why blue dogs are important

[Sbane]

I think this is a good point. It wasn't any one particular bill that hurt Democrats in 2010, it was the combination of bills perceived to be liberal like cap and trade, healthcare and the stimulus. TARP hurt a lot as well. If Democrats had only focused on healthcare and not touched cap and trade, opposed TARP and the stimulus they would have been in much better shape. And even with the stimulus, instead of pushing it all in one package, it should have been broken down into pieces that would have passed. Of course Democrats shoved a lot of things in there that would not have passed on it's own.

[Sbane]

Do ordinary Americans pay such close attention to Congressional proceedings? Is such attention particularly strong in areas suffering from acute economic pain of one sort or another?

It can help with advertising. If the Democrats had only done healthcare and not the stimulus and TARP, ads could not be written that said Congressman X voted for the Trillion dollar stimulus, healthcare and TARP bills. One Trillion dollar bill is something..but three? That message was quite effective in 2010.