Talk:Blue Dog Coalition

"Shifted left"

The source[1] does not say the Blue Dogs shifted left. It says that the center has shifted left, and that the Blue Dogs have more socially liberal views. The Blue Dogs AFAIK have not shifted left at all on economic issues or foreign policy. Right now, the text inappropriately implies that they shifted left overall. The source does not say that. Also, it's much too much weight on a single source to state this interpretation. The article has a more nuanced point than the one being used: 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’s hard to imagine the trend of polarization reversing itself. “They make a stylistically moderate point,” 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, “the actual demands that they’re trying to make might not differ so much from the party mainstream.” Progressives like Mr. Lawson disagree; he says many Blue Dogs today use socially liberal views to 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. “It’s ‘fiscal responsibility’ that happens to hurt the people,” he says. Andre🚐 18:54, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Sources are pretty unequivocal that they've shifted left and align more with baseline Democratic policies. The fact that progressives dislike Democrats that aren't progressives and feel that liberals and moderates are too corporate isn't especially notable here. Toa Nidhiki05 18:57, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

That's not the case, and it doesn't address the argument. You have one source which has a nuanced take that says the Blue Dogs have adopted more socially liberal views. However their economic views and foreign policy have remained the same. The source given does not even say the Blue Dogs shifted left - it says the center shifted left. Andre🚐 18:59, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

It's not just one source. This one WaPo one, for example. Toa Nidhiki05 21:03, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

A point-in-time analysis from 2018 that is already out of date, once again overindexing on a recentism horserace analysis and ignoring a longer view. But regardless, it also states in the same Wapo article: "These Democrats are resisting the push to use the new majority to advance the most ambitious liberal agenda", again pointing out that they are not as left as the mainstream caucus. There is other research showing that the Blue Dogs move left at a slower rate than the party or the country. See this research from 2010 for example: "The two-sample t-test below shows the relationship between the slight liberal shift and membership in the Blue Dog Coalition. Both groups, over the 104th -110th Congress period do move left on average, but Blue Dogs move less to the left than the rest of their party. Again, our significance level fails to meet the threshold required to rule out chance results" [2] This article from Bloomberg Government explains it's a perception and that the Blue Dogs are fighting a tide: [3] "Blue Dog co-chair Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) said it’s become harder for moderate voices in the party to break through the perception in the electorate that Democrats have moved further to the left." Andre🚐 21:10, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Saying sources from the last few years are outdated while trying to pass off a source from 2010 as better is many things, but a serious argument isn't one of them. Toa Nidhiki05 21:44, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Of course it is a serious argument. The 2010 source is an academic study, while the 2018 source is a Wapo "analysis," borderline editorial. Here's another explanation of the effect: 'ideologically extreme and moderate candidate are now roughly equally likely to be elected to Congress' -Utych, S. M. (2020). Man Bites Blue Dog: Are Moderates Really More Electable than Ideologues? Journal of Politics, 82(1), 392–396. https://doi.org/10.1086/706054 And just to be clear I'm not saying Wapo is unreliable or not to use it. It should be used but it needs to be balanced with progressive views and other views.Andre🚐 21:46, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Progressive views are not worth noting here. Progressives dislike any Democrats to their right, which is most Democrats; frankly, their opinion doesn't matter. Toa Nidhiki05 21:54, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Progressive and moderate wings of the party both have perspectives on whether the party has moved left or had moved right. For NPOV we need to balance all the views. Your claim that the only view that matters is that conservative Dems think the party is too far left is not NPOV. And it's too much weight on a couple of cherry-picked sources. Andre🚐 22:01, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

I agree with Toa Nidhiki05. The current Blue Dog is not conservative at all. The center-right should be confined to its historical political position. Mureungdowon (talk) 03:33, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

That's an opinion. The recent edits removing center-right should be reversed. Blue Dogs are center to center-right based on RS Andre🚐 16:27, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

I have reversed those edits, as there is no consensus for them, as the editor who made them knows full well. Beyond My Ken (talk) 17:00, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

"Toa Nidhiki05"s vandalism

User "Toa Nidhiki05" continues to vandalize the page and discourage any facts that dont agree with their opinions when it comes to the Blue Dogs idelogical positioning. It is abundantly clear that this individual has some personal reason to hope to regulate the already known public perception of the Blue Dog Coalition. As pointed out by other users in the talk section. You continually avoid discussion because you are clearly adding your own opinion through the veil of two politico editorial pieces written by the same person, and a brand new Hill article you conjured up. The correct political position is "Center". Minnesotawaterballer (talk) 03:10, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

@Minnesotawaterballer If so, why have you not added reliable souroces to support the claim? This administrator does not see any bad-faith editing by Toa Nidhiki05. —C.Fred (talk) 03:35, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Blue Dog Coalition condemn Biden's "Open Border Policy."

Blue Dog Dems official platform - BLUE DOG PAC "

-"Currently, the Blue Dog Coalition is comprised of moderate, fiscally-responsible Democrats who represent every corner of the country and continue to work to end the divisive and toxic nature of politics today. They have a long history of working with members of both parties to find areas of compromise and to advance public policies that benefit the entire nation."

This user has been sitting on this page for 5+ years insisting on it. His sources are opinion articles which do not official platform or policy. It appears to me as other users that they're inserting their own opinion. Minnesotawaterballer (talk) 22:51, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

"Dwindling Blue Dog Democrats look to make comeback for Moderates"

This is undoubtedly the most conservative faction of Democrats in the House. Referring to the the page for the national Democratic Party Displays "Center - Center Left".

The definition "Center-Left" clearly doesn't apply to conservative Democratic Party members and even though it was the ideology listed for years, I believe the admin should correct it as multiple users on the talk page have pointed out. Minnesotawaterballer (talk) 22:58, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

The term Center-left is backed by two reliable sources. Removing it because you personally disagree is not in keeping with our policies. Toa Nidhiki05 23:35, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

Would admin, "C.Fred" please ask why this user can only react with the same statement. Your sources are not "reliable" and you provide no evidence other than a blank statement after I provided numerous direct reliable sources including direct policy statemnts rather than politico opinion articles. Minnesotawaterballer (talk) 23:49, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

@Minnesotawaterballer I'm going to ask again: what reliable sources do you have to say they aren't center-left? Self-published sources are normally disregarded in these instances, and Fox News is not a reliable source for matters related to politics. —C.Fred (talk) 23:58, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

[4]https://rollcall.com/2023/06/22/waning-blue-dogs-eschew-branding-in-favor-of-taking-down-weirdos/

“I hate to even have to address that stuff you’re trying to bring up. I really do, because I never thought about that stuff when I chose to join the Blue Dogs,” said Rep. Jared Golden, the third-term Maine representative who last month was named one of three co-chairs of the centrist caucus of House Democrats.

[5]https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2019/0604/Centrist-Democrats-are-back.-But-these-are-not-your-father-s-Blue-Dogs

"Back in 2009, (blue dogs) had urged changes to the Affordable Care Act that some in the party say watered down President Barack Obama’s signature bill." Minnesotawaterballer (talk) 00:08, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

Given Roll Call's reputation, that source has some merit. It's also a 2023 story. —C.Fred (talk) 00:17, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

And looking at what's in the article currently, Politico calls the Blue Dogs center-left, but that's also in a story from 2018. Morning Consult is paywalled, so I can't read what it says.

@Toa Nidhiki05: Are you familiar enough with that source to know what it says about the Blue Dogs, and in what context? —C.Fred (talk) 00:23, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

Here's the web archive version, @C.Fred:: "Still, Democratic strategists and some members of center-left organizations, such as the Blue Dog Coalition and Third Way, worry that the gradual decline in support visible in a national poll reflects a hesitancy from moderate voters concentrated in vulnerable swing districts."

It's worth noting - none of what @Minnesotawaterballer: is saying contradicts them also existing on the center-left. In fact, the Roll Call piece only uses the term "centrist" once and the term "center" twice - one of those is a Blue Dog describing himself. Obviously we can't deem to be an authoritative source on their ideology, but it doesn't contradict the fact reliable sources have described them as both. Toa Nidhiki05 00:30, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

[6]https://prospect.org/politics/2024-05-03-house-leaderships-support-henry-cuellar/

"a Blue Dog who voted against Democratic priorities on several occasions, across the finish line." - Blue Dog leadership. Minnesotawaterballer (talk) 00:10, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

• Looking at the article and the discussion, here is what I see.

1. In contradiction to the title of this section, Toa Nidhiki05 has edited in good faith in restoring sourced material to the article.
2. As is demonstrated in the sources, third parties have identified the Blue Dog Coalition as both center and center-left.
3. The status-quo version of the article has both labels, so the burden of sourcing is on Minnesotawaterballer to present third-party sources that talk about the Blue Dogs' move (back) toward the right, if they seek to have the center-left label removed entirely.
4. Any such change will be achieved only through discussion here and reaching consensus.
   1. To that end, Minnesotawaterballer is reminded to remain civil toward other editors generally and participants in discussion here specifically. Drawing conclusions about other editors' political leanings could be viewed through a number of negative lenses, and when comments to that end are made in attempts to canvass for discussions here or at noticeboards, they could be seen to be personal attacks] and sanctionable.
   2. All participants are generally reminded that post-1992 US politics is a contentious topic.
5. Since this is ultimately a content dispute, the venue for seeking outside assistance is either to request a third opinion or make a request for comment.

—C.Fred (talk) 02:50, 29 May 2024 (UTC)