Running for Congress last fall in North Carolina, Heath Shuler staked out ground as a conservative Democrat. In a district held comfortably by Republican Charles Taylor since 1990, the former all-American quarterback distanced himself from Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi. The day after defeating a scandal-dogged Taylor by 8 points in a district George W. Bush had carried by 14, Shuler feigned uncertainty as to whether he would support Pelosi's candidacy for speaker. "I want to see which other member decides to run against Pelosi," Shuler said, knowing full well she was the only legitimate candidate in the Democratic caucus.
Shuler ran as a pro-life, pro-gun moderate. He was one of the few insurgent Democrats who didn't believe in the immediate withdrawal from Iraq urged by John Murtha, and one of only two to use the word "win" on his campaign website with regard to Iraq. "We cannot leave a political vacuum in Iraq and threaten to further destabilize the entire region," he wrote. "We must win this war." He portrayed himself as a pro-business moderate, and, after arriving on Capitol Hill, joined the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of fiscally conservative Democrats. "As a small business owner I have a deep appreciation for the issues facing these companies," Shuler said, promising to "work closely with small business owners to ensure the tools and resources they need to compete, expand, and create jobs are available."
That was then. Since he joined the House, Shuler's votes have become indistinguishable from his liberal colleagues'. He
voted to oppose the president's plan to surge troops into Baghdad and for the supplemental setting benchmarks for the Iraqi government and a timetable for withdrawal. He cosponsored the recent "card-check" legislation backed by big labor and Nancy Pelosi's most senior adviser, a liberal bull from California by the name of George Miller. He also voted for the Pelosi-backed plan to dismantle the president's prescription drug benefit for Medicare, a benefit that has dramatically increased the number of seniors covered and enjoys an approval rating hovering around 80 percent. And Shuler left small businesses out to dry when he supported an increase in the minimum wage without demanding an offsetting tax reduction.
Shuler's record is hardly unique--three quarters of the newly elected House Democrats hail from districts previously held by Republicans. That has not stopped them from joining their leadership in supporting the more liberal aspects of the Democratic agenda. According to an analysis in the Washington Post's Capitol Briefing blog, through the first seven weeks of the 110th Congress, the 42 new members "have voted in near lockstep with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats." Out of almost 4,000 total votes cast by the new members, a mere 20 were cast against positions advocated by Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and the rest of the Democratic caucus' leadership. Only 14 of the 42 had cast even one roll call vote deviating from the party line.
Of course, some of this is to be expected. The majority of votes on the floor of the House are procedural or meaningless. Resolutions mourning the death of Gerald Ford, observing the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and celebrating Boise State's victory in the Fiesta Bowl (although you'd think the Oklahoma delegation might have opposed that one) have all passed unanimously this year, to cite just a few examples. Unity held on even the important and potentially divisive topics, however--in Pelosi's much-vaunted "first 100 hours," the only substantial defections by novices were those of Shuler, Brad Ellsworth, Charlie Wilson, and Joe Donnelly, who voted against their leadership with regard to expanding stem cell research, and Nick Lampson's objection to the Ending Subsidies for Big Oil Act of 2007.
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