Rep. Gene Taylor, a Blue Dog Democrat, promises voters in Mississippi that he will work with Republicans to repeal President Obama's signature health care law.
In North Carolina, Rep. Heath Shuler — a Blue Dog who serves as whip for the influential centrist caucus — calls himself the "true conservative" in his tough re-election race with Republican businessman Jeff Miller. "I know you're mad at Congress," Mr. Shuler tells voters in one campaign ad as he leans on a pickup truck, "and so am I."
Across the country, Blue Dog Democrats — whose 54 members represent more than one-fifth of their party's 255-seat majority and many of the country's most contested swing districts — find themselves squarely in the cross hairs.
Less than four weeks before the Nov. 2 elections, 26 Blue Dog lawmakers represent seats that pollsters and forecasters say are either leaning Republican or are considered tossups. A few races, including the one for the seat being vacated by Rep. Charlie Melancon, a Blue Dog Democrat from Louisiana, are almost universally conceded to be GOP pickups.
The Blue Dogs facing tough re-election fights include three of the coalition's four-member leadership team: Mr. Shuler; Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, who is co-chairman for administration; and Rep. Baron P. Hill of Indiana, co-chairman for policy.
The fiscal conservatives, many of whom voted against health care reform and Mr. Obama's $814 billion stimulus program, are running ads distancing themselves from unpopular national party figures, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the president.
Mr. Shuler has even talked about opposing Mrs. Pelosi for the speaker's post.
One of Mr. Shuler's colleagues on the Blue Dog leadership team, Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah, said he understands why conservative Democrats such as Mr. Shuler are running against the Democrat-dominated Congress and the Democratic president.
"I have never agreed with this idea that because you're a Democrat or a Republican, that you're automatically part of this monolithic voting bloc," he told The Washington Times. "People need to be true to themselves and why they were elected. They need to stand with the people of their districts."
Mr. Matheson said he also empathizes with Democrats who are frustrated with Mrs. Pelosi and that he, too, would consider supporting a bid to unseat her next year.
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