Kicking the Blue Dogs

How many times can you kick a blue dog before they go red? We are in the process of finding out.

The far left owns the Democrat Party - and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Pelosi and her ilk have nothing but disdain for "conservative" blue dog Democrats. According to Politico today:

There's been "no communication" this Congress between House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi . . . and members of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, one of its top members said Monday.

Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.), who challenged Pelosi for the job of Democratic leader in the 112th Congress, suggested that Blue Dog Democrats feel shut out from the leadership in the House.

With that kind of pariah treatment, is it any wonder that Pelosi is the best friends Republicans have, at least in the south, where virtually all blue dogs are kennelled. Having jammed Obamacare down the blue dogs' throats, having shut them out of the creation of most of the major legislation, and now ignoring them, Crazy Nancy and company are kicking the blue dogs red. This from the LA Times today:

Conservative Democrats switch to GOP across the Deep South
Defections reflect the Democrats' drubbing in the midterm election and Republicans' consolidation of power in the South.

For Democrats, Ashley Bell was the kind of comer that a party builds a future on: A young African American lawyer, he served as president of the College Democrats of America, advised presidential candidate John Edwards and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

But after his party's midterm beat-down in November, Bell, a commissioner in northern Georgia's Hall County, jumped ship. He joined the Republicans.

Bell, 30, said he had serious issues with the healthcare law and believed that conservative "blue dog" Democrats in Congress who shared his values had been bullied into voting for it.

Bell's defection is one of dozens by state and local Democratic officials in the Deep South in recent months that underscore Republicans' continued consolidation of power in the region — a process that started with presidential politics but increasingly affects government down to the level of dogcatcher.

"I think the midterms showed you really can't be a conservative and be a member of the Democratic Party," Bell said.

Since the midterm election, 24 state senators and representatives have made the switch in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

In some cases, the ramifications have been profound: In Louisiana, defecting Democrats gave Republicans a majority in the state House for the first time since Reconstruction; in Alabama, they delivered the GOP a House supermajority. Republicans have 65 votes to the Democrats' 39, enough to pass constitutional amendments over Democratic opposition.

The trend continued through late January — when nine officials in Lamar County in northeastern Texas left the Democratic Party — and into last week, when Louisiana Atty. Gen. James D. "Buddy" Caldwell switched parties, leaving the GOP in control of every major state office in Baton Rouge. . . .

I have always thought the term "conservative democrat" to be an oxymoron in any event. That said, as Hot Air observes:

When Reagan won his two big victories, he did so with the support of what were called Reagan Democrats, especially in the South, who backed Reagan but stayed with the Democratic Party. Obama and Pelosi have done what even Reagan couldn’t do — convert Southern Democrats to the GOP.