Even casual observers of the political arena know the Democratic Party is poised to increase its majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate this November.Republicans, for their part, are fully aware of their party’s perilous situation. Eight Republican senators, some in close races, are skipping the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, to avoid any close ties to their party’s damaged brand.But some Democratic candidates are finding themselves in similar positions to their Republican counterparts — Don Cazayoux (D-La.), in particular. Cazayoux’s victory in the special election for Louisiana’s 6th congressional district was one of the first indications of how deep public frustration ran with the Republican Party. Cazayoux is the first Democrat elected in Louisiana’s 6th congressional district since 1974.Cazayoux is attempting to defend his seat and win his first full term.A damaged Republican brand doesn’t fully explain Cazayoux’s success, though. Cazayoux is running as a conservative Democrat — a pro-life, anti-gun control, pro-offshore drilling and family values-oriented Democrat.  Cazayoux’s strategy is to minimize the differences between himself and his Republican challenger, Bill Cassidy. This allows Cazayoux to satisfy conservative values without attaching himself to the ruined Republican Party.While this is a great strategy to get elected, it’s an intellectually lazy tactic and one that runs contrary to the Democratic Party’s values. Cazayoux is skipping the Democratic convention, and he only professes support for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., when his arm is twisted by a reporter. I wasn’t sure if many of his conservative positions were a product of his own honest values or if they were simply political opportunism, cowardice and intellectual laziness.His full support, though, for offshore drilling — an awful policy — has confirmed my suspicions of the latter.The Democratic Party doesn’t care about any of that, though. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has named Cazayoux as one of their “Frontline” Democrats — those slated to receive the most help getting elected. The DCCC is already running ads on Cazayoux’s behalf.The party is simply interested in maintaining and expanding their majority in congress.I, however, am interested in the best interest of my community.Gun control, abortion rights and offshore drilling: these are issues that merit serious debate and consideration — a debate Democrats can win, even in conservative districts. But as long as someone like Cazayoux is occupying the spot, these debates will never happen. I would rather see a candidate run who can make these arguments, even if they have less chance of winning.The DNC is pursuing an empty majority — changing hearts and minds be damned.To be fair, Cazayoux does support various democratic policies. He opposes privatizing social security and supports expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicare, according to his website. These are all positions that are popular and safe to support even in conservative districts. Cazayoux also plans to join the Blue Dog Democrats, a coalition of conservative democrats in Congress that push fiscally conservative economic policies. Ironically, high-profile members of the Blue Dogs often clash with the DNC, and in the past, some have boycotted paying their dues to the DCCC — the same organization spending resources to get Cazayoux, a future Blue Dog, elected. Another important caveat facing Cazayoux is that, despite his conservative rhetoric, he will have trouble explaining to voters why he has voted with “a majority of his Democratic colleagues 90.9 percent of the time during the current Congress,” according to a U.S. Congress voting database compiled by The Washington Post. Many of these votes are either symbolic and generally unimportant — naming post offices after athletes and veterans — or procedural — voting to advance bills to the floor or voting to adjourn.Conservative voters who may be considering voting for Cazayoux should realize is that most U.S. Representatives vote along party lines a strong majority of the time. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., another conservative Democrat representing Louisiana’s 3rd district, and a Blue Dog Democrat, voted with the Democratic majority 92.1 percent of the time, according to The Washington Post’s database. This is not to say these conservative democrats won’t break with their party — they sometimes do — but voters shouldn’t expect Cazayoux, or any conservative Democrats, to walk in and saber-rattle against the Democratic Party’s platform. At the very least, they will provide warm bodies to help control procedures like adjourning and overriding vetoes. At the end of the day, Cazayoux will infuriate liberals with conservative rhetoric and anger conservatives when he doesn’t deliver on that rhetoric.Cazayoux is another ambitious, pandering politician — not exactly a change we can believe in.   —-contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]