It’s worth listing the eleven Democratic congress-critters who voted negative to the Grand Stimulus Bill — joining the Republican Unity Vote.  I guess these eleven congress members count as the core of the Blue Dog Caucus — the heir apparents to yesterday’s Boll Weevils and Yellow Dogs and wind through history from there.

Boyd
Bright
Cooper
Ellsworth
Griffith
Kanjorski
Kratovil
Minnick
Peterson
Shuler
TaylorIt’s not a surprising group — lay out the scenario of an 11 Democrat Dissension a few weeks ago to someone who follows the Congress, give them 15 names to fill, and they will probably come up with if not all eleven than maybe ten.  They are the ones who joined the Republican Party in their careful comb-over to spot a two percent pork rate.

I know little about the people on this list.  I know that Heath Shuler and Ellsworth are close, and tied their electoral fortunes to each other’s upon similar elections and backgrounds in the 2006 election.  I know the Republicans once attempted to recruit Shuler to run.  I know Shuler is wading into a Senate race prospect, where he will most closely align with Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor.  And I know he is there the Democratic hierarchy’s choice to run for the Senate seat, ie:  Schumer’s.

I recognize Walt Minnick as the man who just won a congressional seat in Idaho against a Republican who qualifies as being on the “Lunatic Fringe” of the party — who is now staking a comeback, and whose Republican nomination would probably serve up Minnick’s best chance at re-election.

But here the House is meaningless except a portal of the Games to be played in the Senate — which now takes the cues from a unified vote and recognizes that they possess the requisite 41 votes, but also is not fully of the “Rump Team” variety of safe district victors taking cues from Joe the Plumber.  Obama and the Democrats’ role becomes one of finding, in the Senate, an equivalency to the House Blue Dog caucus, as well as to quit telegraphing the amount of Republican Support they hope their bill receives — too far out of their hands.  It is with this and with the Daschle and assorted tax fiascos — and oddly enough the Judd Gregg replacement deal is cited here as well — that this week supposedly becomes a “victorious week for the Republicans”.  But I’m hardly in the tit-for-tat tally sheet theory of party winning / losing — it’s a pointless proposition.  Mr. 75 percent will now learn the limits of his “bi-partisan purview”, and the basic rule that he, as the center of his political party, is the one anyone is going to listen to admist a sea of the buzzing Republican politicians whose hum has filled that void.  Two weeks, nobody’s adjustment can ever be that pure.