Calling All DU "Yellow Dog" Democrats: What does that mean exactly?

[tom_paine]

Forgive my Yankee ignorance.

I believe I know what "Blue Dog" means, but explanations would STILL be appreciated for new insights.

But what is "Yellow Dog" and why is it embraced? Just wondering, because, to someone unfamiliar with the terminology, "Yellow Dog", sounds like a Gutless Sonovabitch!
:wtf:

So, what's the deal, and why is it OK and even proud to be called a "Yellow Dog"?

And :hi: to trof, BOSSHOG, VelmaD, and all the rest of the very fine Southern DUers. Keep up the good work down there! Spread the word!

Unless the System is badly rigged and "Extreme Gerrymandered" or we get TRIPLE OCTOBER SURPRISE, we are going to win this thing big, I think, and some Southern States, too.

The REAL WORK is still ahead. Forward! That's the style, boys (and gals!)

A Toast :toast: :toast: to DUers North and South...East and West! Forward we go, as ONE, against TYRANNY and for the CAUSE OF LIBERTY!

[Lars39]

1. I've always thought it meant we would vote for

'that yellow dog(walking down the street)' than for a republican.
:shrug:

[MuseRider]

2. That is what I have

always heard too.

[aquart]

5. I'd vote for a yellow dog if it ran on the Democratic line.

It has nothing to do with not voting for Republicans. Nader voters didn't vote Republican. They may be something, something smelly and not nice, but they ain't yellow dog Democrats.

[tom_paine]

8. Who said anything about Nader voters?

:shrug:

that's not the topic of this thread...

[wabeewoman]

3. Yellow dog democrat

from:http://www.yellowdogdemocrat.com/history.htm

The term, Yellow Dog Democrat, blossomed during all of the Hoopla which surrounded the 1928 elections, when Al Smith ran for President against Herbert Hoover. During that campaign, Senator Tom Heflin, of Alabama, declined to back his fellow Democrat, Al Smith the Governor of NY. In fact it was much worse than that, Senator Heflin decided to back Herbert Hoover, who would then go on to become President- a Republican President no less. Heflin's controversial actions were considered heresy, especially in the South. As you can imagine, quite a large number of Alabamans vehemently disagreed with Senator Heflin's decision to cross his "Party Lines". Hence, the popular saying, "I'd vote for a yellow dog if he ran on the Democratic ticket" was born! It was adopted as the proud slogan of the staunch party loyalist.
At the time, this phrase certainly did not reflect well on Senator Heflin

[tom_paine]

6. Cool.

I like it!

:thumsbup: :thumbsup:

[Bubbaslug]

17. Yellow Dog

By that definition, would you say that Zell Miller and possibly Joe Liebermann would be considered Yellow Dog Democrats

[leftistagitator]

18. Not Zell

He's endorsed *. A yellow dog Democrat always votes Democratic no matter what. The word you're looking for to describe Zell is traitor.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. It's like Will Pitt's "Ham Sandwich" Democrats

As in, "I'd vote for a ham sandwich before I'd vote for Bush."

--bkl
A slogan is born

[aquart]

9. NO! That phrase includes Nader voters.

And I hope they choke on that ham sandwich.

It is NOTHING like being a yellow dog Democrat which is a phrase about blind party loyalty.

Personally, I'm not a yellow dog, I've voted for Republicans. But I know what's at stake this year. I knew what was at stake in 2000 because I understood the impeachment was NOT about sex, but about radical takeover of the US government. Nader voters still haven't a clue about that.

[He loved Big Brother]

15. And the Dems who voted for Bush did?

IMO, Nader isn't a factor in the 2000 election, since more Dems voted for Bush in Florida than they did for Nader. :shrug:

I don't ever hear anybody bring up that little factoid though.

[MuseRider]

7. As overheard in Kansas

"I'd just a soon vote fer a yeller dog than a Republican." That was my first introduction to the term.

[doni_georgia]

12. That's how I've always heard it, and what I mean when I call myself a

Yellow Dog Dem.

[bluedog]

10. At least we are not "Boll Weevels"LOL

The Blue Dogs, on the other hand, are less fiercely partisan, and they do not all hail from the South. They seek to build ideological bridges to the Republican side of the aisle, are known for their independence from the leadership of their own party, and tend to be more pragmatic than partisan.


Blue Dogs are closer in purpose to a former coalition of southern Members of the House known as the “Boll Weevils,” whose heyday was in the early 1980's. These Members defected as a group from the Democratic party to vote with Congressional Republicans on budgetary and tax bills. However, all Southerners, they were named after the insect that infected and often destroyed cotton crops, so the name “Boll Weevil” had a pejorative implication.

[OnionPatch]

11. deleted

[vetwife]

14. I thought I was a yellow dog dem till Zell Miller sat in the Senate

[DemBones DemBones]

19. Zell Miller was a good Dem until he sat in the Senate.

Zell was a good governor who accomplished a lot for Georgia, particularly for Georgia's children and schools.

Zell encouraged Bill Clinton and introduced him to Paul Begala and James Carville, who had just run his gubernatorial campaign.

Zell helped Clinton carry Georgia. With all the Republicans we have moving here all the time, that was quite an accomplishment, even if the state did go for Bush* in 2000.

We don't know why Zell wigged out after he got in the Senate. We suspect GOP operatives worked on him a lot.

[patricia92243]

13. I thought it was pronounced "Yal'r dawg" - after all it was Alabama!!!

[opihimoimoi]

16. Come Hawaii, meet the Yellow Opihi, alina lina

Come, we go hiking, eat crabs, oysters, drink wine, laugh.

[DemBones DemBones]

20. As others have already made clear, it means voting a straight Dem

ticket. I was always a Dem but I always voted for individuals, rather than voting the straight party line. Beginning with the midterm elections of 1994, I became a yellow dog Democrat, swearing never again to vote for any Republican. The GOP's treatment of an elected president was inexcusable and they continue to compound their arrogant error by supporting a man who was illegitimately installed in the Oval Office by five people in black robes.

Since 1997, I've even owned a yellow dog as a pet and a tribute to my politics. I have to say she's the smartest dog I've ever had, too!

[UTUSN]

21. It Means I Have Voted for Two, Three, or More Dem Nominees

who were not my first, second, or even third choices over the years.

(Insert pregnant silence here.)