These Blue Dogs Won't Hunt

--Bumped to the Top--
The Pelosi effect on "conservative" Democrats.
by Sonny Bunch
04/02/2007, Volume 012, Issue 28






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.

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Weekly Standard

Read the rest of the article. The only thing I will add is that in January and February, Congressman Shuler voted against the Democrat Majority only one time, and that was over Stem Cells. I won't tally the March numbers until the 31st of March, then I'll give a first quarter report on our new Congress Critter.