Special Interests Ditched Blue Dogs

The love in Washington is famously fickle. A new Center analysis shows how special interests first lavished money on congressional Democratic Blue Dogs - then abandoned them as the 2010 election approached.

In
mid-2009, the 52 conservative House Democrats who made up the Blue Dog
Coalition were at the height of their power. Money was rolling in --
especially from the health care, energy, and financial services
industries looking to curry favor with a key voting bloc in expectation
of legislation proposed by the Obama White House.

The
Blue Dog Political Action Committee raised more than $2.5 million over
2009 and 2010, almost entirely from about 300 other special-interest
PACs. But ultimately 58 of these special interest PACs also decided to
donate to individual opponents of Blue Dog Coalition members, mostly
after May 2010 -- following a series of votes on reform legislation
affecting the three key sectors which had backed the Blue Dogs so
enthusiastically.

Less than two years after the Center for Public Integrity launched
a series of stories looking at the massive fundraising and clout of the
Blue Dog PAC, the coalition is about to find itself stuck in the
minority, apparently with just 26 remaining members.

Read and link to the full story, "PACs Flocked to Conservative Blue Dog Democrats, Then Fled After Crucial Votes."