People should be wary of questioning Blue Dogs' credentials as Democrats, one of the group's co-chairmen said Tuesday.(...)
"I'll tell you what, by Blue Dogs running as Democrats, we face a handicap running in our districts," Matheson told CBS News's "Washington Unplugged" webcast.
"There are other people who, by running as Democrats, they automatically win," he said. "So I think that Blue Dogs are true Democrats because we wear that label even when it may actually affect us in a negative way in our elections -- we still wear that label."
OK, Matheson, let's put your claim to the test. Do Blue Dogs wear the Democratic label? Let's take a look at the campaign websites for the Blue Dog leadership:
Rep. Sandlin-Herseth: No mention of the word "Democrat" on her front page. Instead, she describes herself as "Our Independent for South Dakota." The word "Independent" is in bold-face.
Rep. Hill: Again, no mention of the word "Democrat" anywhere on the front page of his campaign website. He does, however, put "reach across party lines," in bold-face, at the top of his accomplishments list.
Rep. Matheson: Again, no mention of the word "Democrat" on the front page. He does, however, describe himself as "an effective and independent voice for Utahns."
Rep. Shuler: The word "Democrat" does actually appear on Shuler's front page--once. In the "latest news" feed on the website, it reads "Buncombe County Democrats plan "United We Stand" rally -- Asheville Citizen-Times." Shuler also does not refer to himself as an independent, so I guess he does a little better.
Way to wave the party flag, Blue Dogs. They really wear the label on their sleeve.
But wait-there's more! Let's look at front-page of the campaign websites of the twelve most endangered Blue Dogs (minus the already mentioned Baron Hill) according to Charlie Cook:
Rep. Minnick: No mention. He does, however, list "being as independent as Idaho" as his top issue.
Rep. Kratovil: Again, nope. And again, the front page does say "America needs independent leaders who care more about the common good than about petty partisanship.
Rep. Childers: Childers actually does mention the word "Democrat" a lot, but all of the mentions are in his news feed.
Rep. Arcuri: One mention, claiming that "Arcuri Only Democrat Endorsed by The Central Upstate Business Political Action Committee "
Rep. Gordon: Couldn't find a campaign website, but his House website has nothing.
Rep. Tanner: Again, couldn't find a campaign website, but his House website has no mention of the word
Rep. Nye: No mention of the word "Democrat," but the banner headline tells us that Nye is "An Independent Voice."
Across all fifteen of these websites, there are only two instances where the word "Democrat" is used outside of a new feed. The first comes from Parker Griffth, who proclaims that he is a conservative, Blue Dog Democrat. The second is from Mike Arcuri, who notes that he is the only Democrat to be endorsed by a business PAC.
Other than that, every mention of the word Democrat comes from a news feed. Many websites don't even mention the word in the news feed. The word "Independent" is mentioned significantly more often.
So, even Matheson's lame defense of Blue Dogs being Democrats because they "wear that label," doesn't hold up. They don't wear the label. In fact, if one didn't know better, you would think that you were reading the websites of third-party candidates. It is a pretty safe bet that is a feature, not a bug, of these Blue Dog websites.
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