Centrist angst over Dems' leftward lurch

1/12/2015
BY SUSAN CRABTREE 

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. , left, and Democratic members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, now in the minority, cast their votes on whether to move long-stalled Keystone XL pipeline legislation to the Senate floor, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. From left are, Sen. Warren, Sen. Angus King, I-Vt., Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., a sponsor of the bill, and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Reacting to early signs that President Obama and the Democratic rump in Congress is lurching to the Left, centrists are complaining bitterly that the left-wing Elizabeth Warren wing of the party is taking control.

Liberal Democrats say centrist grumbling is sour grapes over their decimation in the midterm election.

Obama cannot discount the shrinking centrist group because they can cross the aisle and hand the new GOP's new Senate majority victories on everything from the Keystone XL oil pipeline and banking reforms, to dismantling Obamacare.

On Friday, 28 Democrats defied Obama and joined Republicans to pass a bill to approve the long-stalled Keystone project despite the president's threat early this week to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

Afterward, centrists complained that the threat sent the wrong signal the first week of the New Year and they argued that the party would not regain the majority if it cannot be more business-friendly.

“It just basically means what sector of the Democratic Party is he going to be pushing for?” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, a conservative House Democrat, told theWashington Examiner. “Is it more of the liberal, green side? Or is he willing to at least consider the moderates, the centrists like myself, who believe in energy. Energy is big in my district and it's big in Texas."

One day earlier, three leaders of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition wrote to Obama urging him to think again and negotiate over the bill instead of vetoing it.

“The Blue Dog Coalition stands ready to work with you and congressional leaders to provide stringent oversight of construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, but we cannot miss this opportunity to create good paying jobs and put America on the path to be less reliant on oil from our foes,” they wrote.

Democratic Reps. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Jim Costa of California and Kurt Schrader of Oregon signed the letter.

Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., a founder of the Blue Dog Coalition and ranking member on the Agriculture Committee, said he’s even open to voting with the Republicans’ effort to defund Obama’s executive action on immigration. Republicans plan to bring the issue to a vote next week.

“I voted with them on the [executive action] issue because I didn’t agree with Obama on the process,” he said. “It depends on what they do. If they do something crazy, then no. If they do something sensible, maybe.”

Some Democrats say talk of factional feuds inside the caucus is overblown, as is the suggestion that his threat to veto GOP bills on Keystone and Obamacare workweek requirements mean he’s already given up on working with Republicans.

“I think the president’s message here is that although we may not be in the majority, we’re still a presence here in Washington, there’s no question,” said Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y, vice chairman of the Democratic caucus . “And this ought not to be done one-sided. We’re a legislative body. We should do things in a bipartisan way.”

Will Marshall, a founder of the New Democrat centrist movement and president of the Progressive Policy Institute, said he viewed Obama’s veto threat as a first positioning shot.

Republicans, he said, are “obsessed” with Keystone, which would boost Canadian energy companies more than American ones because the pipeline would simply carry oil from Alberta to the gulf for export.

Still, he urged Obama to get into “good, old-fashioned horse-trading” and use Keystone to bargain for something else, such as building the oil and gas production infrastructure, or possibly for GOP agreement to pass a gas tax.

He warned Obama and Democratic leaders not to keep alienating centrists or face the consequences in the 2016 presidential election.

Republicans, Marshall said, are showing signs that they are “sobering up politically” and positioning themselves to appeal to a larger swath of voters than they did in the 2012 presidential contest.

“It would be foolish to disrespect the moderates who embrace a more growth oriented agenda because that’s what this party needs if Democrats are going to expand their appeal to moderate voters … voters who are going to be essential in putting together a winning coalition in 2016.

“They are going to have to be more credible and present themselves as a party of growth and shared prosperity not simply class warfare and redistribution,” he said.

Zack Colman contributed to this report.

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