North Carolina Democrats Have A Case Of Buyers Remorse Over Heath Shuler-- Guest Post From Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith interviewing Shuler during the 2006 campaign

If you know Gordon Smith it's probably because you've read his posts at Asheville, North Carolina's progressive blog, Scrutiny Hooligans. Gordon, a child and family therapist, is a candidate for Asheville City Council this year. In 2006 he was one of the western North Carolina activists eager to get rid of the corrupt fossil who represented their area, the bankster/congressman Charlie Taylor. Gordon worked to elect Heath Shuler. Like many progressives in North Carolina-- and beyond-- he's happier that Taylor is gone than he is that Shuler, one of the most reactionary of any House Democrat, has replaced him. Today's top story in Politico emphasizes the distrust Speaker Pelosi feels towards Heath Shuler. He's the only person on her bad boy list above second-ranked Rush Limbaugh!

No Democrat has done quite so much in so short a time to arouse Pelosi’s disdain as the failed-Redskins-quarterback-turned-ambitious-North-Carolina-congressman.

The conservative, anti-abortion Shuler would have made the list for voting against both bank bailout bills and the stimulus package, but the way he went about it didn’t help; Shuler told an audience back home that “House leadership and Senate leadership have really failed” on the $787 billion package.

The thing that riles Pelosi most, according to several House aides, is that she believes Shuler’s motives are as much political as they are ideological-- and that he’s picking a fight with her to position himself for a run against Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) next year.

Now that Shuler is working with Republicans to sabotage progressive values on a regular basis-- and looking towards running for the U.S. Senate-- I asked Gordon to give us a perspective from inside North Carolina's beautiful 11th congressional district. His report:

OUR REBOUND RELATIONSHIP WITH HEATH SHULER

by Gordon Smith

For sixteen long years, the citizens of North Carolina's mountainous 11th District were represented in Congress by Charles H. Taylor. No matter the clouds of corruption allegations swirling around him, conservative voters returned Taylor to the House cycle after cycle. He had his Russian bank ties, his Jack Abramoff ties, his Savings and Loan scandal, and a remarkable antipathy towards the press and his progressive constituents. It was like an ill-considered, abusive relationship, and NC-11 voters couldn't tear themselves away.

Then along came Heath Shuler. Big, handsome, and aw-shucks honest, he had pretty words about labor unions, education, and the environment. He looked like our dragon-slayer. We knew about his social conservatism and Tennessee Republican registration, but we looked past those differences, ready for him to free us from the muck pond of Charles Taylor's reign. Progressive and conservative Democrats across the district worked together to elect Shuler. I campaigned for him repeatedly and interviewed him for the YouTube crowd.

Despite being outspent 3-1, Heath Shuler defeated the embattled, embittered Charles Taylor 54 - 46 in this district that had gone 57 - 43 for President Bush only two years before. And there was much rejoicing.  Before long, however, those things we'd chosen to ignore during the campaign began cropping up. He voted against stem cell research. He argued against "amnesty" for immigrants. He voted against hate crimes legislation. He was praised by the Family Research Council, spoke at North carolina's version of CPAC, along with Rudy Giuliani and Liddy Dole, and voted against SCHIP. He voted twice against the stimulus package.

Like the abused constituency we'd become under Charles Taylor's tenure, we tried to focus on his votes to expand parks, the V.A., and energy efficiency. Though the knight in shining armor had lost his luster, we weren't ready to imagine anyone better might come along. We nodded our heads when people would say, "it's not like you'll get anymore further to the left of Heath Shuler elected in this district."

And then came the Obama campaign. North Carolina was suddenly a swing state, and Congressman Shuler was doing the superdelegate cha-cha-cha. Obama campaigners and local Democrats embarked on a massive voter registration drive, and when the dust settled in November, 2008, Barack Obama won two counties in Shuler country. Obama's margin in Buncombe County alone accounted for his margin of victory in newly-blue North Carolina.

It's been a real eye-opener for 11th district progressives. We don't have to settle for a representative who won't recognize equality or value stem cell science. We don't have to hang on the arm of a representative who votes so often against Democratic initiatives. Heath Shuler was our perfect rebound relationship after the pain of living with Charles Taylor, but now we're ready to move on, ready to look for a Congressional candidate who will respect women's rights and human rights while keeping our economic fortunes on the right track. With the rumor mill whirling over the possibility Shuler will run for Richard Burr's Senate seat, there may be an open seat for 11th District progressives to go after. That's a possibility that many had almost given up on and that Barack Obama's ascension has turned from an unimaginable dream into a realistic goal.

Progressives don't have to settle for Heath Shuler. We can recruit and support a Democrat who will reflect the change that's come to America.

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Watch Gordon interviewing Shuler in 2006. You can see the roots of what Shuler has become since being elected to Congress: