The Blue Dogs are Barking

At least the few that are left:

An elder statesman of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition is calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to step down from party leadership after a historic election in which she presided over the loss of 60 seats and control of the House.

Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, a co-chair of the Blue Dogs, told POLITICO Thursday that Pelosi should not be a candidate for minority leader – a sign that other Blue Dogs are ready to pounce if Pelosi doesn’t voluntarily cede her power.

“No,” Matheson said flatly when asked if Pelosi should seek the job. “We just got whupped.”

Matheson, one of a handful of Democrats who still represent districts that backed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, said he does not have a favorite candidate in mind to support for minority leader. But he contends that Pelosi is no longer in position to lead the party.

“I’m just suggesting that when you have the largest turnover since 1948 then it’s time to shake things up,” said Matheson, who watched as more than half of the Blue Dog districts flipped into Republican hands on Tuesday night.

I heard on the radio today the Heath Schuler, another Blue Dog, has announced a challenge to Pelosi for Minority Leader. Frankly, I'll be surprised if she doesn't retire from Congress altogether. That's what usually happens when a Speaker is ousted.

If the Dems are smart (and when was the last time that happened?) they'd flush the entire leadership and start over.  Dump Pelosi, Hoyer, Van Hollen, the whole bunch.  They could really use some new faces right now.

However, given her comments on Election Day about how the Dems "we're on pace to maintain control fo the House of Representatives", she may not realize that when she comes back in January she won't get voted Speaker again.

The reason the Blue Dogs will be half the size they used to be is because they were Blue Dogs in name only.  Nearly all of them voted for Obamacare and every other big ticket Obama plan, except for a few who were given the okay to vote "no" in order to try and save their seats.  They got the Blue Dog label because they came from districts that leaned conservative and were swept in on the Obama wave.  They didn't have much of a chance this year.

During the Reagan years there were quite a few Blue Dogs in the House who were then known as "Reagan Democrats" because they voted for and supported some of Reagan's key economic plans.  Had the current crop of Blue Dogs voted the way they talked many more of them would be coming back in January.