'Blue Dog' Democrats ready to bark louder on Hill
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
Associated Press
October 31, 2008
Page 2 of 2
It's unclear how big of a challenge such a coalition would pose to Obama's proposals. Despite promises to control the deficit, Senate Democrats including Sen. Kent Conrad, the Budget Committee chairman and a top Democratic proponent of the "pay-as-you-go" rules that are gospel for Blue Dogs, have often found ways around the rules for party priorities.
Warner has made no commitments to abide by spending rules, but the former Virginia governor has spoken to Obama repeatedly about his devotion to limiting spending.
Warner has told Obama "that one of the lessons he took away from this four-year governorship in Virginia was the need to show an ability to enact some fiscal discipline, to cut some spending," said Kevin Hall, Warner's communications director.
Obama appears to recognize the challenge centrists like Warner and the House Blue Dogs could pose to his agenda should he win the White House. He's been reaching out to leaders of the coalition to assure them that he shares their concern about soaring deficits and their commitment to tackling them amid the economic crisis.
Obama made a round of calls to senior Blue Dogs before the House vote to approve the $700 billion financial industry bailout, and his pledges to work with them if elected played a key role in getting them to back the package.
Obama "recognizes the voting power and the clout of the Blue Dog Coalition, and I fully expect us to be involved in the transition as well as meetings in the White House as we figure out together how to jump-start this economy," Ross said.
Democratic leaders are well aware that even with larger majorities in the House and Senate, infighting among their many factions could upend their ambitious plans.
That's what happened after Bill Clinton won the White House, and the resulting intramural spats derailed enough Democratic priorities to help usher in the so-called Republican revolution that cost the party control of Congress in 1994.
If Obama wins, "Democrats would be under intense pressure to get their act together, and keep it together," said Bill Galston, a Clinton administration domestic policy adviser. "The promise as well as the peril of unified government is clear accountability and responsibility."
>> Back -- Page 1 2
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
++ Discuss this topic in The Forum
Current rating:  5.0 out of 5.0 (3 total votes)
| 
