“For the gay community, typically the party looks at us as a cash cow or an ATM,” said Aravosis, the editor of AMERICAblog, who referred to the bitter loss in Maine as “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

After a host of battleground district House Democrats voted against the health care bill Saturday, liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas, founder of the widely-read Daily Kos, urged followers of his widely-read blog to stop donating to another party committee — the DCCC, the committee charged with re-electing Democratic House incumbents—and instead contribute directly to candidates.

“So here’s the bottom line — skip any donations to the DCCC,” Moulitsas wrote on Monday. “They’ll be dumping millions into defending these seats. Instead, give to those elected officials who best reflect your values.”

“Democratic committee money, especially the DCCC in 2010, will be overwhelmingly used to recruit and defend conservative Democrats who vote against, water down, and support Republican arguments against, progressive legislation,” Chris Bowers, who has been critical of the DCCC on the prominent Open Left blog, said in an interview. “The DCCC has become an extension of the Blue Dog and New Democrat caucuses.”