If we go back all the way to the third full week in August 2008, we saw that there were three unofficial nominees for Barack Obama's running mate: now VP Joe Biden, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, and Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN). Bayh seemed to be the odd figure in that group: he was plenty conservative and a huge Hillary Clinton supporter when she ran for president. But despite the differences and potential awkwardness, Obama thought highly of him to seriously consider him for the job.

You would think that such trust and appreciation would lend itself well in future interactions. But seven months later, Bayh is leading a group of Democrats committed to halting necessary legislation that Obama thinks we need to get this country moving forward again.

As the O'Jays put it, "They smile in your face; All the time they want to take your place; The back stabbers."

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But the time to organize this group would have been 2001 or 2007, so the better question is not "Why" but "Why now?"
We have already seen the damage done by the moderate Democrats to the stimulus bill, and they weren't organized as a group.

Bayh's Conservadem group has gained strength from some of its newest members: Mark Begich (AK), Michael Bennet (CO), Kay Hagan (NC), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Mark Udall (CO), and Mark Warner (VA). All but Bennet did get help from Obama to get elected, and Obama won all their states except for Alaska.

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Bayh said on MSNBC that "we care about our country more than our party, and so we want to get things done."

If that were true, the group never would have formed. These centrist Democrats, who admittedly are concerned about the size of the deficit, though they didn't speak up for the last eight years, would have realized that growing the deficit short-term is necessary to get us out of our deep economic downturn. They would have swallowed their pride, and later put pressure on Obama to reduce the deficit, though they did no such thing when Bush was in power.

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But like some Republicans, these centrist Democrats aren't concerned about the deficit itself, they are focused on what we are spending the money on. When we spend money on Iraq, that's okay with them. When we spend on money on people and programs here in the United States (where we all live), then the pocketbook concerns suddenly spring up.
Ironically, if they were concerned about the party, they would stand up with Obama, since if Obama doesn't succeed due to underfunded programs perhaps due to meddling by centrist Democrats, they will suffer as well. Some of these freshman senators might be worried about that less than 6 years from now.

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Barack Obama has had many challenges on his plate, and very little cooperation to speak of so far. He reached out to Congressional Republicans in ways not seen in decades, and was rebutted. His dealings with centrist Democrats when they weren't organized went sour when they felt it necessary to do even more damage to the stimulus bill.
Bayh summed it up well in the MSNBC interview in terms of getting legislation passed. "And it's going to take the centrists to get us there. And so we want to help make the changes we need. And that's -- that's what our group is all about."

No, the group is all about reducing the domestic spending we need to recover from the failed policies that they embraced from the other major party. It's bad enough when those on the other team aren't amenable, but when your own teammates won't help, Obama's presidency will just be that much rougher.

After the jubilation of getting Kay Hagan elected in place of Elizabeth Dole, I am so disappointed to see that Hagan is one of the "conservadems" who is vowing to work against some of President Obama's key policies and agenda items, including health insurance. Even though I didn't like it, we knew where Libby Dole stood. Hagan has shown herself to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I am on the verge of regretting ever voting for her if this is what we can expect after she rode Obama's coattails to victory. She is not representing the Democrats who voted her in who wanted the change Obama represents.

Delonda Alexander

Pittsboro

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Bloggers and commentators have launched increasingly aggressive attacks on the centrists, casting them as part of the problem and vowing to extract a political price if they dismantle Obama's agenda.

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Still, experts say comments such as Maddow's are likely only the first salvo in a nasty internecine fight — the hallmark of an an era when Democrats control the executive and legislative levers of power in Washington and moderates in the party have begun to balk at the heavy spending that undergirds some of Obama's priorities.

"I think that is the central political dynamic. . . . The people who are going to make or break the agenda are centrist Democrats, red-state Democrats," said Faiz Shakir, editor of the influential blog ThinkProgress.org.

"There is a campaign of persuasion going on . . . that allows these Democrats who are wary to turn back around and join the parade," he said.

Some of that persuasion comes with barbs, Shakir acknowledged.

Maddow's five-minute "conservadem" segment last Thursday provoked at least 20 calls Monday to Udall's office and more than a dozen e-mails to Democratic Party headquarters in Colorado.

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While Obama so far has focused mostly on GOP opposition, the party's left is signaling that they don't intend to let centrist Democrats dismantle the president's agenda piecemeal.

They point to Bayh's vocal opposition to the recent omnibus budget bill and to comments by others in the new group, including Nebraska's Nelson, who has called Obama's 2010 budget "too big" and said Democrats need to focus on "holding down government spending."

"Now you're in a situation where these 'centrist' Dems can join with either Democrats or Republicans to pass legislation, and they can hold their ranks pretty well," said Jane Hamsher, founder of the blog firedoglake.com. and an organizer of the Accountability Now PAC.

She said members like Bennet, who is trying to avoid a primary fight in next year's Senate race, could be vulnerable to a backlash from groups like hers.

"If they start acting in a really regressive way to keep the systemic change from happening . . . then you focus on the leadership first, but you also go after the weak ones," Hamsher said.

"If somebody is vulnerable, if a challenger comes forward and says they're going to take someone on, those are the ones we look for."

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