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Rep. Maxine Waters (D): Let’s primary Blue Dogs.

OK! Need a list?

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  July 29th, 2009 at 08:05 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

This throwaway line in a Hill article (“Dem healthcare infighting intensifies”):

And on Tuesday it prompted Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) to hint that more liberal members of the party should consider challenging centrist Blue Dogs in next year’s primaries.

…eventually led me to this (via The Patriot Room: he also has a related video there) article about what has to be one of the more, ah, creative strategies floated out there this year: taking down ‘conservative’ Democrats in conservative districts by weakening them or replacing them with liberal Democrats.

Wait, what?

Asked if she would recruit more liberal candidates to run against Blue Dogs, Waters said, “That’s normally not done.”

But she added: “There may be people out there listening and observing all of this who may get motivated based on what they’re seeing and throw their hat into the ring.”

She also criticized White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for recruiting many of the House’s more conservative members when he headed the House Democrats’ campaign arm. Now, she said, “The chickens are coming home to roost.”

All right, that last bit is correct; the chickens are coming home to roost. Appropriate choice of metaphor there, too, given that the avians in question are the members of the antiwar movement, who have been quietly fuming for the last two and a half years or so that Democratic Congressional majorities did not translate into immediate surrender and retreat from Iraq and Afghanistan. This healthcare rationing bill is merely the last straw; true, it’s both unpopular and misguided, but progressives were promised this, and they’re tired of being casually lied to. So they may start lashing out a bit. Emphasis on ‘may’: it’ll depend, I think, on whether the Senate hacks away enough on cap-and-trade; Congress kills the worker intimidation bill; and whether the progressives can screw their courage to the sticking place.

But in case they do – and being the sort that’s always happy to be helpful – let me point out this list:

AL-02 Rep. Bobby Bright
AL-05 Rep. Parker Griffith
AR-02 Rep. Vic Snyder
AZ-01 Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick
AZ-05 Rep. Harry Mitchell
AZ-08 Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
CA-11 Rep. Jerry McNerney
CO-03 Rep. John Salazar
CO-04 Rep. Betsy Markey
CO-07 Rep. Ed Perlmutter
FL-02 Rep. Allen Boyd
FL-08 Rep. Alan Grayson
FL-24 Rep. Suzanne Kosmas
GA-08 Rep. Jim Marshall
GA-12 Rep. John Barrow
IA-03 Rep. Leonard Boswell
ID-01 Rep. Walt Minnick
IL-11 Rep. Debbie Halvorson
KS-03 Rep. Dennis Moore
KY-06 Rep. Ben Chandler
MD-01 Rep. Frank Kratovil
MI-01 Rep. Bart Stupak
MI-07 Rep. Mark Schauer
MN-01 Rep. Tim Walz
MN-07 Rep. Collin Peterson
MS-01 Rep. Travis Childers
MS-04 Rep. Gene Taylor
NC-07 Rep. Mike McIntyre
NC-08 Rep. Larry Kissell
NC-11 Rep. Heath Shuler
ND-AL Rep. Earl Pomeroy
NH-01 Rep. Carol Shea-Porter
NM-01 Rep. Martin Heinrich
NM-02 Rep. Harry Teague
NV-03 Rep. Dina Titus
NY-25 Rep. Dan Maffei
NY-29 Rep. Eric Massa
OH-01 Rep. Steve Driehaus
OH-06 Rep. Charlie Wilson
OH-15 Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy
OH-16 Rep. John Boccieri
OH-18 Rep. Zack Space
OK-02 Rep. Dan Boren
OR-04 Rep. Peter DeFazio
OR-05 Rep. Kurt Schrader
PA-03 Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper
PA-04 Rep. Jason Altmire
PA-10 Rep. Chris Carney
PA-11 Rep. Paul Kanjorski
SD-AL Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
TN-04 Rep. Lincoln Davis
TN-06 Rep. Bart Gordon
TN-08 Rep. John Tanner
TX-17 Rep. Chet Edwards
UT-02 Rep. Jim Matheson
VA-02 Rep. Glenn Nye
VA-05 Rep. Tom Perriello
VA-09 Rep. Rick Boucher
WA-03 Rep. Brian Baird
WI-08 Rep. Steve Kagen

There’s your List of Traitors, Rep. Waters. So go primary them.

Primary them most grievously.

Moe Lane

PS: Yes, the NRCC has plans for the Democrats on that list, too. In fact, they’ve just announced that state Senator Alan Nunnelee will go up against Childers in MS-01. Fancy that.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

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COMMENTS

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  • bk

     

  • marshmom

    someone called…………WE THE PEOPLE. I just find it extremely arrogant and condescending that the liberal wing of the democratic party seem to pretend that it’s all about THEM.

    Nancy Pelosi: “We” will pass this reform.
    Obama: “I” want health care reform this year

    and now Marxine Waters seems to believe that the Blue Dog democrats are holding out as some sort of affront to the liberals in their own party. I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they represent more conservative districts; people who would have no problem voting them out if they felt like they weren’t being listened to by their representative.

    What Marxine Waters, Nazi Pelosi, Boxer, Waxman, and the like fail to realize is that there are other states out there besides California….thank the good Lord. Otherwise we’d probably all be just as broke and dysfunctional as they are. We’re not all delirious, entitlement-loving spendthrifts.

    So, yes, Ms. Waters……go ahead. Challenge the “Blue Dogs” in the primary with someone more liberal. Better yet, come visit the districts of which you speak and see how warmly you are greeted. My guess is…..you’ll have a whole new perspective of “We the People.”

  • Crowe

    …primary those folks with liberal Dems. And watch one of two things happen: 1) liberal Dem loses primary to conservative Dem in conservative district; 2) Libearl Dem gets trounced in the general by conservative Republican (assuming GOP extracts head from nether regions long enough to nominate one) and you, Ms. Waters, find yourself suddenly and astonishingly in the minority once again…

    By all means, primary them.

  • penguin2

    I guess we shouldn’t point out to her the reason they are called Blue Dogs; Dems in a Conservative District. We conservatives would be happy to have a conservative Rep. back. Sending another Dem, with liberal trappings to primary our current guy would make the job so much easier the next time around. That would be 2010.

    As a matter fact, Rep Nye VA-02, already has one problem, he voted for the Stimulus, so add to his worries, do.

  • izoneguy

    Ahhhh, when the ghetto queen speaks, only stupid comments come out of her mouth.

  • Streiff

    to this effort

  • WarEagle01

    for all the RINO nitwits with their craptacularly stupid ideas about how the GOP needs to become more like that other party?

  • IJB
  • ColdWarrior

    Although Harry’s staff claims he’s not a socialist, and despite having voted against Cap and Tax, Harry is solidly behind Teleprompter Boy’s socialized medicine plans. Here is an example of the kind of people Harry will be speaking with at the town hall meetings he’ll be having in his district during the recess:

    I can’t wait.

    Thank you.

  • Richard Mullins
  • djemi

    MI-07 Rep. Mark Schauer they campaigned as a Blue Dog but have acted like a far left wingnuts, so IMHO most of these clowns are in trouble already, but I’m not going to complain if the Dems decide to use the Maxine Strategy. I know I’m looking forward to employing Moes Strategy this August.

  • TxCon

    a great idea from Maxine Waters.

  • wgsampson

    Some of the best old conservatives in the GOP were formerly Southern Blue Dog Democrats. They became R’s during the Reagan era, when they figured out that the GOP best fit their values. If these guys are so conservative, let the Dem’s primary them. Then we show them the light. It saves the NRCC from having to recruit in those districts, we don’t have to pay to introduce them to the voters, Rahmbo already did that for us – and on his dime. If they won as conservative Democrats in conservative districts, they could win as Republicans. Even if we just flipped a dozen or so, it would be fun to watch Rahm get steamed.

  • TxCon

    but Chet is not a Blue Dog. His is a liberal who is good on the military. Sound likes a certain Senator from Connecticut. He voted against C&T because the votes were their for it to win (Thanks Mark Kirk et al).

  • Richard Mullins

    That’s odd and liberal congressman like Ciro Rodriguez was more like a Blue Dog on Cap and Trade than Cuellar was. It’s very strange. Chet and Ciro are two of a kind.

  • Richard Mullins

    http://rpmullins.wordpress.com/thank-you-maxine-waters-for-helping-us-with-our-goal

    I figured I’d use brain for something and I did. She’s going a long way to make sure the House goes red.

  • LibRick

    cards now because they can. They represent middle to conservative districts. To primary a Blue Dog with a liberal means an R win. They know it and the Democratic party knows it. I doubt anything coming from Maxine Waters (especially Maxine Waters) will alter that equation.

  • Richard Mullins

    Of course, Maxine can get smug on the camera and make it work with her liberal acolytes.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    …and besides: ‘good on the military’ would be enough for Walters to think of him as a Blue Dog anyway.

    http://www.cookpolitical.com/node/300

  • TxCon

    for 20 years, and there certainly is not another liberal that would ever challenge him. Chet is a con man but not a Blue Dog.

  • TxCon

    for Cuellar initially, but he is now just another automatic liberal vote.

  • Richard Mullins

    but that was for a different reason, it happened to fit my ABC campaign at the time(Anyone But Ciro). After the redistricting in 2006, I found myself back in TX-23(live there before in June 1992-March 1994 in Uvalde). I hope Francisco Canseco will try again in 2010.

  • Richard Mullins
  • teresava

    Rep.Tom Perriello is absolutely not a blue dog. He campaigned as a blue dog, but he is a liberal who is marching lock-step with Rahm and Nancy.

  • djemi

    No public meeting or town halls, just a conference call, to join in call
    (517) 780 9075