Jim Matheson

The Blue Dogs are all Democrats; they are. And I'll tell you, in terms of wearing the Democratic label, I think they're the true Democrats, because that label usually hurts them when they're running for election.

The way you have bipartisan negotiations, you sit down across the table, as we did with Ted Kennedy, as I've done with many other members, and you say, 'OK, here's what I want, here's what you want. We'll adhere to your principles, but we'll make concessions.'