Republican Wing Of The Democratic Party

More Democrats? No, BETTER Democrats

In politics, no one is perfect (except Donna Edwards... though Tammy Baldwin and Linda Sánchez come close enough). Still, there are patterns that develop over time, patterns that show the frightening consistency of Democrats who always vote with the Republicans on substantive matters. We've been referring to them as "the Republican wing of the Democratic Party." Who joins? Well... no one running as a Democrat-- not even Jim Marshall or John Barrow would ever admit they're part of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party (RwotDP). Even while Barrow was accepting money from a vicious anti-union political action committee and Republican front group 2 weeks ago-- which he said he was honored to be endorsed by-- BIPAC, he was still trying to persuade Georgia Democratic primary voters that he is Barack Obama's long-lost fraternal twin. Watch him move to a more... nuanced position as the general election approaches: "Barack who????"

Let's forget about Republicans for a while, since every single one of them is even worse than the worst Blue Dog or DLC Democrat, and see if we can find any patterns by examining some of the most crucial votes that have shaped today's political landscape. I want to start with the NAFTA vote on November 17, 1993, during which Bill Clinton dispatched a thuggish White House operative to cajole, beg, bribe and... when necessary, break arms and legs to get enough Democrats to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans on one of the most damaging trade bills ever conceived.

The majority of Democrats, 156, voted against it (as did 43 Republicans). But joining the 132 pro-NAFTA Republicans were 102 Democrats. Clinton's most grotesque operative, a then barely known Rahm Emanuel,  had just earned himself a rotten borough for his efforts and was soon after given a congressional seat in a Chicago district previously slated for extinction.

I know that some of these Democrats now realize they made a grievous error-- and have atoned by voting against similar bills and by fighting long and hard for Democratic principles since then. One of my neighbors, Xavier Becerra, fits into that category. So do Congressman Ed Markey and then congressmen/now senators Dick Durbin, Ben Cardin, Maria Cantwell, and Ron Wyden. However,  there are some Democrats who voted for NAFTA who have continued-- even after the disastrous effects of NAFTA became apparent-- to vote with the GOP on trade policy and on other key issues adversely effecting their constituents' well-being. That's what we mean by the RwotDP. These are Democratic members who voted for NAFTA who are still in Congress and still voting with the Republicans way more frequently than they should:

Jim Cooper (D-TN)*
Norm Dicks (D-WA)
Chet Edwards (D-TX)
Bart Gordon (D-TN)*
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
John Tanner (D-TN)*

Fast forward a dozen years to July 28, 2005. Congress had already seen all the evidence of NAFTA's horrible impact on American working families. And the Bush Regime was pushing CAFTA. This time only 27 Republicans abandoned their party's right wing orthodoxy and opposed this bill. And instead of 102 Democrats, only 15 voted for CAFTA. Still, it passed-- by two votes, 217-215. These are the 15 Democrats, even with all the evidence in on NAFTA, who voted for CAFTA:

Melissa Bean (D-IL)*
Jim Cooper (D-TN)*
Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
Norm Dicks (D-WA)
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
William Jefferson (D-LA)
Jim Matheson (D-UT)*
Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
Dennis Moore (D-KS)*
Jim Moran (D-VA)
Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
Ike Skelton (D-MO)
Vic Snyder (D-AR)
John Tanner (D-TN)*
Edophous Towns (D-NY)

Even some of the Democrats' worst corporate hacks, like Hoyer and Emanuel, had migrated back to the Democratic position on trade. Even before they brought up CAFTA, the Bush Regime was pushing it's attack on Iraq. On October 10, 2002 the House voted on the Authorization For the Use of Force Against Iraq, a bill that cost then-Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, who conspired with Bush against the American people and against his own caucus, his job. Only 6 of 223 Republicans voted against Bush while 126 (61%) of 208 Democrats voted against the disastrous resolution.

Many Democrats crossed the aisle that day, to their eternal shame. Many, though by no means all, of the Jewish congressmen abandoned their progressive allies to vote the Likud-AIPAC line. But many of the Democrats who voted Republican that day are the same old regular suspects who are mainstays of the RwotDP and who keep abandoning Democratic values and principles whenever push comes to shove:

Shelley Berkley (NV)
Howard Berman (CA)
Marion Berry (AR)*
Sanford Bishop (GA)*
Leonard Boswell (IA)*
Rick Boucher (VA)
Allen Boyd (FL)*
Norm Dicks (WA)
Chet Edwards (TX)
Eliot Engel (NY)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Bart Gordon (TN)*
Gene Green (TX)
Jane Harman (CA)*
Baron Hill (IN)*
Tim Holden (PA)*
Steny Hoyer (MD)
William Jefferson (LA)
Ron Kind (WI)
Nick Lampson (TX)*
Jim Matheson (UT)*
Mike McIntyre (NC)*
Dennis Moore (KS)*
Collin Peterson (MN)*
Mike Ross (AR)*
Adam Schiff (CA)*
Ike Skelton (MO)
Adam Smith (WA)
John Tanner (TN)*
Ellen Tauscher (CA)
Gene Taylor (MS)*

Let's compare that list of traitors to the 80 Democrats who crossed the aisle June 19 to make sure Bush could keep the Iraq War going. If these treacherous "Democrats," led by Hoyer and Emanuel, would have stuck with the majority of Democrats, led by the hapless Pelosi, Bush would be outlining his plan for bringing the troops home safely now. Many of these members are new in Congress, but see how many names were on the previous list of war authorizers (hint, their names are bolded) :

Jason Altmire (PA)
Brian Baird (WA)
John Barrow (GA)*
Melissa Bean (IL)*
Shelly Berkley (NV)
Howard Berman (CA)
Marion Berry (CA)*
Sanford Bishop (GA)*
Dan Boren (OK)*
Rick Boucher (VA)
Allen Boyd (FL)*
Nancy Boyda (KS)
Chris Carney (PA)*
Don Cazayoux (LA)
Travis Childers (MS)
Jim Cooper (TN)*
Jim Costa (CA)*
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Norm Dicks (WA)
Joe Donnelly (IN)*
Chet Edwards (TX)
Brad Ellsworth (IN)*
Rahm Emanuel (IL)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Bill Foster (IL)
Gabby Giffords (AZ)*
Kirsten Gillbrand (NY)*
Charlie Gonzalez (TX)
Bart Gordon (TN)*
Gene Green (TX)
Baron Hill (IN)*
Ruben Hinojosa (TX)
Tim Holden (PA)*
Steny Hoyer (MD)
Ron Kind (WI)
Nick Lampson (TX)*
Dan Lipinski (IL)
Tim Mahoney (FL)*
Jim Marshall (GA)*
Jim Matheson (UT)*
Mike McIntyre (NC)*
Charlie Melancon (LA)*
Harry Mitchell (AZ)
Dennis Moore (KS)*
Collin Peterson (MN)*
Mike Ross (AR)*
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD)
John Salazar (CO)*
David Scott (GA)*
Heath Shuler (NC)*
Ike Skelton (MO)
Zach Space (OH)*
John Tanner (TN)*
Gene Taylor (MS)*

The FISA vote, allowing for warrantless wiretaps and retroactive immunity also saw Hoyer and Emanuel lead a minority-- a very large minority-- of Democrats across the aisle to pass unconscionable legislation demanded by the Bush Regime and huge corporate donors. It passed 293-129 but would have failed if not for the Hoyer-Emanuel coalition of bought off Democrats. This list is a little different because it only includes Democrats who voted for this FISA bill plus the war funding bill:

Jason Altmire (PA)
Brian Baird (WA)
John Barrow (GA)*
Melissa Bean (IL)*
Shelley Berkley (NV)
Howard Berman (CA)
Marion Berry (AR)*
Sanford Bishop (GA)*
Dan Boren (OK)*
Leonard Boswell (IA)*
Rick Boucher (VA)
Allen Boyd (FL)*
Nancy Boyda (KS)
Corrine Brown (FL)
Chris Carney (PA)*
Don Cazayoux (LA)
Ben Chandler (KY)
Travis Childers (MS)
Jim Clyburn (SC)
Jim Cooper (TN)*
Jim Costa (CA)*
Bud Cramer (AL)*
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Artur Davis (AL)
Norman Dicks (WA)
Joe Donnelly (IN)*
Chet Edwards (TX)
Brad Ellsworth (IN)*
Rahm Emanuel (IL)
Eliot Engel (NY)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Gabby Giffords (AZ)*
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)*
Bart Gordon (TN)*
Gene Green (TX)
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)*
Ruben Hinojosa (TX)
Tim Holden (PA)*
Steny Hoyer (MD)
Paul Kanjorski (PA)
Dale Kildee (MI)
Ron Kind (WI)
Nick Lampson (TX)*
Dan Lipinski (IL)
Tim Mahoney (FL)*
Jim Marshall (GA)*
Jim Matheson (UT)*
Charlie Melancon (LA)*
Harry Mitchell (AZ)
Jack Murtha (PA)
Solomon Ortiz (TX)
Collin Peterson (MN)*
Earl Pomeroy (ND)*
Silvestre Reyes (TX)
Ruben Rodriguez (TX)
Mike Ross (AR)*
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD)
John Salazar (CO)*
David Scott (GA)*
Joe Sestak (PA)
Heath Shuler (NC)*
Ike Skelton (MO)
Vic Snyder (AR)
Zach Space (OH)*
John Spratt (SC)
John Tanner (TN)*
Gene Taylor (MS)*
Mark Udall (CO)
Charlie Wilson (OH)*

And those little asterisks (*) some people have and others don't? The asterisks are members who have publicly admitted to being Blue Dogs. It is suspected that there are some members who have asked their membership to stay hush-hush.

When you talk to professional Inside the Beltway Democrats they will try to persuade you that all that's bad in the world flows from the fact that there are Republicans. Just elect more Democrats, they say, and everything will be hunky dory. The record shows otherwise. Without these Democrats above there would be no war in Iraq, no FISA bill, no job-killing trade legislation. That's why Blue America is all about BETTER Democrats, not "more Democrats."