I was raised up knowing the phrase “Yellow Dog” democrat meaning they
would vote for even a yellow dog if he was the democrat candidate.
But I keep hearing this “blue dog” democrat phrase
and I am not sure what it means.
I’m not sure where it came from, but it is a term for a moderate to conservative Democrat.
From Wikipedia:
Origin of name “Blue Dog”
“Blue Dog Democrat” is playfully derived from the original term Yellow Dog Democrat. It was former Texas Democratic Rep. Pete Geren who said that the members had been “choked blue” by those “extreme” Democrats, from the left.[2] Thus, he is credited for coining the term Blue Dog Democrat.
The term is also a reference to the “Blue Dog” paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana. The original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes, both of whom had Rodrigue’s paintings on their walls (and both of whom later switched to the Republican Party).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition