Blue Dog to Obama: Don't work with left

Healthcare reform will "blow up" in President Barack Obama's face if he decides to partner with the Democratic Party's left flank to force through a bill, one centrist Democrat argued Tuesday evening.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition in the House, told constituents at a town hall meeting yesterday that a bill relying on a party-lines vote wouldn't pass.

"If he goes off with the left, then I don’t think it’ll happen," Peterson said. "I think this will blow up in his face.”

Peterson urged Obama to be more specific about what he wants in the bill and what he could live without in the town hall, which was sponsored by a conservative radio host, according to the Detroit Lakes Tribune.

"He’s talking about generalities and concepts, but he has not said, ‘This is what I’m for,'" Peterson said. "In order to get something done, it’s going to take the president to come forward and say, ‘This is it, this is where we start.’"

Peterson bemoaned the thought of the momentum for healthcare reform dissipating, saying "it would be a tragedy if we let this thing fall apart."