Democratic Party (United States)

=== Conservatives ===
{{see also|Conservative Democrat|Blue Dog Coalition}}
[[File:State Dining Room 2009.jpg|thumb|President Obama meeting with the [[Blue Dog Coalition]] in 2009]]
A conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with more conservative views than most Democrats. Until the 2010s, the Democratic Party had a large conservative element, mostly from the South and [[Upland South|Border]] regions.<ref name="blue-dog-regroup">{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Paul |date=2014-01-15 |title=Blue Dog Democrats, whittled down in number, are trying to regroup |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2014-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116091758/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html |archive-date=2014-01-16 |quote=Four years ago, they were the most influential voting bloc on Capitol Hill, more than 50 House Democrats pulling their liberal colleagues to a more centrist, fiscally conservative vision on issues such as health care and Wall Street reforms.}}</ref> Their numbers declined sharply as the Republican Party built up its Southern base.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2010/11/11/the-long-goodbye|date=November 11, 2010|newspaper=The Economist|title=The long goodbye|quote=In 1981 Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time since 1953, but most Southern elected officials remained white Democrats. When Republicans took control of the House in 1995, white Democrats still comprised one-third of the South's tally. ... white Southern Democrats have met their Appomattox: they will account for just 24 of the South's 155 senators and congressmen in the 112th United States Congress.|access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref>  

After the [[Republican Revolution|1994 Republican Revolution]], the [[Blue Dog Coalition]] was formed as a caucus of conservatives and centrists willing to broker compromises with the Republican leadership. The Blue Dog Coalition has at times acted as a unified voting bloc, giving its members some ability to influence legislation.<ref name="blue-dog-regroup">{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Paul |date=2014-01-15 |title=Blue Dog Democrats, whittled down in number, are trying to regroup |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2014-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116091758/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html |archive-date=2014-01-16 |quote=Four years ago, they were the most influential voting bloc on Capitol Hill, more than 50 House Democrats pulling their liberal colleagues to a more centrist, fiscally conservative vision on issues such as health care and Wall Street reforms.}}</ref>