Bud Cramer: From Blue Dog to Lap Dog
Posted by BrianBack in 2006 I looked at Bud Cramer’s voting record to see just how frequently the original Blue Dog Democrat voted with his party. I found that until Wayne Parker nearly beat him in 1994 he voted with his party 80% of the time, which caused him often be at odds with his conservative constituents. His near loss taught him a lesson and after that he only voted with his party 60% of the time. However, it looks like the lesson may have worn off.
Since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 Cramer has voted with his party a shocking 90% of the time - 10% more than when he almost got voted out of office. See how his “independence” shifts with the political winds in Washington in the figure below.
You might ask why I would take the time to analyze Cramer’s voting record now that his retirement is eminent. Well, Parker Griffith* is running to take over Bud’s seat and he is essentially proclaiming that he will be Bud Cramer reincarnated while saying he is an independent who works with Republicans and Democrats in the same breath. The simple fact is that Griffith’s role model just is not the Blue Dog “conservative” that he once was. When Democrats are in control he votes with them. Period. Regardless of who wins this fall it is all but certain that the Democrats will be the majority party. Sending Griffith to DC would trade one loyal Democrat for another.
Now for a little housekeeping. I used the Washington Post’s Congress Votes database as my source, as I did in 2006. Only votes in which Cramer cast a “yes” or “no” were considered. I threw out votes in which both parties took the same position. Sure, counting them would have made his “votes with Democrats” number look higher, but he was also voting with Republicans on those votes so that is a bit misleading. It turns out that there just weren’t that many mutually agreeable votes, though, so even if they were included it would change the percentages too much. Once the list was pared down to only contested votes that Cramer participated in I simply sorted his votes based on the party he voted with.
The Post says that Cramer votes with the Democrats 94% of the time, although I believe that includes mutually agreeable votes. You might recall that liberals just LOVE to call Jeff Sessions and other Republicans “water carriers” and “lap dogs” for the party. Well guess what. It turns out that Cramer - the vaunted conservative Blue Dog - votes with his party more than Sessions, Shelby, and every Republican member of Alabama’s delegation other than Jo Bonner. Who’s the lap dog now?
Here’s the full break down of Alabama’s delegation, from most loyal to least.
- Artur Davis, 96.9%
- Jo Bonner, 95.0%
- Bud Cramer, 93.8%
- Spencer Bachus, 93.6%
- Robert Aderholt, 93.0%
- Terry Everett, 93.0%
- Mike Rogers, 91.9%
- Richard Shelby, 90.4%
- Jeff Sessions, 89.1%
How about that. The man that Alabama’s uber left wing paper, the Anniston Star, called Sen. Water Carrier is actually the least loyal member of Alabama’s entire delegation. I look forward to the Star’s pending criticism of Rep. Davis for blindly following party orders.
*Yes, Parker Griffith is, in fact, a Democrat. This is true despite the fact that he is understandably embarrassed to admit it. He won’t even tell us which presidential candidate he will be voting for. He’s not even sure if he’ll support his party’s majority leader in Congress. He will also tell you how he worked with Republicans and Democrats in Montgomery even though he voted with his party 99% of the time. Maybe in his ads he should say, “I’m Parker Griffith and I’m an independent state senator who worked with Repuublicans 1% of the time and Democrats the other 99%.”
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August 15th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Wow, great information.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Good analysis.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Also look at how long it took Cramer to get a seat on appropriations. Would Cramer get the seat if his party had the Majority during that same time? Either way, it took him twelve years to get there. Griffith says he only wants to serve eight years. How effective will he be? Then again how effective has he been in AL Senate.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
While it doesn’t say much about Cramer as a statesmen, I think it is fairly evident as to why he voted how he did: he wanted stuff. If he wants things for his district with a Democratic majority, then he has to toe the line, likewise he had to buck his party to get things with the GOP in control. Also, I think it is specious at best to try and tag Parker Griffith with Cramer’s record. His state-senate votes are valid, but to say that he will do something because Bud Cramer did is folly.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Since Parker Griffith is the one who has in essence claimed Bud Cramer record as what we can expect from him - I think it is a legitimate point to analyze the reality of Bud Cramer’s record.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Remember that ad from “Little Jim” down here in Cullman two years ago? He said he’d be an independent Lt Governor who would stand up for the little guy. That little gimmick unfortunately worked for him.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Alright - been too quiet, nowhere else to mention this - so here it is.
In the trend of never being happy. California has decided electric cars are too quiet (bad for the blind trying to cross the street) and are now passing a bill to make them louder.