Blue Dog Democrats and RINOs

Ezra Klein asks why the Democratic party doesn’t treat “unreliable” Democrats quite as badly* as the GOP hunts down “Republicans in Name Only” such as Arlen Specter. 

There are few consequences to being a Blue Dog Democrat. Labor doesn’t come into your district and fund a challenger who attacks your votes to cut entitlement spending. Business interests are more likely to donate to your campaign. You have a badge of independence from party which is useful both when dealing with the media and when dealing with voters. Your vote matters more because it’s less reliable. And the Democratic Party infrastructure itself is fundamentally sympathetic to your plight: Democrats from marginal districts, they agree, have to be a bit more conservative. And we have to protect them. Numbers matter. There’s a difference in priorities here: Liberals tend to prioritize the number of seats they have in Congress, conservatives are more protective of the purity of those in power.