Two leaders of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats headed to southeast Alabama’s 2nd district on Monday to campaign with candidate Bobby Bright, who is hoping to swing the seat of retiring Rep. Terry Everett (R) into the Democratic column this fall.

Reps. John Tanner (Tenn.) and Allen Boyd (Fla.), co-chairmen of the Blue Dogs, talked up Bright’s conservative credentials at their campaign stops with the Montgomery mayor.

“As a member of the Blue Dogs, Bobby will be in the powerful position of helping eliminate the enormous debt facing our country,” Tanner said. “He has already shown he is a good steward of taxpayer money by balancing the budget every year as mayor and even creating a $30 million rainy-day fund. He has also done a great job revitalizing Montgomery’s downtown and enticing new businesses to the area.”

But no matter how much he plays up his conservative qualifications and tries to divorce himself from the more liberal leaders of his party, Bright will still have a “D” next to his name on the ballot this fall. And Republicans are working hard to convince voters that state Rep. Jay Love (R) will be a better representative of the district’s conservative interests in Washington, D.C.