The Flea Biting the Blue Dogs — Home State Democrats

By Steven C. Day

If the sight of Max Baucus spinning in a circle on the public option in health care reform – looking for all the world like a blue dog chasing his own tail -– surprises you, it shouldn't. He's a man torn between two worlds: on the one hand, like so many other blue dogs today ("blue dog" in the sense of conservative Democrats as opposed to the specific House Blue Dog Coalition), he's having the time of his life playing the power broker as one of the centrist gods of the Beltway. And as we liberals never end bemoaning, this makes him a hero to the "Villagers," — a species generally personified by liberals in the person of the dependably annoying David Broder. Besides, health care industry campaign money spends just fine.

But on the other hand, as elected officials, the blue dogs, must, of course, also attend to the hometown folks.

Now, I suspect that to most liberal coastal types (and other liberals in rock-solid Democratic areas) this looks like a fairly risk free venture for the blue dogs, who, after all, generally represent conservative or battleground states anyway. But there's a catch: in fact there's a whole pot full of catches: they're called Democrats.

Speaking as a Democrat in Kansas, I'll let you in on a little secret. Democrats in red states actually aren't much more conservative than Democrats in blue states. There are just a lot less of us. Sure, Democrats may be, on average, a little more moderate in places such as Kansas, based upon our upbringing and surroundings, but the difference is far less dramatic than blue state Democrats tend to assume.

Believe it or not, we get that Internet thingy out here in the sticks, too. We can (and many of us do) read the same liberal rabble-rousing stuff as the rest of you (some of us even write some of it). We have colleges here in the flyover states, book stores, and even cable television. I can actually watch Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Jon Stewart here without getting my cable canceled as a result!

And this can present a bit of a problem for blue dogs such as Baucus. Democrats, in general, are starting to get a wee bit pissed off at our elected representatives these days due to their general gutlessness (think in terms of a nuclear powered Old Faithful getting ready to erupt). And it isn't just Democrats in California and New York who feel that way: it's also Democrats in places such as Kansas and Texas, and even more so for those in Montana, a state which has been trending blue. 

In general, Democrats in red (and reddish) states are acutely aware of our minority status (you're constantly reminded of it by all the wanted posters — "Wanted Dead or Alive, Liberals and Other Like Vermin, Reward Offered"). As a result, we tend to be understanding of the "moderateness" of our Democratic politicians. Face it: Ted Kennedy ain't gonna get elected in Kansas, Nebraska, or even Montana.

But this understanding has its limits — and right now, it's straining under the pressure of increasing partisan anger. And, again, this has to be even more true in a battleground state such as Montana.

Turning to the specific issue of health care reform, this could present an opportunity to bring some wayward blue dogs back into the fold, at least to a degree. Sorry, but it won't be liberal advocacy ads that will do it, at least by themselves. No, the ticket is precisely what is happening right now in Montana: a rebellion among home state Democrats.

Rank and file Democrats can't carry the day for our candidates in red or even reddish states: we don't have the votes. But Democratic candidates still need our support, which means that our advocacy can provide some check on "bad conduct."

It might just be that the secret to bringing real health care reform back to life from its apparent early grave involves nothing more complex than the advocacy of just a few good Democrats — from some very unlikely sounding places.

LAST CHANCE DEMOCRACY CAFE

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