kind laid out in the bill.

“Some folks think that if you don’t take what the leadership offers you in the first draft that somehow you’re a traitor to your class or not really who you say you are,” Barrow said.

That’s not the case, he said.

Still, the criticism continues to flow from all corners.

“For a small group to fundamentally change legislation while thousands of their constituents and others across the nation are in desperate need of affordable health care is beyond understanding,” Rep. Hank Johnson, a fellow Georgia Democrat from DeKalb County, said in a statement. “To shift the burden back to the middle class — as the Blue Dog changes seem to have done — is the wrong thing to do.”

The liberal activist group Moveon.org, meanwhile, began running ads last week in Barrow’s district, which spans from Savannah to Augusta and westward. The Moveon.org ads accuse Barrow of siding with special interests instead of Georgia families in voting against the Democratic leadership’s health care proposal.

Barrow shrugs off the criticism, saying it’s just part of a Blue Dog’s life.

“We get choked,” he said, “from both sides of the aisle.”