College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Theory

I was having this conversation recently with a friend.  Basically, he thought that the Dems need to find a way to get some support from the energy of the Tea Party and his question got me to thinking about the Tea Party and I found a couple of things will surfing……the first was located on the Newser website……

Think “Tea Party” and you’ll probably think “Republican”—but it turns out Tea Party Democrats do, in fact, exist. But it’s hard to say just how many, and harder still to gauge how much of an impact they have on elections, the Washington Post reports. Polls have put the percentage of Democrats in the Tea Party movement at anywhere from 4% (CNN) to 15% (Gallup); for her part, Michele Bachmann believes it’s actually 20%. And who are they? Bachmann describes Tea Party Democrats as “disaffected,” and a Republican pollster explains that some Democrats are shifting to the Tea Party because they are “anti-spending and for budget austerity.” Even so, no Democrat has yet emerged as a significant Tea Party candidate, and Democrats didn’t cross over to vote Republican in numbers any higher than normal during the 2010 elections.

With that said I think there is more than they believe….these people hold a lot of the same principles as the more conserv Tea Party….who are they?  Every hear of the Blue Dog Coalition?

In case you have forgotten the group……let Wiki help……..

Blue Dogs have an agenda that protects the interests of the vulnerable while also respecting traditional cultural values and keeping taxes low.

The Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in finding a compromise between liberal and conservative positions. The Blue Dogs are viewed by some as a continuation of the socially conservative wing of the Democratic party prominent during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. However, the only stated policy position of the Blue Dogs is fiscal conservatism.

Despite the Blue Dogs’ differing degrees of economic and social conservatism, they claim they generally work to promote positions within the House of Representatives that bridge the gap between right-wing and left-wing politics. Blue Dogs are an important swing vote on spending bills and as a result have gained influence in Congress out of proportion to their numbers. They are frequently sought after to broker compromises between the Democratic and Republican leadership, generally lending a more centrist character to US politics.

Unfortunately, the Blue Dogs lost heavily in the election of 2010…….their only sin was having a “D” after their names……which shows the stupidity of the voter…..they voted fiscal conservs out of office only because of the party with which they affiliate……..

So, I believe that there are Tea Party Democrats….right now they have NOT figured out just how they can align themselves with the TP and still win in a Democratic district…..as soon as they get a handle on this obstacle….they will be coming out of the closet.