The Blue Dog

George Rodrigue was a Louisiana painter or some renown.  He painted landscapes and family gatherings, great scenes of Louisiana rural life.  He generally included a blue dog in each of his paintings and that blue dog became a trademark.

In the 110th Congress, a group of conservative Democrats (can you imagine such a thing) would caucus together to try and promote their interests.  They adopted the name Blue Dog Caucus.  One wag said that they "had been choked blue by the liberal Democrats".  Two Louisiana representatives, Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes were members of the coalition, and one of those reps, (Tauzin, perhaps?) had a Rodrigue painting in his office.  The visual image of the blue dog was a natural fit for the conservative Dem caucus.

When I got to the polls today, the lines were manageable.  Talking with the commissioners, they said that it had been steady all morning.  They're expecting a larger turn out late in the afternoon when folks get off work.  As I finished voting, they handed me a small sticker, and I had to laugh aloud.

Heh!  There is Rodrigue's blue dog on my sticker.  Sure, he's a symbol of conservative Democrats, but more importantly, he's a symbol of Louisiana.  We love the blue dog down here, regardless of his politics.