The Democratic Coalition

While it might not seem so, Democratic attitudes about the Keystone XL pipeline are not unanimous. In fact, neither are attitudes on changing, or "weakening" the Dodd-Frank bank legislation. DailyKos tracked who voted for each, and both, of the bills on the Democratic side. There are more people than you might have guessed. Why?

Well, I noticed something when looking at the list. There are pro-building trades union Congressional members like Bob Brady of Philadelphia and Donald Norcross of New Jersey on the list of pro-Keystone votes. There are also a lot of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, such as Jim Clyburn and Cedric Richmond. There are Hispanic members such as Albio Sires and Henry Cuellar. There are lots of Midwest members, such as Rick Nolan and Dave Loebsack. Of course, there are the endangered members who represent tough districts too, like Ben Ashford and Patrick Murphy. There were even some who represent wealthy suburban areas around New York and Washington.

The Republican Party is a party, and the Democratic Party is a coalition. We represent different races, religions, sexualities, and incomes. There are going to be some disagreements on issues. Clearly labor and the CBC see the Keystone XL Pipeline differently than the rest of the party. While I know some want the party to have tough discipline on these matters, who is going to discipline two of the most loyal groups in the movement?