Blue Dog Democrat: one of a group of conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives
The Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1994, mainly to promote fiscal conservatism in government. The name may have come from paintings by Louisiana artist George Rodrigue featuring a small blue dog. Two of the founding members, who hosted early meetings, displayed Rodrigue's paintings on their walls. However, more fanciful explanations for the name have also been offered. The most popular claims that Blue Dogs are former Yellow Dog Democrats who have been "choked blue" by the policies of colleagues to their left. An early example of this explanation appears in the Washington Times for April 21, 1995: ". . . yellow-dog Democrats turned blue by the choke-hold put on them by their own liberal leadership." Yet another proposal is that this group of legislators are like dogs who have been left out in the cold for so long they've turned blue. Freshman Blue Dogs are referred to as Blue Pups.