Shuler a show pony?

There’s been a lot of ink recently in the Hendersonville Times-News and the Asheville Citizen-Times about Heath Shuler’s decision not to seek re-election in the 11th Congressional District. One of the major themes that emerged in the recent coverage of Shuler’s decision treats him favorably as a moderate who worked to build bridges between the extremists of the far right and far left in the House of Representatives.

For example, in a long editorial the Times-News states, “In his six years in Congress, Shuler will be remembered for his leadership in the moderate to conservative Blue Dog caucus.” It goes on to say, “Moderate voters, however, will remember Shuler as someone who listened to all sides and tried to bridge the ever-growing partisan divide.”

The problem with these round words of praise for Mr. Shuler is that, in my opinion, he doesn’t deserve them. One of the first things that I learned when I worked in the Senate long ago was to be able to distinguish between a “workhorse” and a “show pony” in Congress.

Heath Shuler has been a show pony. And the bitter and divisive battle over health care reform proves it.

We all know that the battle over HCR tore the nation in half. It produced a bill that, in my opinion, a majority of Americans believe is too costly and won’t work. Moreover, its constitutionality has been challenged and the Supreme Court’s decision this summer will weigh heavily on who wins the White House in November. But it didn’t have to be this awful way.

In 2009-10, as the battle over HCR raged, The Blue Dogs, with Heath Shuler as their whip, had more than 50 votes. Had Shuler been a workhorse and done his job, he could have “whipped” the Blue Dogs behind a compromise bill that would have profoundly transformed the outcome. Without the support of a unified Blue Dog Coalition, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans could have gotten any HCR bill through the House. Obama, Pelosi and Boehner all would have been forced to compromise with the Shuler-led Blue Dogs. That’s what workhorses do.

I feel Shuler did none of this. Instead the show pony ran for the hills, voted against the bill and came back here proclaiming “mountain values.” What Shuler did was designed to advantage his prospects for re-election. That’s what show ponies do. His gambit paid off at the polls in 2010. But it was a pyrrhic victory.

Outrage at Obamacare fueled the Republican tsunami in 2010. It gave the GOP control of the legislature in Raleigh for the first time in more than a century. And that led to the redistricting plan that has ended Shuler’s career. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the 2012 stable had a workhorse in it? I’ve yet to see one.

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