User:BobSchacht

This is Bob's Wikipedia User page. It was created November 8, 2007 in order to create Wiki articles, such as one about "Bush Dogs" [1]. Note however that there are a few sentences on Bush Dogs in the Wikipedia article on Blue Dogs [2] that the Wikipedia might deem sufficient. So rather than write a new entry, maybe it would be better to expand on that entry.

Stub:

Bush Dog Democrats

Term coined by Matt Stoller at Open Left [3] Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 15:47:43 PM EDT http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1073

Stoller defines Bush Dog Democrats, in brief, as "Democratic members of Congress who enable the right-wing through their support of Bush's policies on core progressive values at key moments." [4]. The current definition of those "core progressive values" and "key moments" depends on two votes, (1) "the capitulation vote [5] on Iraq back in May, 2007," and "the disgraceful vote to give Bush warrantless wiretapping powers [6]" (ibid.) Since these votes were both conducted by the House of Representatives, the term Bush Dog Democrats is defined primarily with the House, rather than with the Senate.

Besides defining by votes, Stoller provides a list of 39 Representatives who qualify. Tennessee and Texas lead the way, with four Bush Dogs each. Descriptively, Stoller notes that most of the Bush Dogs are White Male Southerners.

The term has become a convenient frame of reference on progressive blogs such as FireDogLake [7] and elsewhere in the blogosphere.

References

What is a Bush Dog Democrat? A FAQ... (Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 15:47:43 PM EDT ), by Matt Stoller [8]