Harry Potter and the Blue Dog Democrats

In fact Shuler had primary opposition in 2006 who used as his campaign that Shuler would be a blue dog and would not vote for every progressive issue. Shuler himself made it clear there were several issues in which he would break with both the party and the progessive cause and he has done what he said he would do. If you are unhappy with Heath it is not becasue you were not warned he would be this way, it is becasue you either did not listen to the warnings or chose to ingore them, either way Heath probably has this seat as long as he wants it so I would get used to it.

While not explicitly calling for a pullout in this 25-second video clip, Shuler does call for a "plan, a strategy" to stabilize Iraq and get our troops out.

With the generals saying that Iraqi stabilization by military means is no longer feasible, all we're left with is troop redeployment and political/economic/training support.

Shuler had hundreds of MoveOn.org people turn out to support him back in January to celebrate his tough stance against the escalation. Those people have been disillusioned.

Here's a link to Shuler's blog post on Iraq on January 10. And here's a fun excerpt:

"We have watched as the President has sent more and more troops to Iraq, with the same results. The President has asked us to send more of our brave young men and women into harm’s away, against the advice of his generals and the Iraq Study Group. Americans across our nation -- Republican and Democrat -- agree that is unacceptable.”

“I will always stand up for our troops and vote to give them the resources they need. I will also ensure that our brave men and women are not sent into battle without a clear mission. That is not the case now. It is time for a truly new strategy in Iraq – one supported by our military leaders and worthy of the men and women in uniform.”

My district, the 5th, is different than the 11th. Think about it like this. I believe Shuler is one of those you can reach with "Harry Potter" stratagems.

Virginia Foxx? Pure Van Helsing.

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Town Called Dobson - Daily Political Cartoon: Not all is red in rural America!

I refuse to get upset til someone explains just exactly what a Blue Dog is -
Yellow Dog -

One fish
Two fish
Red fish
Blue fish

((??))

I'm not curious yellow any more. What about blue?

Unique,

From Wikipedia:

"Blue Dog Democrats are a group of 44 conservative to moderate Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives [1]. The Blue Dogs are a coalition of like-minded Democrats whose primary mission is to promote fiscally responsible budget reforms and accountability for taxpayer dollars. Many members hail from conservative-leaning districts, where liberal Democrats and liberal values are a decided minority. Therefore, the Democratic Party has become more supportive of Blue Dog candidates in recent times. This was especially true in the 2006 election, when Blue Dog candidates such as Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth were elected in conservative-leaning districts, upending years of Republican dominance in these districts.

The term is a reference to the "Blue Dog" paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana; the original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes, both of whom had Rodrigue's paintings on their walls (and both of whom later switched to the Republican Party).

The term is also probably meant as an ironic counterpoint to the traditional "Yellow Dog" label, which is applied to Southern Democrats so loyal to the party that they would vote for a yellow dog before voting for a Republican."

it might as well be a Democrat.

Yellow + Blue = Green

right?

hey, guys?

oh.
Um...maybe it only works that way at my house.