Among the biggest losers in the last general election was the Democratic House caucus self-described as Blue Dogs, or "fiscally conservative" Democrats. Caucus members have enjoyed media complicity in advancing that image even though most Blue Dogs voted for every irresponsible, fiscally unsound spending measure passed in the Congress over the past two years

Judging from recent content in the New York Times, it seems that the media may have figured out the Blue Dogs at last. This somewhat sympathetic piece on the president by Times reporter, Matt Bai, has a gem embedded in it:

The body of Mr. Obama's writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic... Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself...as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat...

Finally, something in the Times with which we can agree: Based on policy preferences and voting records, Obama is like a Blue Dog, but, perhaps more significantly, a Blue dog is like Obama. All that remains is to accept that the word "conservative" cannot be used when describing either.

Apparently, a majority of voters in more than twenty about-to-be-former Blue Dog House districts have already reached that conclusion. Only twenty-three or so more to go...