Democrats expand big tent in the Deep South

“We’ve already had a tremendous impact,” said another Blue Dog Democrat, Rep. Lincoln Davis of Tennessee. “The Democratic caucus for the first time established paygo (pay-as-you-go) policies. Those of us who agree with paygo will constantly be a thorn in the side of any leadership who wants to change that or ignore it.”

As for abortion, Taylor pointed out that when the GOP controlled the Congress from 1995 until 2006, “they would tweak at the edges, but they would never try to pass a constitutional amendment overturning Roe v. Wade.”

Last major House abortion vote in 2006
The last time there was a major abortion vote in the House when the Republicans were still in control was in 2006 on a bill to make it a crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, if the law in her home state required her parent’s notification or consent.

Forty-nine Democrats, including Taylor and Davis, voted for that bill.

Davis said some progress on reducing abortion may be possible. He and other Democrats are proposing what they call the “95-10 initiative” try to reduce abortion by 95 percent over the next ten years, by such means as expanding medical insurance coverage to low-income pregnant women and unborn children.

Despite the success of Cazayoux and the potential for a win Tuesday by Childers in Mississippi, there’s at least one observer who says the Democrats would be wiser to focus their efforts outside the South.

Political scientist Tom Schaller, author of the provocative book "Whistling Past Dixie," said that most of the Democratic opportunities this election cycle “will come in the more than two dozen open seats created by retiring Republicans, the vast majority of whom are from the Northeast and Midwest.”

Will there be an Obama effect?
In November, Southern Democrats such as Cazayoux, Taylor, and Davis will likely be running with Sen. Barack Obama at the top of the ticket.

Republicans tried and failed to defeat Cazayoux by linking him to Pelosi and Obama. On the night of Cazayoux’s victory, the National Republican Congressional Committee drew attention to its own failed effort.

“Republicans saturated the Baton Rouge airwaves in an effort to …make the election about the real-life consequences of a Barack Obama presidency and a continued Pelosi-run Democratic Congress,” the NRCC said.

It's true that Cazayoux won by less than three percentage points, but he still won.

Davis said Obama won’t be relevant to his own re-election bid in November in his Tennessee district (which President Bush carried in 2004 with 58 percent of the vote).

“Folks in my district have proven that they believe who I am and what I stand for and that I will not yield to anyone on any principled issue,” said Davis. “So for me it doesn’t matter who the presidential candidate is. It will have no impact on my race.”

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