The Netroots, or whatever it is they call themselves these days, have latched upon the ludicrous idea of expelling Blue Dog Democrats from the Democratic Party. The Blue Dogs are a grouping of moderate and conservative House Democrats who tend to represent more conservative, rural areas. Glenn Greenwald, a well-known leftist blogger, revived the expulsion idea; Daily Kos and other fanatical sites have been talking about it for years.
Greenwald argues that the Democrats have failed to stand up to President Bush on issues like Iraq, spending and FISA, which then gives Americans a low opinion of Congress. Greenwald wants to target Blue Dogs’ seats and run more liberal primary challengers. He trumpets the case of Georgia Rep. John Barrow, a well-known Blue Dog who received considerable pressure from leftist political action committees and faced a primary challenger.
Besides poor electoral math, the Netroots ignore the important role that Blue Dog Democrats play in intra-Party dynamics. House Democrats have already moved too far to the left on trade, foreign policy and domestic spending. Maybe not this election, but at some point, these liberal positions will most likely come back to bite Democrats. It has been a lesson time and time again that as soon as the Democrats go too far to the left, they get crushed in presidential and Congressional elections — witness the 1968 riots, the 1972 McGovern campaign or 1988’s disastrous Michael Dukakis campaign.
Liberal Democrats lose elections; moderate Democrats like Bill Clinton win them. The reason why Barack Obama is barely leading John McCain, even though Democrats have a huge advantage overall, is mostly because he is perceived, rightly, as very liberal. Same for John Kerry in 2004. If the Democrats had nominated a centrist candidate like Mark Warner or Evan Bayh, either of them would be leading McCain by 15 points.