One Of The 2 Democrats Who Voted To Shut Down The Government, Mike McIntyre, Has A Primary Challenge

Remember this video Alan Grayson made to explain a handful of congressional Democrats who "are anti-Choice, who are pro-war, who are against workers' rights, who do nothing to promote jobs or promote health or safety?" In it he makes the case the voters deserve a real choice on election day. "If you have two Republicans running against each other, one with an "R-E-P" next to his name and the other one with a "D-E-M" next to his name, its a tremendous disservice to the public... If you run as a Democrat, there are certain things that you should stand for. You should stand for Justice; you should stand for Equality; you should stand for Peace. It's not that hard to figure out what it means to be a Democrat once your eyes are open to it."

He also explained how Republicans understand this dynamic and what Democrats can learn from them. "Every time one of them gets just a little bit out of line, they're threatened with a primary, they're actually engaged in a primary and from time to time they actually lose those primaries. That's the discipline the other side uses to keep their people in line for the sake of corporate interests, for the sake of religious fanaticism, for the sake of weird misconceptions about human nature and ordinary life... We can learn from them. We need more Democrats who are Democrats. If we do that, we'll actually win more races. As Howard Dean said years and years ago, 'You can't beat a Republican by being a Republican.' Nobody's fooled by that. If the public has a choice between a real Republican and a fake Republican running as a Democrat, they'll choose the real Republican every time." That pretty much blows away the entire DCCC strategy that Steve Israel operates under.

Grayson didn't mention any of his colleagues' names, of course, but he had to have been thinking of a group of New Dems and Blue Dogs who consistently vote more often with the GOP than with the Democrats on crucial matters. And two of the worst of the worst, Jim Matheson, a Utah Blue Dog with a ProgressivePunch score this year of 26.42 (worse than half a dozen Republicans) and Mike McIntyre who is both a Blue Dog and a New Dem from North Carolina. They were the only two Democrats who voted with all but two Republicans to shut down the government unless Republican policy agenda items were met.

In 2010, a real Democrat, Claudia Wright, won enough support in the Democratic Party convention that she was able to primary Matheson-- his first in a decade-- and sent him scurrying furiously-- at least temporarily-- back towards the center and away from the far right. She raised $20,000 and he raised over a million for the primary. He got 67% of the vote. No Democrat has taken him on since and so far there isn't one running next year.

And that brings us to the odious Mike McIntyre, one of the DCCC's most heavily-financed incumbent Democrats. He's heavily financed despite voting against Nancy Pelosi in 2011 and 2013 and despite his loud refusal to endorse Obama for president against Mitt Romney. He opposed the Affordable Care Act and keeps voting with the GOP to repeal it and parts of it. He's rabidly anti-gay and never misses an opportunity to prove it by voting against LGBT equality. He also consistently votes against Choice and even voted against the DREAM Act. Oh-- and he's a pro-pollution, anti-environmental voter as well. The NRA loves him, rates him an "A" and donates thousands of dollars to him. And like we've been pointing out, it was McIntyre and Matheson who were the only Democrats who voted with the GOP to shut down the government last week.

So are the Democrats threatening him with a primary? No-- quite the opposite. Steve Israel is gearing up to spend between $2 and $3 million to save his seat next year. He only beat Republican David Rouzer by 654 votes (out of more than 336,000 cast, the closest election in the country). Rouzer will probably beat him again next year-- not that that would ever stop Steve Israel from wasting a few million dollars from low-info grassroots donors who give to the DCCC because they mistakenly think the DCCC supports progressive values and candidates.

Fortunately, this year, there is a grassroots candidate running against McIntyre for the Democratic nomination, popular New Hanover County Commissioner, Jonathan Barfield, the only Democrat elected in the county, which is the biggest in NC-07. (Obama lost New Hanover 52-47%.)

Blue America would love it if every Democratic candidate was as brilliant and courageous as Alan Grayson and Elizabeth Warren. You never really know until they get into office. We feel great when we can see a state legislative record-- like Carl Sciortino's or Daylin Leach's-- but mostly we have little to go on besides what the candidates tell us about themselves and their platforms. Barfield seems sincere and his progressive values seem firmly rooted in his life's experiences and his spiritual beliefs. He has a public record of supporting initiatives that benefit ordinary working families and his campaign website's policy page looks good. As for McIntyre's vote the shut down the government, he said "I cannot understand why in a time when there are so many American Citizens walking around with no health care what so ever, we have 2 to 4 Democrat Congressmen, one who is from our own state of North Carolina, who continue to vote to defund Obamacare. I fully support the Affordable Care Act."

He understands what Grayson was talking about in the video up top about the difference between a real Democrat and a fake Republican. "I do not believe that it is governments place to legislate or decide for us who anyone can love or marry," he told his supporters. "It wasn't but a few generations ago when interracial marriage was illegal in many states. It was the passing of the landmark civil rights decision in the Loving v. Virginia by the US Supreme Court that invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. We still have work to do, but we are on our way."

And, by the way, on Monday evening when the Republicans voted for a third time to shut down the government, McIntyre was joined by 8 other of the worst Democrats in the House: Ron Barber (New Dem-AZ), Kyrsten Sinema (New Dem-AZ), John Barrow (New Dem/Blue Dog-GA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Stephen Horsford (NV), Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT) and Dan Maffei (New Dem-NY). If you'd like to help Jonathan Barfield replace McIntyre in Congress, you can contribute to his campaign here.

The Grubby Politics Of The Vote To Shut Down The Government-- Fundraising And Hypocrisy

DCCC faves McIntyre & Matheson both voted to shut down the government

I'm sure you already know that on Friday, Boehner surrendered to the Tea Party nihilists and the deranged Ted Cruz faction of his party and passed a bill that would shut down the government unless the Senate and Obama agree to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It passed 230-189. Despite teeth gnashing by Republicans in swing districts who need independent voters for reelection-- especially loud from Peter King (R-NY) and Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA)-- only one Republican crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats, vulnerable Republican Scott Rigell (R-VA). Crossing in the other direction-- to shut down the government unless the Affordable Care Act is repealed-- were reactionary Blue Dog Democrats Jim Matheson (UT) and Mike McIntyre (NC).

A few hours late the DCCC was fundraising among lo-info voters, begging for money so they could defeat these evil Republicans next year. And don't get me wrong-- these Republicans are evil. One, Kevin Cramer, a crazed North Dakota evangelical who is best known for having stolen a baby from its parents and refusing to give it up, had the temerity to quote the Bible on his Facebook page the day before when he was voting to starve millions of American families on food stamps. "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." Yeah, yeah... sure; that's what Jesus was all about. Back to the DCCC fundraising. This is the letter they sent out to their massive list of anyone who ever signed one of their phony-baloney fishing expedition petitions:

This morning, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans PASSED a bill that would threaten a government shutdown in order to put insurance companies back in charge of your health care. It’s despicable.

But I’m actually writing to pass along some good news:

In the last 48 hours, over 25,000 of you have donated over $400,000 to take on the Republicans. Speaker Boehner surely wasn't expecting this kind of grassroots response!

Will you help us hit the $500,000 mark before Congress leaves town tonight?

DEADLINE MIDNIGHT: Give $3 or more right now to fight back against Republican legislative arsonists.

What happens over the next few days will determine if Boehner and the right-wing fringe succeed in their attempt to wreak havoc on President Obama’s second term. Let’s send a reverberating message to Speaker Boehner: the Affordable Care Act isn’t going anywhere.

http://dcccorg/Midnight-Deadline

A deadline no less. Does that mean if you send the money the next day or the next week, it won't "count" or they won't accept it? I don't think so. They need it-- desperately-- and they need it for one overriding reason. Reactionary Blue Dogs and New Dems like McIntyre and Matheson don't engender support from the grassroots because of the way they vote. According to ProgressivePunch, this year McIntyre's crucial vote score was a dismal 31.73%, significantly more supportive of Boehner and Cantor than Chris Gibson (R-NY), Justin Amash (R-MI) and Walter Jones (R-NC). Matheson is even worse-- a 26.42 score-- and less progressive than GOP wingnuts like Mark Sanford (R-SC) and Tom Massey (R-KY)!

Last year McIntyre and Matheson were barely reelected. McIntyre beat David Rouzer 167,590-167,057 (533 votes) and Matheson beat Mia Love 108,275-105,629 (2,646 votes). Rouzer and Love are running again next year.

Last year McIntyre spent $2,253,834 and Rouzer spent $1,484,066. The DCCC spent $2,005,888 tearing down Rouzer and trying to boost McIntyre. Matheson spent $2,384,427 and Mia Love spent $2,370,444. The DCCC spent $1,469,713 saving Matheson's ass. They'll need a lot more next year in both Utah and North Carolina and are likely to lose both seats anyway.

There's something profoundly hypocritical about the DCCC asking grassroots donors to send them money to fight against Republicans who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, just so they can funnel that money into the reelection campaigns of Mike McIntyre and Jim Matheson. And it is very sad that Steve Israel signed Nancy Pelosi's name to the letter.

If you're a progressive-- rather than a "Democrat"-- contributing to the DCCC is counter-productive. There are more than enough Democratic incumbents and challengers running who oppose GOP nihilism-- and who get no help at all from the DCCC. Please consider contributing to incumbents and candidates who fight for the values you believe in. The DCCC spends virtually all their money-- all your money backing candidates like McIntyre and Matheson, who are corporate whores, anti-Choice, antigay bigots. Between 80 and 90% of the money the DCCC spends on candidates goes to conservatives, not to progressives. Wouldn't it make more sense trying to elect progressive tried and true believers like Daylin Leach and Carl Sciortino? All of the Blue America candidates (who you can support by clicking that link) support progressive positions. And, unlike the DCCC's Matheson and McIntyre, none of them want to shut down the government to defund Obamacare.

Lee Rogers is running against defunding maniac Buck McKeon in California. "The debt ceiling debacle in 2011, which led to the near default on the full faith and credit of the United States, is one of the reasons I started running for Congress. The House Majority seemed bent on doing anything possible to push their extremist ideology, even if that included damaging America. Now history repeats itself. The Majority isn't interested in governing, they're interested in gumming up the works, unless they get their way on gutting healthcare. They're happy putting insurance companies back in the driver's seat, but they've been driving recklessly for decades. I can't simply stand by while this occurs. This strengthens my resolve to run for Congress."

Another Blue America-backed progressive, Tom Guild, is running for the Oklahoma City seat currently held by extremist wing-nut James Lankford, as much a crackpot of McKeon. Tom was aghast, though not surprised, by Lankford's vote to shut down the government. "Lankford acted in an immature and reckless manner in voting to shut down the national government. He is in the middle of an extended temper tantrum to get his way or do great harm to the people of the Fifth District, and has struck a blow that will be devastating to the American economy. The crazies are in control of the House GOP. Shutting down the government is a lunatic strategy. Lankford should do the right thing for Oklahoma and the country and resign his seat in Congress. Speaker Boehner has lost control of the House GOP Caucus and the lunatic fringe is calling the shots. Katy bar the door. God help us."

Danielle Adams is running for the rural House seat in north-central North Carolina currently held by doddering Howard Coble. This morning she told us how tragic she found the Republican vote to shut down the government.

When Congressman Coble and the GOP led House voted to gut the SNAP program, I truly believed that Congress had reached a new low. Never ones to be underestimated, the Republicans reached a NEW new low in holding our nation hostage in their never ending quest to overturn Obamacare. This latest action is reminiscent of Pinky asking Brain over and over again 'What shall we do tonight Brain' with the answer always being 'Try to take over the world'. I imagine that their caucus meetings have a similar tone 'What legislation shall we try to pass today?' 'Why, overturn Obamacare'.

Normally I would refrain from such dramatics but I can think of few rational words to describe such irrational legislative decisions. With close to 20,000 federal employees currently living in the counties that make up the 6th Congressional District and 1.8 million civilian federal employees nationwide, I am baffled as to why an elected public servant would vote to shutdown the government. Sadly, federal employees are not the only ones who will be harmed by a government shutdown. I recently spoke to a woman who owns her own business and contracts often with the federal government. She is a mother of three and works as the bread winner of her household. A government shutdown would halve her income and make it virtually impossible for her to keep up with mortgage payments, put her youngest through college, and care for her aging mother while still putting food on the table and saving for retirement. This woman is my mother and her story is one that is shared by numerous American families. What is clear is that Congressman Coble and the GOP are out of touch with the realities of the American people. They keep fighting against Obama instead of fighting for Americans. That's not what they were elected to do so it is clearly time for them to go.

The Republicans Are Back In Washington-- And They Voted For The 41st Time To Defund The Affordable Care Act

The vast majority of Americans, when polled, oppose defunding ObamaCare, including people who oppose the law for one reason or another. Even Republican voters oppose defunding it! But that doesn't stop right-wing congressmembers from perpetuating their clown-show.

According to a poll released by the Morning Consult Wednesday, only 6% of Americans want to see the law either defunded or delayed, including only 7% of Republicans. The same poll finds about a third of Americans want to see the law repealed, while nearly two-thirds want it left alone, improved, or expanded.

The plan pushed by some conservative Republicans would shut down the government entirely until the law is defunded and stopped. Cruz urged his fellow Republicans to stick to their guns over this past weekend, celebrating Tuesday when the petition to see the law defunded passed the one-million signature milestone. But mainstream Republicans have strongly opposed it, and critics have pointed out that it almost certainly won’t work.

“The Republican base seems to think that if they shut the government down then therefore there is no money for Obamacare, and I can understand why logically you would believe that,” Huffington Post reporter Ryan Grim explained on Wednesday’s PoliticsNation. “But what they don’t understand is that there’s a difference between mandatory spending and discretionary spending. It’s complicated but this is mandatory spending which means that even if the government shuts down–they can close all the parks, all the federal buildings–the mandatory money for Obamacare keeps flowing.”

The poll, released the day President Bill Clinton made a major speech touting the benefits of the law, found that a majority of young Americans approve of the law, 56% to 38%. Hispanic voters also approve of the law in similar margins.

Yesterday, on the Senate floor, Harry Reid said that "the anarchists have taken over. They’ve taken over the House and now they’ve taken over the Senate. People who don’t believe in government-- and that’s what the Tea Party is all about-- are winning, and that’s a shame.”

So yesterday the House voted, for the 41st time, to defund ObamaCare, Notice that deranged Tennessee corporate whore, Diane Black, the sponsor, tweeted that it was a bipartisan vote. Well, technically, she's correct. Every single Republican voted for her crackpot, pointless bill-- and so did five Blue Dog "Democrats." The six Blue Dogs, all of whom are set on default positions backing Boehner and Cantor rather than be perceived as Democrats, oppose virtually any measure geared towards helping ordinary working families. They are, in all but name, Republicans. These 5:

• John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)
• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)

"Former" Blue Dog Steve Israel can be expected to waste as much as $6 million next year trying to keep Barrow, McIntyre and Matheson in their seats (so they can continue creating the illusion the GOP's extreme right bills are "bipartisan"). Last year Israel spent over 4 million on these three congressmen ($2,005,888 on McIntyre, $1,269,713 on Matheson and $1,080,748 on Barrow), none of whom are expected to win in 2014.

Is It Worth It For The Democrats To Try Winning The Deep South?

Proud Southerner

Over the weekend, Molly Ball, writing in The Atlantic made the case for Democrats winning back the Deep South. When I was just becoming aware of politics as a kid, everything that made me hate the Democratic Party stemmed from the fact that it owned the Deep South-- and was owned by the Deep South. I remember how all the reactionary committee chairs in both Houses were Southern racists. Now Southern racism, bigotry, and overall backwardness has taken over the Republican Party and made it anathema to normal Americans. Let them keep it; let them continue to choke on it. "In 2012," writes Ball, "Republicans took over the Arkansas state legislature, and Democrats now do not control a single legislative chamber in the old Confederacy."

Many Southern Democrats-- and a lot of national Democratic strategy for winning in the South-- think the way to do it is to mimic Republicans, if not always with the reactionary social policies, certainly always with the reactionary economic and fiscal policies. Screw that. The Democratic Party would be much better off without reactionary politicians always tugging it to the right, the way, for example, John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA) does. If the Democrats want to make the case that a progressive, family-friendly agenda is better for Southern voters, let's go for it. If the Democrats want to make the case they they're almost as conservative and backward as the Republicans... it's a waste of time and effort. Here's Ball's case:

The demographics of the South are changing fast. Quite simply, all of the states of the old Confederacy are getting less white, said Chris Kromm, director of the Durham, N.C.-based Institute for Southern Studies, a research center founded by civil-rights-movement veterans. "I don't think there's any question there is a lot of potential [for Democrats] there given how rapidly the landscape of the South is changing," he said, calling it a "highly volatile moment in Southern politics."

The Southern states have America's fastest-growing Latino populations. Of 11 states whose Hispanic populations doubled between 2000 and 2011, nine-- Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas-- were in the South. Black populations are also growing, thanks in part to a new migration of African-Americans back to the South. At current rates of growth, Georgia and Mississippi could be majority-minority states within a decade. South Carolina's Republican governor, Nikki Haley, won in 2010 by 60,000 votes; demographers estimate there are as many as 100,000 eligible but unregistered African-American voters in the state.

Other forces are changing the region's culture. Though the South remains more rural than the rest of the country, its cities and suburbs-- from the North Carolina Research Triangle to the Atlanta exurbs-- are booming thanks to an influx of white-collar professionals. "The urban centers in the South are becoming centers of political power, and that's what's going to change politics," Kromm said.

...Since the days of Arizonan Barry Goldwater, the Southwest had been solidly Republican. But that changed in the last decade. Western Democrats like Brian Schweitzer and Harry Reid won by emphasizing quality-of-life issues like education and the environment, neutralizing the culture war (often by professing love for the Second Amendment), and mobilizing the growing Hispanic vote. Far-right Republicans like former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo helped Western Democrats make the case to moderate suburbanites that the GOP had gone off the ideological deep end. Now, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado have voted Democratic in two straight presidential elections, and the party has even managed to win statewide elections in Montana and Arizona.

"We moved into the Southwest on the theory that the demographics were changing and Republicans had gone too far to the right," [Jill] Hanauer told me. Two years ago, she detected the same thing starting to happen in the South. She changed her firm's name to Project New America and quietly began to research a new region.

In the coming weeks, Hanauer and Loranne Ausley, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, plan to launch something they're calling the Southern Project, which will conduct research and formulate messages that can help Democrats win over Southern voters. A pilot study conducted in North Carolina in February, for example, concluded that under the state's Republican governor, Pat McCrory, "there is a clear sense that hardworking taxpayers are getting the short end of the stick at the expense of big corporations and the wealthiest." The set of talking points advises progressives to make arguments "focused around fairness and accountability," whether the issue is tax reform or charter schools. The Southern Project will equip Southern Democrats with similar examples of messages that have been poll-tested to resonate with voters.

Obama lost North Carolina by just 2 percentage points in 2012, but Republicans took the governor's mansion and a supermajority in the state legislature, helped by a multimillionaire named Art Pope who poured money into the party and its candidates. After the election, McCrory put Pope in his administration's budget department and began pushing a highly ideological agenda through the state legislature, sparking a backlash that has resulted in weeks of protests at the statehouse in Raleigh .

Ausley, who ran unsuccessfully for statewide office in Florida in 2010, said Republicans across the South risk alienating voters with their hard rightward turn. Every Republican-led Southern state has rejected the federally funded expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, she noted; in Florida, Governor Rick Scott tried to accept the funds, but his own Republican-dominated legislature blocked the move. Southern Republicans have recently decried women's entry into the workforce and advocated teaching schoolchildren about proper gender roles.

"Republicans are doing the same thing over and over again to appeal to their base, and at some point it has to come back to bite them," Ausley said. Southern voters are generally conservative, but they're not extremists, as Mississippi showed in 2011 when it overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have declared a fertilized egg to be a "person" with rights. Genteel Southern moderates like Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia find themselves increasingly endangered by Tea Party primary challenges; Chambliss has chosen not to run for reelection next year, setting up a race that will test Democrats' ability to win in that state.

Lately I've been criticizing the DCCC for only focusing on the current cycle and never thinking about building a long-term plan to beat vulnerable Republicans in purple districts. If the DCCC had worked against powerful committee chairmen Paul Ryan, Mike Rogers, Darrell Issa, Fred Upton, Buck McKeon, Dave Camp in 2010 and 2012, at least 5 of them would be dead ducks going into 2014. McKeon, in fact, sees the writing on the wall already-- after being beaten by Lee Rogers with ZERO help from Steve Israel's DCCC and Wasserman Schultz's DNC-- and is on the verge of retiring. He's already told top GOP officials in the district he won't run again in 2014 if Rogers runs against him. (And Rogers is about to make a big announcement; I doubt it will be that he's not going to run.) I was interested that some of the Southern Democrats are, unlike the DCCC, taking a long-term approach. Former Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove told Ball that his goal is "to lay the groundwork long-term for the South once again to be a Democratic stronghold," by "building a strong bench of up-and-coming Democratic leaders."

South Carolina-based Republican consultant Chip Felkel makes a good point, though. "It's still a place that, to borrow a phrase, clings to its guns and religion, and I think it will continue to do so. As long as the Democratic Party still seems to be the party that's opposed to religion and guns, a large segment of the Southern population is going to have trouble with that, especially at the federal level." The Democratic response has all too often been to present this kind of garbage in response:



It's the wrong road for Democrats to go down. Barrow himself is likely to be defeated in 2014, unless Republicans nominate a crackpot extremist. Same goes for another reactionary white Democrat in North Carolina, Blue Dog Mike McIntyre. They come from an old school of thought that says that Democrats can only win in the South by acting like Republicans. Barrow and McIntyre routinely vote with the Republicans in the House on almost every crucial roll call. This year, for example, both voted with the GOP against raising the minimum wage and both voted with the Republicans for CISPA. Both voted for a GOP Farm Bill that would have gutted the food stamps program for the Democratic base in their own districts. Just minutes before that vote, both voted against Ron Kind's amendment that would have cut farm subsidies to wealthy farmers. And the day before, both voted against Jim McGovern's amendment to keep the SNAP (food stamp program) funded. 175 Democrats opposed the GOP plan to remove President Obama from the Keystone XL process and only 19 Democrats crossed the aisle and voted with the GOP. Of course Barrow and McIntyre were among them as were fellow mostly right-wing Southern Democrats Patrick Murphy (FL), Jim Cooper (TN), Henry Cuellar (TX), Sanford Bishop (GA), Al Green (TX), Gene Green (TX), Ruben Hinojosa (TX), Terri Sewell (AL), and Filemon Vela (TX). Who needs them if they're going to vote like Republicans, oppose LGBT equality, oppose women's Choice, and work to water down reforms? Monday morning, the National Journal outlined once again how backward elements inside the GOP (read: unreconstructed Confederates) are destroying the party from within. Who wants them in the Democratic Party, which is a party that stands for something-- or at least still has a segment that stands for something.

Alan Grayson also represents a formerly Republican district in central Florida and he doesn't ever adopt Republican positions in some kind of idiotic electoral calculus. That's why his constituents-- and progressives statewide and nationally-- admire him. If we're going to win back the South with Alan Graysons, I say let's go for it. If winning back the South means more John Barrows and Mike McIntyres, let the Republicans keep it... while they alienate the rest of America.

Fetal masturbation. Rape doesn’t usually result in pregnancy. Grade-schoolers should be taught traditional gender roles.

A handful of House Republican lawmakers seem unable to stop making headlines on abortion and gay marriage. And Republicans on and off the Hill know who’s to blame:

House Speaker John Boehner.

GOP lawmakers, strategists, and insiders say Boehner and House leadership are enabling foot-in-mouth disease by allowing divisive social issues to reemerge at a time when Republicans were finally winning the daily messaging war against a controversy-plagued White House.

Republicans say they want leadership to start calling out the fringers, distancing the party from the lawmakers’ remarks. And they want leaders to stop bowing to interest-group pressure to put risky social issues on the House floor.

Good luck with that, boys. This is your base now:

Dan Lipinski Joins The Blue Dogs As They Gasp Their Last Breath

The Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 really marked the end of the any claim to power or influence for the treacherous conservatives inside the Democratic Party known as Blue Dogs. They lost dozens of Members as Democrat base votes just stayed away from the polls in droves and let them go down to ignominious defeats in district after district. 2010 was the last hurrah for conservatives undermining progressive values inside the caucus and in committees, the likes of obstructionist reactionaries and careerists Bobby Bright (AL)-- Blue America's favorite scalp that year-- Allen Boyd (FL), Gene Taylor (MS), Jim Marshall (GA), Baron Hill (IN), Travis Childers (MS), Walt Minnick (ID), and Brad Ellsworth (IN), to name just a few. The following cycle, 2012, a good year for real Democrats, was another nail into the hearts of what was left of the now ridiculous Blue Dog Caucus, which had already been supplanted by the New Dems as the place for corporate lobbyists to go to bribe conservative Democrats to vote with the GOP. In 2012 only one new Blue Dog was elected, Pete Gallego (TX) and we were happily rid of several of the worst Blue Dogs remaining-- Tim Holden (PA), Joe Baca (CA) and Jason Altmire (PA) in primaries and Leonard Boswell (IA), Ben Chandler (KY), and Larry Kissell (NC) to Republicans. Reading the writing on the wall, sleazy Blue Dogs Mike Ross (AR), Dennis Cardoza (CA), Heath Shuler (NC), and Dan Boren (OK) all avoided defeats by retiring. All 4 seats were Republican pickups.

And then there were 3 mangy Blue Dogs who escaped defeat by the skin of their teeth: John Barrow (GA), Mike McIntyre (NC) and Jim Matheson (UT). With any luck, all three will lose in 2014. All three-- who are consistent in voting with Boehner and Cantor against the Democrats on crucial issues-- are facing challengers who came close to beating them in 2012 and who have momentum going into 2014.

Barrow was lucky. The viable Republican in the 2012 race, Rick Allen, was in a primary battle with another Augusta Republican. That allowed a weak GOP candidate from the rural southern part of the district, Lee Anderson, to slip in. Even without much support, Anderson held Barrow down to a 54-46% win in November. Anderson spent $1,173,443 to Barrow's $2,880,363, most of which came from PACs. Even so, Anderson beat Barrow in 10 of the district's 19 counties, including giant Columbia County. Next year Barrow is likely to be facing Allen, a wealthy businessman and favorite of the Republican Establishment, not Anderson. Although Obama lost to Romney in the district (43.6- 55.4%), the big turnout among African-American voters for Obama helped Barrow immensely. It's not likely Barrow will have the kind of support in a midterm, especially if someone spends some resources telling African American voters who Barrow consistently votes against their interests. Obama wanted to raise an increase in the minimum wage, for example. Barrow was one of the only Democrats to vote with the Republicans against it. Instead of just taking out ads that claim (falsely) that Barrow is a puppet of Nancy Pelosi, if Republicans had half a brain, they would take out ads on black radio talking about Barrow's voting record. GA-12 was just gerrymandered to defeat Barrow and has a daunting PVI of R+9! If the NRCC can't do it, they should lose their license to practice electoral politics.

Much easier for the Republicans are the actual rematches between two of the weakest Democrats in the House, Matheson and McIntyre. Last year McIntyre beat David Rouzer 167,590 to 167,057 (533 votes) in a newly redistricted NC-07 that was gerrymandered to have a staggering R+12 PVI. Of the district's 12 counties, Rouzer won 5, including biggies Brunswick and Johnston. Last time, Rouzer had to contend with a psychotic teabagger primarying him that kept him busy most of the time he should have been focusing on McIntyre.

Similar story for Matheson in Utah. He managed to beat Republican Mayor Mia Love 108,275 to 105,629. UT-04-- with a PVI of R+16-- has 4 counties. Love won 3 and Matheson held his base in the biggest, Salt Lake, where he beat her 53-44%. UT-04 only gave Obama 30% of it's votes in 2012 (down from 41% in 2008); this really is the Republican heartland and there's no reason in the world for voters there to tolerate even a Democrat as conservative as Matheson. Love will be a far better candidate after her close loss last year. She's already hired much better staff and is far more focused on the district. There are no sure things in politics but a victory for Love over Matheson in 2014 is as close as you'll get.

Will the Blue Dogs close up shop and just join the New Dems after the three expected defeats? The DCCC looks like its ready to spent a couple million dollars on Blue Dog loser Brendan Mullen in Indiana again, but he'll lose even more decisively than he did in 2012. Aside from Gallego, the only "new" Blue Dog is Illinois reactionary Dan Lipinski who was angered at not getting the appointment as Ambassador to the Holy See... and joined the Blue Dogs recently to get revenge. (He votes with them all the time anyway.) Still, with the defeats of Matheson, Barrow and McIntyre in 2014-- and the departure of Mike Michaud who is retiring from Congress to run for governor of Maine-- that will leave just 11 hapless Blue Dogs in the House... unless, like Adam Schiff, Loretta Sanchez (CA) also quits the caucus. Then there'll be 10, many of whom are already more committed to the New Dems than the most racist, misogynistic and homophobic Blue Dogs. That's a lot smaller than the House Bicycle Caucus.

DCCC-- No Shame Whatsoever In Exploiting Women

A good case can be made-- should be made-- that conservatives are waging a relentless war against American women and that it has to be stopped by voters at the polls by defeating the Republican Party. The GOP anti-women jihad is out of control in every state where they've seized power and in the U.S. House of Representatives. But the DCCC isn't the organization to make the point, not if anyone is expected to believe it. Here's the e-mail the DCCC sent out to tens of thousands of Democrats this week:

Last night, Republicans rammed through an extreme and unconstitutional bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks.

Republicans continue to bend to the will of their radical, anti-women, right-wing base. We can’t let their lack of backbone translate into a country where women are systematically denied basic rights.

Don’t let Republicans take us back to the 1950s. Join our campaign to defeat Tea Party extremists today.

Because of the great showing last night, we’ve decided to match all donations through the end of the month.

Click here to donate $3, unlock our matching program, and double your impact >>

So far, 8,259 supporters have donated to our Women's Health Rapid Response Fund since we learned of the radical Republican plan last week. That's a good start, but we can't sit back.

Our midyear fundraising deadline is right around the corner, and we need to reach 10,000 donations for the Rapid Response fund to fight back against this reenergized Tea Party base. Will you chip in to help us fight back?

The DCCC was bragging in the Beltway trade papers this week that it had raked in $6.1 million in May, bringing their total for 2013 to $34.1 million. They emphasized that the monthly haul is $700,000 more than the party raised in April and brings the DCCC’s cash on hand to $11 million. What do they do with all that money? Well, of course, as we've explained before, first comes the rake-offs and the nest-feathering. OK, and after that? Do they run campaigns against the misogynistic Republicans setting GOP policy? Oh... never. Last cycle Steve Israel, the DCCC's inept and incompetent chairman, took Republican party leaders like Boehner and Cantor and committee chairs like Paul Ryan, Buck McKeon, John Mica, John Kline, Fred Upton, Darrell Issa, Dave Camp, Mike Rogers, etc absolutely off the table. There are rumors that Israel is rethinking that disastrous policy after being pressured by angry House members and angrier donors. We'll see. But whatever happens, the bulk of the DCCC haul goes to bolster what they call their Frontline candidates-- incumbents who are often so unpopular with Democrats-- generally because they vote with Boehner and Cantor on core issues-- that they can't expect much support from the grassroots.

This year for example, a hefty portion of the cash that donors give the DCCC-- including money raised in the above appeal-- will go to help reelect anti-Choice fanatics Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC) and Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT) who actually voted with the Republicans on the very bill the DCCC is whining about. Is that the height of hypocrisy? "Give us money because Republicans voted to kill Choice so we can reelect these two Democrats who also voted to kill Choice." No shame... none whatsoever.

Who remembers Faith No More? What would you give to see Rahm Emanuel, Steve Israel, guitarist Joe Crowley, Steny Hoyer and Debbie Wasserman Schultz getting up on stage and performing the song?




UPDATE From The DCCC

More spam from the DCCC, this time from Executive Director Kelly Ward: "As of 9am, we are $830,000 short of what we need to take on Boehner, Cantor, and the Tea Party Republicans.

"Right now, Republicans are bowing to the Tea Party by passing the most radical anti-choice bill in decades and voting to sabotage Obamacare. They have the power to make the next couple years the least productive in Congressional history.

"The only chance we have to prevent the Tea Party agenda is by calling out their lies, loud and clear, across the country. We need you with us..."

Send money, send money, send money... and no word about the 6 Democrats who voted with the Republicans, let alone the two Dems the DCCC will use the money to help reelection-- you know, the two anti-Choice fanatics who are guilty of the exact crime the DCCC is citing as evidence that you need to contribute to them. If you want to help elect committed PRO-Choice Democrats who will actually fight back against the Republicans-- unlike the DCCC-- then you can do that right here.

Yesterday The Republicans-- Plus 3 ConservaDems-- Voted To Get Busy Deporting Latinos

The overall bill was for appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security and that passed 245-182, 25 Democrats joining all but 10 Republicans in favor. The Democrats who crossed the aisle and voted for the bill were mostly a bunch of New Dem scum like Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), John Barrow (GA), Bill Owens (NY), Brad Schneider (IL), Ami Bera (CA), Mike McIntyre (NC), Joe Garcia (FL), Ron Barber (AZ)... all the usual suspects backing the toxic GOP agenda. But the real problem was the amendment voted on earlier in the morning and offered by Iowa racist and neo-fascist Steve King. King's amendment defunds the Obama Administration DREAMer policy, which prioritizes deporting criminals instead of students.

Republicans have argued that these orders amount to the selective enforcement of U.S. immigration laws that discourages enforcement against children who were brought to the United States illegally, or illegal immigrant adults who are not in any legal trouble. Many Republicans have dubbed Obama's orders as "administrative amnesty."

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) sponsored the amendment to the 2014 Department of Homeland Security spending bill, and called for its passage in late Wednesday debate by saying Obama's orders-- also known as the Morton memos-- violate the Constitution.

"The point here is… the President does not have the authority to waive immigration law, nor does he have the authority to create it out of thin air, and he's done both with these Morton memos in this respect," King said.

King added that while the government has prosecutorial discretion, Obama does not have the authority to create classes of people who are exempt from the law through an executive order.

Democrats said King's language is a "poison pill" that would not survive final passage, and that the Supreme Court has ruled that the executive branch has the right to prioritize cases through an order.

"So for the gentleman to argue that there is some constitutional infirmity with deferred action is wrong," Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said in response to King's arguments. "He's wrong on the law. He's wrong on his constitutional argument."

It passed by a much narrower margin, 224-201, only 3 of the most conservative Democrats in the House going along-- while half a dozen Republicans opposed Boehner and Cantor and cross the aisle to vote with the Democrats against it. The three Democrats backing the racist proposal:

• John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA)
• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)
• Nick Rahall (confused-WV)

It will be interesting, of course, when the DCCC attacks Republicans for voting to deport Latinos. I mean they should attack Republicans on this vote but the fact that DCCC chairman Steve Israel is promising Barrow and McIntyre as much as $2 million each for their reelection campaign... well it really does smack of hypocrisy, especially when the DCCC says something to the effect of "send us money so we can defeat the evil deporters" and then gives millions to... evil deporters. Last cycle, he DCCC (and their House Majority PAC) spent $1,080,748 saving Barrow's ass from a weak opponent. This year he's likely to have a much tougher and better funded opponent. And last year, the DCCC's $2,005,888, propelled McIntyre to the narrowest of victories-- 165,590 to 167,057... just 533 votes. His opponent of last year, David Rouzer, is running again and will be much better funded. Maybe Barrow and McIntyre shouldn't be catering to Republican voters who want to replace them and think a little bit about Democratic voters who have few reasons to bother turning out on election day.

So someone still thinks there's any chance in hell the House will pass a comprehensive immigration bill? There are enough teabaggers and racists in the GOP caucus to keep even Republicans who understand the demographic tidal wave heading for places like Texas from backing any policy towards undocumented immigrants other than deportation. Period.

In response to the vote, United We Dream Managing Director Cristina Jimenez released the following statement:

“Representative Steve King, an anti-immigrant extremist with a history of attacking our community, is up to his old tricks. Late last night, Rep. King filed an amendment to block funding to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which narrowly passed this morning. Our community, the immigrant youth movement, fought and won a huge victory last year with the deferred action policy. Now, some House Republicans are making their demands clear—a return to deporting DREAMers!

This is an outrage and the exact opposite of what our country needs from its political leaders. Does Speaker Boehner want to follow Rep. Steve King’s lead and seal his party’s fate as an out-of-touch, extremist party that has forever marginalized the immigrant and Latino community? Or will the House take a new direction and pass immigration reform that not only stops the deportations of DREAMers and our families but also creates a clear path to citizenship? It’s up to them. DREAMers will not let politicians get away with this.

Starting next week, United We Dream will once again bring dozens of DREAMers to Washington, D.C. to confront and challenge politicians who are blocking our path to citizenship and harming our community. We will be holding Senate and House negotiators from both parties responsible for protecting provisions that matter deeply to our families. We won’t settle for anything less than a clear path to citizenship, family unity, and an end to the deportations of DREAMers and our families.”

The White House statement was more succinct:

As the Senate prepares to debate bipartisan commonsense immigration reform next week, House Republicans chose to spend today passing an extreme amendment to strip protections from “Dreamers.” These are productive members of society who were brought here as young children, grew up in our communities, and became American in every way but on paper. This amendment, sponsored by Representative Steve King, runs contrary to our most deeply-held values as Americans. It asks law enforcement to treat these Dreamers the same way as they would violent criminals. It’s wrong. It’s not who we are. And it will not become law.

And Karl Rove warned Republicans that they could be sealing their fate for years to come. "Republicans must consider the impressions they will create," especially among Hispanic voters, Rove said Thursday in a Wall Street Journal column. "There is growing public support for providing a pathway to citizenship for those now in the country illegally."

Rove made note of how important the immigration issue could be to Republicans in future elections by pointing out that 58 percent of Hispanics seem immigration reform as one of the most important issues facing the country, topping everything else.

"A January Latino Decisions survey suggested that 42 percent of Hispanics would vote Republican or be more likely to if the GOP 'took a lead role' in passing comprehensive reform with a path to citizenship," he wrote.

"Many Hispanics won't be open to Republicans until it is resolved," Rove added.

Boehnercare Passes The House

Thursday there were 3 votes leading up to Boehner's 37th attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and allow the big insurance companies to pick the pockets of every American who needs a doctor once again. This time Boehner gave the dubious honor of introducing the waste-of-time bill to Tea Party queen Michele Bachmann, who also has the dubious honor of being the first Republican incumbent so certain she's going to lose her reelection that she's already started running TV ads in her district. Pelosi was still disparagingly calling the bill Boehnercare.

There were 3 votes leading up to Bachmann's repeal rollcall. First was for ordering the question to agree to bring it up for consideration. It passed 228-193 every Republican + reactionary Blue Dog Jim Matheson of Utah voting YES and every Democrats except reactionary Blue Dog Jim Matheson of Utah voting NO. I should mention at this point that when you see a million e-mails from the DCCC castigating the Republicans for this repeal circus, Matheson is not just on their Frontline list of priority incumbents to be protected, he's been promised between two and three million dollars for his campaign. Matheson has the worst voting record of any Democrat in Congress. His crucial vote score as tracked by ProgressivePunch is 21.74 for the 113th Congress, identical with Georgia sociopath Phil Gingrey. There are a dozen Republicans that vote more frequently for progressive positions this year than Matheon (but Steve Israel isn't spending $2 million to help any of them win reelection).

The second vote, 10 minutes later, was another procedural one to basically just agree to the first one. This one passed 226-192, the change being another DCCC top priority Frontline reactionary Democrat, this time Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, voting with the GOP and Matheson. McIntyre has amassed as nearly a far-right voting record as Matheson. His ProgressivePunch crucial vote score this session is a putrid 40.91, right between Republican Mafioso figure Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (R-NY) of Staten Island (42.11) and craven and cowardly Arizona New Dem Ron Barber (39.13). Last November enough discouraged Democrats stayed away from the polls in Matheson's and McIntyre's districts so that they both these mangy Blue Dogs came closer to losing than any other Members of Congress. McIntyre's margin was 654 votes and Mathson's was 768.

Next up was a Motion to Recommit by Lois Capps (D-CA), which would have at least preserved benefits of the Affordable Care Act for women and children by excluding from repeal: (1) elimination of cost sharing for preventive health services, including breast cancer screening, screening for gestational diabetes, and screening for domestic abuse; (2) access to health care coverage for those with preexisting conditions (children and adults); (3) medical loss ratio requirements that ensure consumers receive good value for their premiums; (4) elimination of lifetime and annual limits on benefits; and (5) dependent coverage of adult children until age 26. It failed 190-230. McIntyre hid in the toilet while the vote was taking place, but Matheson was joined by right-wing Democrats Collin Peterson (MN), Dan Lipinski (IL) and Nick Rahall (WV) on the Republican side of the aisle. McIntyre flushed-- though unfortunately not himself-- and came back in time for the final vote on the bill, which passed with all 229 Republicans (+ Matheson and McIntyre) voting YES and 195 Democrats voting NO.

A few minutes after the vote, I spoke with three Democratic challengers running against high-profile Republican backers of the bill. Ohio steel worker Andy Hounshell is taking on Boehner himself-- with no help from the DCCC, of course, who needs all that money to prop up Matheson and McIntyre-- and like many of us, he would like to see the Affordable Care Act improved, not destroyed. "At a time when our country needs good leadership," he told me, "we are stuck with a Speaker of the House who's idea of moving our country forward is having the House vote to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act for the 37th time. While I don't agree with the entire Act, it provides health care coverage for millions of Americans who otherwise would not have it. Instead of trying 37 times to repeal or defund it, imagine if the House would have tried 37 times to improve it. This blatant disregard for the millions of uninsured Americans who have picked up coverage under the act highlights the differences between our beliefs. This is not the leadership we need in Congress. We need job creation in this country and that is what our Representatives should be doing, not voting, once again, to repeal the Affordable Care Act."

John Mica, the Orlando-area Boehner puppet is being taken on by progressive Democrat Nick Ruiz, who agrees with Hounshell that Obamacare has a lot of room for improvement. He's a Medicare for all, single-payer advocate. And he's eager to take the battle to the voters. "It's time to replace John Mica. He voted to kill overtime. He voted against minimum wage. He voted to cut Social Security. Mica just introduced a measure Tuesday to stymie the federal Environmental Protection Agency as it relates to the Clean Water Act permitting process; what is he thinking-- that coal pollution helps American families? The measure, called the 'Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2013,' would place limits on the EPA’s ability to reject bad mining practices. And his position on universal healthcare is that America should not have it. We'll all be better off without John Mica in Congress-- and that's why I'm running against him in 2014." The DCCC isn't helping him either.

Although they undercut his race in 2012, the DCCC has come around on one candidate we spoke with, Jim Graves, the Minnesota Democrat taking on Bachmann again. And, of course, he sees right through her tired circus act. "Once again, Bachmann is using tax payers' money to put on a show. Her actions exemplify the wasteful government spending which she claims to decry. It is worse than Einstein’s definition of "insanity being doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"-- it is dereliction of duty and an insult to the public."

The Lamest Ducks In The House-- A Beltway-Eyed View

Accidental Congressman Gary Miller, California's Confederate sympathizer

This week, Roll Call points to California Republican Gary Miller and Tennessee date rape drug doctor Scott DesJarlais as being the two incumbents most likely to lose their seats in 2014. Close behind are detestable Blue Dog reactionaries Jim Matheson (UT) and Mike McIntyre (NC), New Dem Ron Barber (AZ) and GOP fringe loon Mike Coffman (CO). The retirements of these four characters by their constituents who be steps in the right direction for making Capitol Hill a better place-- even if we would need 2-300 retirements like this for it to actually make Congress function on behalf of the American people.

Gary Miller, of these four, is the most likely to be working as a lobbyist after 2014. He is an accidental congressman-- as well as an extremist crackpot, a crook and a confederate Civil War reenactor. So how did Miller come to represent a district, CA-31, where Romney only managed to get 40.6% of the vote? The district, which includes Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, Colton, Redlands, Loma Linda and Rialto, is a minority majority district (44% Hispanic and 11% African American) and should have gone to a Democrat in 2012. The DCCC and California Democratic Party botched it up and 4 Democratic contenders in the open primary split the vote so badly that two Republicans, Miller, who represented a neighboring district previously, and state Senator Bob Dutton wound up with the most votes and went on to the general election. Redlands Mayor Peter Aguilar, the heavy favorite, didn't get a chance to compete in the general, where Miller beat Dutton 82,212 (55%) to 66,603 (45%).

So Aguilar is running again and it should be a slam dunk, right? Sure... because everything in politics goes just as its planned. Meet defeated Blue Dog Joe Baca, who was hounded out of office in 2012 by Mike Bloomberg. Baca is an NRA stalwart and Bloomfield, in effect, bought the seat for another conservative Democrat-- although an anti-NRA one-- then state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod. Her voting record, in terms of progressive issues, has been at least as bad as Baca's, if not worse. And now Baca says he wants to run in the open primary against Aguilar and Miller. Oh, dandy.

DesJarlais, a physician who was having sex with multiple patients-- some who he gave drugs and one who he encouraged to get an abortion-- is widely viewed as an embarrassment and he's likely to lose a primary... unless there are multiple candidates. State Reps Joe Carr and Kevin Brooks will probably run but right now state Senator Jim Tracy is the favorite and he outraised DesJarlais 4 to 1 this quarter. Obama won just under a third of the district in 2012, down from 35.8% in 2008 and TN-04 (Murfreesboro, Shelbyville, Winchester, Cleveland and Smyrna) is not a good fit for Democrats. In 2012 DesJarlais-- even under the cloud of scandal-- beat Democrat state Sen. Eric Stewart 128,500 (56%) to 101,944 (44%). So far this year, no Democrat has emerged as a candidate. So this will just be replacing one wingnut with another wingnut.

Ron Barber, a right-wing Democrat, has a pitiful voting record that is sure to deflate Democratic voters. He's foolishly banking on attracting Republicans with his Republican voting record, but the GOP candidate, Martha McSally, he just managed to beat by a nose (143,173- 141,771) in 2012 is probably running again-- and this time Obama won't be on the ticket to draw Democrats to the polls.

Mike Coffman also just scraped by in 2012 (47.8% to 45.8%) but this year he'll be facing popular former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff in a blue-leaning district. (Obama won CO-06-- which includes Littleton and Centennial south of Denver, Aurora east of Denver and Brighton north of Denver-- 51.6%- 46.5%.) The DCCC is all in on Romanoff and this is considered a "must win" top priority race for them.

As for the two nearly extinct Blue Dogs, this is what Stuart Rothenberg had to say in his report for Roll Call:

Two incumbents who were almost given up for dead (politically, that is) last cycle but survived-- Democratic Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah and Mike McIntyre of North Carolina-- are likely to face stiff challenges again. Either or both could move to the top of the vulnerability list next year.

Democratic partisans may pooh-pooh the danger to both incumbents in 2014, noting that we have heard reports of their problems before and saying that if the two Democratic congressmen won with an unpopular (in their districts) president on the ballot, they certainly can win again against the same opponents in 2014.

Republicans can counter that unsuccessful 2012 Utah Republican nominee Mia Love didn’t run nearly as good a race as GOP strategists had hoped, and she’ll likely have a better campaign-- and be a better candidate-- in a rerun.

The same, of course, could hold for the unsuccessful GOP nominee against McIntyre last year, David Rouzer. Rouzer, then a member of the state Senate, lost to McIntyre by a mere 654 votes in 2012.

Both McIntyre and Matheson vote with the Republicans on crucial issues as a default position. Matheson has the single worst voting record of any Democrat in Congress this year-- a ProgressivePunch score of 21.05, tied with right-wing GOP freaks like Matt Salmon (R-AZ) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) and worse than 14 other Republicans, including... crackpots Louie Gohmert (TX) and Phil Gingrey (GA) and Staten Island Mafia figure Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm! McIntyre scores a 38.89, also worse than Grimm! The sooner these two are gone from the Democratic House caucus, the better off the Democrats will be.

Not Every Homophobe In Congress Is Republican-- And The DCCC Wants To Spend Your Money On Anti-Gay "Democrats" Running For Reelection

Jim Matheson (D-UT), a face of the Mormon bigotry against the LGBT community. Last year the DCCC funneled $1.3 million into reelecting him

When you contribute to the DCCC, most of the money that gets earmarked for candidates goes to Frontliners, vulnerable incumbents viewed as having the worst chances to be reelected. There's a list. Most of them, though not all, wind up on the list because they vote like Republicans and local Democrats hate them and don't contribute to them or even vote for them. Like Mike McIntyre... who came within 650 votes of losing in November, will face a primary from Jonathan Barfield next year and, if he survives that (and doesn't retire or try a career Hail Mary pass with a pointless run against Kay Hagan), will be challenged by Republican David Rouzer again. Democrats in North Carolina may abhor Rouzer, but McIntyre usually votes exactly the same way he promises to vote-- last month against minimum wage, for example. Only 6 Democrats joined the Republicans to defeat a proposal to raise the minimum wage-- John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC), Bill Owens (New Dem-NY), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN) and Kurt Shrader (Blue Dog/New Dem-OR)-- and, like with any reactionary initiative, Boehner and Cantor know they can count on McIntyre. So if you responded to one of Steve Israel's desperate and unending pleas for contributions last week, you just helped finance the several million dollars the DCCC will waste trying to defend McIntyre's seat next year. And if you're gay or pro-LGBT rights it's doubly ironic because McIntyre is one of Congress' most virulent and hateful bigots.

The last time the Republicans made an anti-gay push-- with a homophobic amendment to the Violence Against Women Act on February 28-- 164 Republicans + Mike McIntyre (NC) and nominal Democrat Dan Lipinski (IL) voted for it. It wasn't enough to carry the day. 60 Republicans (not to mention the 197 other Democrats) seem to have decided homophobia is on the way out and the GOP leadership amendment was defeated despite McIntyre's treachery.

Democrats have evolved mightily on LGBT equality-- at least most Democrats have. In July 1996 when DOMA first passed 118 Democrats joined with 224 Republicans to pass it. Only 65 Democrats (+ Independent Bernie Sanders and one gay Republican, Steve Gunderson, voted against it). Last year crazed GOP homophobe and hatemonger Steve King (R-IA) attached an amendment to the 2013 defense appropriations bill to prevent same sex couples from marrying on bases. It passed 247-166. There were 17 Democrats who also voted with the hate-mongers. Here's the list. The ones bolded were singled out by the DCCC, not for retribution but for special financial support in their reelection bids. They were on the DCCC's Frontline list for 2012 and their faltering reelection campaigns were top priorities for DCCC spending last cycle. Because millions of dollars were spent on them, there was no money to go after vulnerable Republican policy makers like Paul Ryan, Buck McKeon, Fred Upton, Eric Cantor, etc:

John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)- defeated
Jerry Costello (IL)- retired
Mark Critz (PA)- defeated
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Joe Donnelley (Blue Dog-IN)
Gene Green (TX)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)- defeated in primary
Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)- defeated
Dan Lipinksi (IL)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)- forced to retire
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)- forced to retire

Over the weekend The Hill counted 11 Democrats left in Congress who are unevolved gay hating bigots. Obviously McIntyre is one of them. Their list includes the 9 Democrats who voted in 2011 to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits to gay couples who have neither left Congress nor publicly changed their positions: Barrow, Bishop, Cuellar, Green, Lipinski, Matheson, McIntyre, Peterson and Rahall plus two freshmen Democrats who voiced opposition to same-sex marriage during their 2012 campaigns: Bill Enyart (IL) and Pete Gallego (Blue Dog-TX). Of the 11, Israel has vowed to pump immense sums of DCCC money into the campaigns of Barrow, Enyart, Gallego, Matheson, and, once again, McIntyre.

The Hill also counts 9 Democrats who haven't taken a position on marriage equality yet: New Dem chairman Ron Kind (WI), Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA), Cedric Richmond (New Dem-LA), Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog/New Dem-OR), David Scott (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA), Terry Sewell (New Dem-AL), Bennie Thompson (MS), Pete Visclosky (IN) and freshman Filemon Vela (New Dem-TX).

The Hill contacted all 20 offices this week as the Supreme Court considered two gay marriage cases and several Democratic senators made headlines by announcing their support for gay marriage.

Matheson, Rahall, and Gallego’s offices said they continue to oppose legalizing gay marriage.

Green said the choice should be left to the individual states but didn’t address DOMA, which he’d voted to uphold, or say whether he personally supported gay marriage.

Richmond told The Hill in a statement that he is “a firm proponent of equal rights” and thinks DOMA is unconstitutional, but didn’t expressly endorse legalizing gay marriage. His office said they had nothing more to offer on the matter when asked if that meant he backed gay marriage or just civil unions.

The rest of the offices did not respond to requests for comment.

Sewell said in 2010 that she supported gay rights but expressed a preference for civil unions over gay marriage.

Thompson and Scott voted for an amendment to the Constitution that would have banned gay marriage in 2006. They also are among the 29 Democrats who didn’t sign a 2012 "friend of the court" brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down DOMA, though both voted against DOMA when it came up for a vote in 2011.

Nine of those 29 Democrats now say they support gay marriage: Reps. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Mel Watt (D-N.C.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas).

“Like many Americans, my views have evolved over time and I believe that committed adults-- be them gay or straight-- deserve to marry the person they love,” Butterfield told The Hill in a statement this week that represented his first public support for gay marriage.

Hinojosa was in Congress in 2006 but didn’t vote on the amendment, and voted against DOMA in 2011. His office this week said he supported gay marriage, the first time he appears to have publicly done so.

Important: if you contribute to the DCCC, you are contributing to reelecting Blue Dog hatemongers like Matheson, McIntyre, Gallego and Barrow who vow to vote with the Republicans to make sure there will never be equality for the LGBT community. Is that where you want your money to go? May I suggest an alternative? Every candidate on the Blue America list is publicly committed to LGBT equality.