Brown Dogs Held Balance of Power in House

There are now 3 quadrillion diaries on this site bemoaning the role of Blue Dog Democrats in the House health care debate.  But what I find interesting is the little-discussed role of a second tier of party agitators, the Brown Dogs.

Let me explain...

The Blue Dogs have 40 or 50 declared members.  Of these, 20 to 25 voted both for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment and against the overall health care bill.

And, given the already watered-down nature of the health care bill, it is questionable whether these fiscally and socially conservative, mostly-Southern Democrats would have voted for any health care bill.

So, to me, these Democrats are predictable and largely uninteresting.  The Brown Dogs, however, are much more intriguing...