The Cagle Post identifies her as “an independent and witty voice.” The bio at her blog informs us that, per Media Matters for America, she’s among the top-20 syndicated columnists. Yet I had never heard of Froma Harrop until I read her RCP column today — an oversight that suggests either (a) it’s increasingly difficult to achieve broadscale name recognition in this country, or (b) I’m hopelessly out of touch. Let’s go with (b) for now, to avoid a distracting debate.

Harrop’s column focuses on the travails of the Blue Dog Democrats.

As do I, Ms. Harrop seems to have an affinity for the Blue Dogs. In addition to her admonition in today’s column to “Be very nice to the Blue Dogs,” consider that — beyond RCP and Politico — Harrop’s blogroll includes only one other site: Right Democrat, which longs for a day when Democrats “who believe in economic populism and social traditionalism … win back the values and national security voters” and thus “build a governing majority.” That vision (somewhat) echoes the Blue Dogs’ self-portrayal as “a policy-oriented group to give moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives a common sense, bridge-building voice within the institution.”

Affinity or not, Ms. Harrop aptly describes the Blue Dogs’ difficult position in the middle:

The semi-conservative parts of the country that elect Blue Dogs are not thickly settled with liberals. Forty-nine House Democrats come from districts that backed John McCain in 2008. They have no reason to relax. As a reality check, the special election in upstate New York to replace Blue Dog Kirsten Gillibrand (now in Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat) remains too close to call.

And Republicans totally understand the Blue Dogs’ vulnerability. House Minority Leader John Boehner called them “lap dogs” for Obama.

These Democrats are dogged if they do and dogged if they don’t.

Harrop then encourages us to “set aside the politics and look at the policies” — i.e., consider the merits rather than the challenges of the Blue Dogs’ position, which she describes thus:

This year and next, big deficits are needed to pull the economy out of the ditch. But in the longer term, deficits must come down. The “pay-go” rule, a Blue Dog obsession, is the way to impose discipline. It requires lawmakers to offset the costs of legislation with tax increases or spending cuts.

By the way, these centrists are not Lite Republicans. When Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said, “I want to ask my friends, the Blue Dog Democrats, do you really want all this government?” he truly asked the wrong question.

The Blue Dogs have no ideological objection to government. They support such Obama priorities as health-care reform. They just want them paid for.

And Blue Dogs hold undisguised contempt for recent Republican conversions to fiscal rectitude …

Considering these points, I think the most partisan members of the House — on both sides of the aisle — would be well advised to heed Ms. Harrop’s counsel to pay the Blue Dogs some respect.