Daily Kos: When a Blue Dog falls in primary, every Democrat in Congress hears it

Daily Kos: When a Blue Dog falls in primary, every Democrat in Congress hears it:

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Back on Tuesday, two Blue Dogs—Rep. Jason Altmire in PA-12 and Rep. Tim Holden in PA-17—were defeated for re-election in Democratic primaries. This may not have made national political news, but rest assured that every single Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives took notice.

When an incumbent loses a primary, it is a big deal to members of Congress. When two lose, it is a very big deal. When two Blue Dogs lose challenges from the left—Holden to progressive challenger Matt Cartwright and Altmire to the labor-supported Rep. Mark Crtiz—it suggests a shift in power.

Blue Dogs became famous by joining with Republicans to water down, or block entirely, Democratic legislative efforts. With Democratic primary voters dumping two of the remaining twenty-five Blue Dogs  in one day, than we are nearing a point where the ability of Blue Dogs to thwart the rest of the Democratic Party is coming to an end.

How this works is pretty simple. If Democratic primary voters keep kicking Democrats who frequently side with Republicans and Wall Street out of office, then all Democrats in Congress will be motivated not to side with Republicans and Wall Street. So, if Blue Dogs and other corporate Democrats keep losing Democratic primaries, pretty soon we will have a more effective and progressive Democratic party.