A useful history lesson

A Useful History Lesson:

The Politico points out that President Obama's attempt to discipline those Democrats who broke with him on HCR may actually help them out:

During the 1938 midterms, Roosevelt stepped up pressure on recalcitrant lawmakers, campaigning against conservative Southern opponents of the New Deal....

FDR, according to one aide, wanted “to make an object lesson” of Georgia Sen. Walter George “because he thought such a defeat would furnish a lasting lesson to the Southern bloc in Congress” — conservative Democrats who helped torpedo parts of Roosevelt’s agenda....

George called Roosevelt’s appearance “a second march through Georgia.”

FDR’s statements even forced some liberal state officials to remain aloof. But after Georgia Gov. Eurith Rivers, architect of the state’s “Little New Deal,” remained neutral, FDR halted Georgia’s public works aid for nearly a year.

The result of his aggressive involvement? George kept his seat.