DCCC Foisting Blue Dogs On Democrats Again

It wasn't from Republicans on Twitter I watched the joy at Ilya Sheyman's loss to "business-friendly" conservative Brad Schneider on Tuesday night, but from DC Democratic hacks. They were so celebratory that the dirty hippie, the 99% Movement guy, the Howard Dean guy, the grassroots guy, the young and energetic guy, the guy backed by the hated and feared PCCC was vanquished by Steny Hoyer's freshly minted shill.

I seriously doubt that Schneider will join the Blue Dogs. Why would he? Besides there's a more respectable version of the Blue Dogs for Democrats who live in cities and close-in suburbs-- and you're not required to don white sheets and hoods to join: the New Dems. Schneider runs with that pack instead.

Conservative Dems are working hard-- hand in hand with the DCCC-- to come back to life after 2010;s Blue Dog Apocalypse. It was also an apocalypse of sorts for the New Dems who lost many of their members, most noteworthy being the Chamber of Commerce's #1 shill inside the Democratic caucus, Melissa Bean, a huge Schneider booster. But corporate whore extraordinaire Steny Hoyer and "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel and corrupt New Dem chieftain Joe Crowley are doing their best to undermine progressive candidates this cycle and push the same brand of hideous, anti-family corporatists who led the Democratic Party to ruin in 2010. Some people never learn-- or they learn the wrong lesson. They are funneling money into conservative candidates, telling big donors to not contribute to progressives, and beating up on progressives in one-on-one meetings. A Blue Dog endorsement has become tantamount-- or a prelude-- to a DCCC endorsement under Israel. He called himself "Rahm without the potty mouth" when he was first installed in his DCCC job; he's far worse and far more insidious. And, as much as I can't stand Rahm, at least he's smart in a tactical, street smart way. Israel is a boob who is leading the House Democrats to defeat with his dangerous ideological mania.

Tuesday Open Secrets focused on how smartly Blue Dog funding has been climbing under these circumstances.

The Blue Dog Coalition continues to shrink, a casualty of the disappearing center in American politics. But the good news for this group of moderate Democrats is that almost all of their remaining members have posted fundraising numbers that beat what they'd raised at the same point in the last election cycle. 

The Dogs took a massive blow in the 2010 midterm elections, losing 18 members to either retirement or election defeat. That left them with only 24 members at the beginning of this Congress. And since then, five more have announced their intention to retire at the end of the year. Reps. Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Dennis Cardoza of California, Arizona's Mike Ross  and North Carolina's Heath Shuler have said they're calling it quits with politics. Rep. Joe Donnelly is leaving in order to run for Indiana's Senate seat. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona retired in January to continue her recovery from an assassination attempt in Tucson last year.

But the rest of the pack isn't taking the upcoming election lying down. 

Center for Responsive Politics research shows that 17 of the lawmakers had healthier campaign bank accounts in 2011 than in 2009, as they geared up for midterm elections in 2010. 

Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper  leads the pack in fundraising growth, hauling in about $634,000, an increase of 112 percent from 2009. Incumbent Reps. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Ben Chandler of Kentucky have also made solid gains of 74 percent and 56 percent, respectively, from their 2009 levels. 

But it's Donnelly, who seeks to graduate to the upper chamber in the fall, that has raised the most money, so far: about $1.4 million this cycle, according to the Center's research. That's double the pace he had set at this point last year.

Only three Blue Dogs-- Reps. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, Collin Peterson on Minnesota and Californian Mike Thompson-- have not matched their 2009 fundraising levels, though Altmire and Thompson have picked up the pace from July. None of these gaps are major, though-- just 8 to 10 percent lower than last cycle's pace. Indeed, if Altmire is having trouble keeping up, it's because he raised so much money in the first year of the last cycle, when he took in about $1.3 million (he's raised about $1.1 million through the end of 2011).

...The top industries supporting the Blue Dogs appear to be shifting only slightly since the 2010 election. The Dogs are still relying on the lawyers and law firms and health professionals industries as their top re-election funding sources, according to the Center's research. Those two industries spread a combined $2 million across these twenty remaining Blue Dogs at the end of 2009. So far this cycle, the people and PACs associated with the industries have combined to dole out $1.9 million to the coalition.

Unlike the last cycle, Blue Dogs are leaning heavily on friendly faces for help raising money, particularly leadership PAC and Democratic/liberal groups. 

Leadership PACs-- fundraising committees run by fellow lawmakers for the purpose of boosting their colleagues' bank accounts-- have thus far given $623,000 to Blue Dogs. That is good enough for third place among industry contributors. In 2009, leadership PACs gave only about a third of that amount to Blue Dogs.
 
Democratic and liberal groups, too, are opening their wallets a little wider for the Blue Dogs these days. They have thus far given $495,000, good enough for 5th place among industry contributors to the Dogs. These groups gave just $287,000 to Democrats in 2009.

Over half of such contributions have come from moderate Democratic groups, including the Blue Dog PAC, which supports Blue Dogs and Blue Dog-endorsed candidates, gave $190,000 to incumbent Blue Dogs in 2011. The New Democrat Coalition PAC, another group supporting moderate Democrats, contributed $94,000 to the Blue Dog congressmen.

And although some labor leaders grouse from time to time about Blue Dogs refusing to support working family-oriented legislation and specific union initiatives, unions still get bullied by the DCCC and DC Dems into supporting even the most reactionary Blue Dogs when they get in trouble. In the primary battle that pits union-friendly Matt Cartwright against reactionary and Republican-friendly Tim Holden, national unions are tending to side with Holden, the proven enemy of working families. The always transactional building trades unions, particularly, have a tendency to support conservatives over progressives and moderates. If you'd like to help Blue America fight back, here's our Bad Dogs page and here's a Holden-specific action we're doing.