Blue Dog Boyd getting a real primary challenge

[hcallega]

If the Democratic Party wants to be in the majority for the perceivable future, then we have to remain a big tent party. This is easy when were on the outside looking in, because then all you need to do is shoot down the majority/president and can get away with breaking with your party. But in the Majority/with the President things are much harder. Allen Boyd is an extremely influential congressman who will not be defeated in the primaries because he will receive the backing of the national party. He is also much more liberal than many of the members of the big tent that we welcomed during the New Deal era.

You didn't see FDR welcoming challengers to Richard Russell did you? of course not, because, as LBJ once said, "It's better to have them inside pissing out, then outside pissing in."

We forgot that once Bill Clinton took over and alienated half the Blue Dogs.

[Lunar]

Lieberman also had the backing of the national party in the primaries

I basically agree with you though.  Especially in an off-year primary.

Lawson just attempting one possible career path.  Boyd has already gotten the message and voted for the 2nd iteration of the stim package

[Meeker]

257 House members including Boyd vs. only 256 House members and no Boyd

Not a hard decision.

[minionofmidas]

I think his stimulus vote might have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

I dont know about that.  The majority of Democrats in this district are likely Dixiecrats that generally support Boyd's vote against the stimulus. 

Which ones? Tallahassee students or the rural Blacks?

[Lunar]

One thing that I've noticed is that I read up and found the DKos's main page entry on Lawson doing this and they reacted negatively to it.  Quite the contrast I'm sure if you were to compare that to the GOP netroots

[Nixon in '80]

One thing that I've noticed is that I read up and found the DKos's main page entry on Lawson doing this and they reacted negatively to it.  Quite the contrast I'm sure if you were to compare that to the GOP netroots

Gotta give it a few years... once the Democratic Congress turns out to be a failure (as all congresses... congreces?... congresses do) the left will turn on the moderates in their party, blaming them for not being "progressive" enough.

That is, if all people who post on pseudo-extremist websites are essentially the same. In my experience, they are.

[Lunar]

Zell Miller wasn't exactly getting primaried either back in the day eh?  It has to do with pragmatism.  The only person they want to punish is Cooper over in TN who railed against the president on the bill, acting all blue dog hardcore when his district is Democratic.  Cooper changed his vote the second time around, much like Boyd did.

[Nixon in '80]

Zell Miller wasn't exactly getting primaried either back in the day eh?  It has to do with pragmatism.  The only person they want to punish is Cooper over in TN who railed against the president on the bill, acting all blue dog hardcore when his district is Democratic.  Cooper changed his vote the second time around, much like Boyd did.

Miller didn't stand for reelection... and I'm pretty sure a lot of people would have wanted him primaried had he chosen to stand for reelection, even rational Democrats.

I agree wholeheartedly that the Democrats are better at being a "big tent" than the Republicans, but the Democratic coalition is pretty fresh and just happy to be in charge, while the Republican coalition is old, stale, and resentful.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Actually, it's more because the Democratic Party has no ideology beyond (often rather weak) opposition to whatever the Republican Party stands for (slight exaggeraton).

[Nixon in '80]

Actually, it's more because the Democratic Party has no ideology beyond (often rather weak) opposition to whatever the Republican Party stands for (slight exaggeraton).

Why is the sky blue? It's a reflection of the ocean.

Why is the ocean blue? It's a reflection of the sky.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Actually, it's more because the Democratic Party has no ideology beyond (often rather weak) opposition to whatever the Republican Party stands for (slight exaggeraton).

Why is the sky blue? It's a reflection of the ocean.

Why is the ocean blue? It's a reflection of the sky.

Claiming that the Republican Party is less ideological than the Democrats is really quite funny, you know. You only have to look at the record(s) of the parties in office...

[Lief 🗽]

Actually, it's more because the Democratic Party has no ideology beyond (often rather weak) opposition to whatever the Republican Party stands for (slight exaggeraton).

Why is the sky blue? It's a reflection of the ocean.

Why is the ocean blue? It's a reflection of the sky.

Claiming that the Republican Party is less ideological than the Democrats is really quite funny, you know. You only have to look at the record(s) of the parties in office...

After Reagan, that's certainly true. But before Reagan? Not so much. FDR, Truman, and LBJ had pretty clear ideologies; Nixon and Eisenhower, not so much. I think the question is not so much which part is less ideological, but which party is in opposition. Since 1980, that's been the Democrats. Maybe now that might change.