Corrected 2:09 p.m. | The Blue Dog Coalition doesn’t have a branding issue, its new leaders say. They aren’t concerned with its dwindling numbers. Nor are they preoccupied with the political labels others place upon them.
“I hate to even have to address that stuff you’re trying to bring up. I really do, because I never thought about that stuff when I chose to join the Blue Dogs,” said Rep. Jared Golden, the third-term Maine representative who last month was named one of three co-chairs of the centrist caucus of House Democrats.
The former Marine sat in his office on a recent Thursday in the midst of the House Freedom Caucus’ vote-stopping debt ceiling protest. Beside him were fellow Blue Dog co-chair Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington and the group’s newest member, Wiley Nickel of North Carolina. Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska rounds out the caucus’ new leadership.
