Centrist Democrats are back. But these are not your father鈥檚 Blue Dogs.
| Washington
When Mikie Sherrill first ran into the congressional Blue Dog coalition in 2018, she wasn鈥檛 sure it would be the place for her.
She knew the caucus focused on fiscal and national defense issues, which she 鈥� a Democrat then running for a GOP-held seat in northern New Jersey 鈥� cared deeply about. But she also knew it had been founded by a group of white Democratic congressmen, most from the South, who felt they were being 鈥渃hoked blue鈥� by the party鈥檚 leftward shift. She remembered that the coalition, back in 2009, had urged changes to the Affordable Care Act that some in the party say watered down President Barack Obama鈥檚 signature bill.
鈥淚 had some pause,鈥� Representative Sherrill says in a phone interview. 鈥淚 had some concerns about the policies, about the history.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Capitol Hill鈥檚 Blue Dog coalition has a host of new members, whose demographic profiles are more reflective of today鈥檚 Democratic Party. Some say as the center has shifted left, the group鈥檚 agenda has moved as well.
What won her over was Stephanie Murphy, the Vietnam-born Florida lawmaker who came to Congress in 2017 and now serves as the first woman of color to co-chair the Blue Dogs. The two women connected instantly on the issues. 鈥淪he was incredibly thoughtful about how to move the economy forward, creating broad coalitions, moving on infrastructure,鈥� Representative Sherrill recalls. They also shared experiences: young kids at home, careers in public service (the Pentagon for Representative Murphy, the Navy for Representative Sherrill), and support for LGBTQ and women鈥檚 rights.
Such r茅sum茅s would have been unusual, if not unimaginable, for the original Blue Dogs. Today鈥檚 coalition, however, looks a lot like the rest of the Democratic caucus: less white, less male, and less conservative. Current Blue Dogs hail from red and purple districts across the country, including the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest. And like Representative Sherrill, their newest members campaigned 鈥� and won 鈥� on bread-and-butter issues like health care and infrastructure.
Blue Dog members say they still stand by the old centrist mantra of fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense, and commonsense solutions to practical problems. But their membership today reflects how much the demographic and geographic profiles of the Democratic Party have changed 鈥� and how much the political center has shifted.聽
鈥淚t seems so clich茅, but I can鈥檛 help but think, 鈥楾his is not your father鈥檚 Blue Dog committee,鈥欌�� says Representative Sherrill. 鈥淭hose who say it鈥檚 an old, white, Southern caucus 鈥� I tell them they haven鈥檛 seen the Blue Dogs lately.鈥�
鈥楧emocrats in name only鈥�
The Blue Dogs were founded in 1995, the year after Republicans took control of the House for the first time in four decades. Though the caucus didn鈥檛 officially take positions on social issues, most of its members were Southern Democrats with conservative views on things like abortion and gun control. They focused on fiscal issues, however, and rose to prominence in their early years during budget negotiations. Their bills straddled the line between what Republicans wanted, which was usually tax cuts or reduced spending, and what Democrats called for, which was often more investment in federal programs.
The 2009-10 session, with the coalition at 51 members, was a productive legislative term for them: They got Congress to restore Pay-As-You-Go budget rules, which require lawmakers to offset the cost of any increased spending on entitlements by cutting funding for other programs or raising other revenues. They successfully opposed a public option to compete with private insurance companies under what would become the Affordable Care Act. And they sponsored a bill that required federal agencies to report their achievements every fiscal year so that congressional committees had a basis for setting each agency鈥檚 annual budget.
The work was rarely easy, or popular. Their role in the public option debate, for instance, drew criticism from the progressive left, which accused them of being DINOs 鈥� 鈥淒emocrats in name only鈥� 鈥� and using fiscal responsibility as camouflage for their support of corporate interests. 鈥淸They] seemed to exist to stop Democrats from achieving their objectives,鈥� says Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, a progressive advocacy firm.
鈥淏lue Dogs are in the middle of the road all right 鈥� but only in the sense that a dog hugging the center stripe amid whizzing 18-wheelers is in the middle of the road,鈥� Dennis Farney wrote for The Wall Street Journal back in 1997. 鈥淚n today鈥檚 Congress the center may be the most dangerous and discouraging place of all.鈥�
Over the years, as party lines deepened and conservative Democrats either retired, were challenged in the primaries, or defected to the GOP, the coalition 鈥� like centrists in general 鈥� dwindled. In the wake of the tea party takeover, Blue Dogs were down to just 15 members.
The situation began to turn after this last midterm. The so-called 鈥渂lue wave鈥� that brought to Congress the most diverse class of freshmen in history included 42 Democrats who had flipped their districts. Ten, including Representative Sherrill, became Blue Dogs, bringing the coalition鈥檚 numbers up to 27 鈥� enough to influence legislation, given the Democrats鈥� 18-seat House majority.
鈥淲hen they have a sizable number, like they do now, their votes are needed,鈥� says Jennifer Walsh, a public affairs director for the D.C. law firm Foley and Lardner, and former chief of staff to California Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Blue Dog who retired in 2012. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun when your votes are needed. People care what you think.鈥�
Newfound clout
The Blue Dogs began taking advantage of their new numbers right after the election. Representative Murphy was among those who held back her vote for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi until leadership promised a group of moderates that bipartisan bills would have an easier time making it to the floor for votes. (Some Blue Dogs, like Representatives Sherrill and Ben McAdams of Utah, didn鈥檛 vote for Speaker Pelosi at all.)
Once the session started, they made sure that their party鈥檚 agenda-setting included language around campaign finance and redistricting reform. They took vocal positions on infrastructure and rural broadband. They鈥檙e supporting Representative McAdams鈥� proposal for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and stalling a $15 minimum wage bill until it鈥檚 more amenable to rural areas.
Blue Dogs say these efforts prove they鈥檝e stuck to the coalition鈥檚 founding vision of providing an alternative to the party鈥檚 liberal wing. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still united around the same issues that we鈥檝e always been united around, and that鈥檚 fiscal responsibility, national security,鈥� Representative Murphy says at a meeting of the coalition鈥檚 co-chairs at her offices on Capitol Hill.聽聽
But they鈥檙e decidedly not the Blue Dogs of old. Though there鈥檚 still some variety in their social views 鈥� Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, for instance, is prominently antiabortion 鈥� most members align with their party on issues like reproductive health, gun laws, and immigration. Many push back against being labeled conservative, or even moderate. Representative Murphy would rather they鈥檙e called 鈥減ragmatic Democrats,鈥� willing to work with Republicans and progressives alike to move practical legislation forward.
And members say it鈥檚 she 鈥� who fled communist Vietnam with her family in 1979, and recently defending capitalism 鈥� who embodies the new narrative that鈥檚 driving the coalition. She 鈥渨as able to lift herself up and create opportunities for herself and her family,鈥� Representative McAdams says in a phone interview. 鈥淗er personal story encapsulates for me a lot of what the Blue Dogs are.鈥�
Skepticism from both sides
Some observers say this shows that the coalition, like the party, is drifting away from the center. The Blue Dogs may have regained some influence after 2018, but it鈥檚 hard to imagine the trend of polarization reversing itself. 鈥淭hey make a stylistically moderate point,鈥� says Danielle Thomsen, a visiting scholar in politics at Princeton University and author of a book on the political center. But from the policy side, she says, 鈥渢he actual demands that they鈥檙e trying to make might not differ so much from the party mainstream.鈥�
Progressives like Mr. Lawson disagree; he says many Blue Dogs today use聽socially liberal views to聽win support from Democratic voters, despite the fact that on economic matters they represent corporate interests. He says the coalition wrongly identifies the political center as a place where Wall Street gets a bigger piece than Main Street. 鈥淚t鈥檚 鈥榝iscal responsibility鈥� that happens to hurt the people,鈥� he says.
Blue Dogs say they鈥檙e used to skepticism聽from across the political spectrum. At the meeting with Blue Dog leaders, Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon remembers having to convince former Reps. John Tanner of Tennessee and Allen Boyd of Florida that he was serious about addressing fiscal issues. 鈥淓veryone assumed, 鈥極regon鈥檚 very deep blue, and therefore you鈥檙e a tax-and-spend liberal Democrat,鈥欌�� Representative Schrader says.
He says the coalition鈥檚 growing diversity, reflective of both the Democratic Party and the country, shows that more Americans want what they offer than ever before. After most of the other members have left the meeting, rushing off to committee hearings and floor votes, he and freshman co-chair Anthony Brindisi of New York stick around to hammer their point home.
鈥淏ipartisanship, fiscal responsibility, defense, and working with business as well as labor ... the country is more reflective of that Blue Dog philosophy now,鈥� Representative Schrader says.
鈥淢ake America governable again,鈥� Representative Brindisi adds. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what got us into the majority.鈥�
