Blue Dogs are nominally Democratic members of Congress who are committed to pursuing what Republicans call “fiscally-responsible policies,” such as tax cuts for the rich and big corporate subsidies.
Blue Dog Democrats also echo the Republican line on “ensuring a strong national defense” by promoting ever-increasing military spending,
Despite their talk about “transcending party lines to do what’s best for the American people” it is pretty difficult to distinguish Blue Dog Democrats from the Republican Party.
The number of Blue Dog Democrats in the House of Representatives fell dramatically since in 2010 as the partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats grew wider.
The Blue Dog Coalition claimed its name. “originates from the long-time tradition of referring to a strong Democratic Party supporter as being a ‘Yellow Dog Democrat,’ who would, ‘vote for a yellow dog if it was listed on the ballot as a Democrat.’ Leading up to the 1994 election the founding members of the Blue Dogs felt that they had been ‘choked blue’ by the extremes of both political parties.”
In truth, conservative Democrats in 1995 responded to defeats in the 1994 elections by shifting toward more fiscally and socially conservative positions on issues, as if emulating Republicans would make them more appealing to voters.
The only Blue Dog in New Jersey’s congressional delegation is Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, attorney, and former federal prosecutor who has been representing the 11th congressional district since 2019.
Sherrill raised $2.8 million during the 2018 primary election, placing her among the top House fundraisers in the country, setting her up to beat social worker Tamara Harris in the Democratic primary with 77% of the vote.
Despite having been supported by the party establishment, Sherrill did not support Nancy Pelosi for speaker in January 2019, instead voting for Cheri Bustos of Illinois. In 2021, she voted present instead of supporting Pelosi.
In 2019, Sherrill initially opposed exploring the first impeachment of President Donald Trump, but she changed her mind in September after a whistleblower alleged that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden.
Sherrill indicated her support for a second impeachment of Trump after the 2021 United States Capitol attack. Sherrill claimed she had seen some Republican colleagues giving what she called “reconnaissance tours” of the building the day before the attack.
Sherrill has voted 100 percent of the time in line with the policies of President Joe Biden, an indication that the White House has taken more centrist positions than those demanded by progressives.
You must log in to post a comment.