Dan Boren, Another Blue Dog Who Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About-- Probably Doesn’t Care Either

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping through the vast emptiness between Dan Boren’s ears

-by Doug Kahn

I’ve begun to understand something about politics in the American West; it’s a lot like my home state of Florida and the rest of the Deep South. Any politician who makes it obvious he or she is proud of being ignorant has an automatic following. This item from Talking Points Memo proves that one of my favorite Bad Dogs is as dumb as a stump, as we say in the South. (That expression seems to have become overused. I promise to dredge up better insults, if my memory cooperates.) 

Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, is not only predicting that the party will lose a significant number of seats in the House-- he's welcoming it, saying it will be a "good thing for Oklahoma and for me."
 
"If we have a tight majority one way or another, that puts me in the driver's seat," Boren told the Tulsa World. "In the 112th (Congress), I probably will have the most influence I have ever had, no matter who has the majority."
 
Boren did say that a Republican takeover of the House was a "tall order," but also added that the Democratic Party would be forced to move more toward the center politically with a smaller majority.

The Tulsa World’s report on key votes in Congress for the week of December 20, 2009 covered 6 votes. Oklahoma has 6 Representatives, 5 of them Republicans, and Dan voted with the Republicans all 6 times. Earlier, he voted against the House’s version of Health Care reform, and against the Clean Energy and Security Act (Cap and Trade). 

Dan’s lifetime Progressive Punch ranking is 245th out of 435 House members. [His ProgressivePunch score has dropped significantly since Obama came to the White House. His lifetime score of 44.69 sank to a 18.46, reflecting his tendency to cross the aisle and vote with the GOP as his normal default position.] 246 through 257 are the only Democrats worse on progressive issues: Jim Marshall (GA-08), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Parker Griffith (AL-05), John Tanner (TN-08), Glenn Nye (VA-02), Ike Skelton (M)-04), Frank Kratovil (MD-01), Collin Peterson (MN-07), Travis Childers (MS-01), Gene Taylor (MS-04), Bobby Bright (AL-02), and Walt Minnick (ID-01).  (Note: Parker Griffith claims he’s a Republican now. They may throw him back in November. All the rest are Blue Dogs, except Ike Skelton.)
 
He’s consistent, anyway: his score for 2009-2010 was tied for 244th. The Dems in his vicinity have changed, though. Some are voting a bit more like Democrats, while others are excelling in their stupidity. Harry Mitchell (AZ-05) is one of those diving towards the bottom, now ranking 247th (previously 232nd). That district interests me because my kids live there, and I visit a lot. I guess old Harry is better than the Republican he beat, J.D. Hayworth, but that’s just a guess. In 1998 (and again in 2006), Hayworth was voted the second biggest "windbag" in Congress in Washingtonian magazine's survey of 1,200 congressional staff members of both parties. He said he wasn’t happy about slipping out of the top spot. Ignorant. Proud of it. 

What Dan said; why is it dumb? Because even if we at BlueAmerica and around the progressive community do nothing, a lot of Bad Dogs are going to lose, making the Democratic Caucus more progressive. Democrats who campaign as real Democrats will get more of the base out to vote (duh), increasing victory margins, which will demonstrate that moving towards the right is exactly the wrong thing to do. This isn’t wild speculation, it’s the safe bet, given the history of Congressional politics. It could turn out differently, but you’d lose money betting the long shot. The long shot is what Dan Boren is talking about, that the Democratic Party gets more conservative. Dan is going to end up with less company in the Beavis Wing of the party. 

And the thing about Republicans always voting "no" unanimously; all that matters is the Democratic majority in the House, and the Democratic majority in each committee and subcommittee. The difference between Bad Dogs voting the Republican line and Bad Dogs losing, being replaced by Republicans: we get better legislation out of committee in 2011. Instead of the heap of stinking garbage that made 2009 so nauseating.