Heath Shuler's in da Tent!

With so much being made of the "conservative win" on Teusday, what with a solid handful of Southern conservative democrats being elected (along with plenty of more liberal Northeast dems), I was very interested to listed to a radio interview with Heath Shuler today. As I've said before, the fact that the Dems picked up some of their seats with conservative Dem candidates is indicative of winning the middle and embracing some much more centrist candidates, not of an overt move right.

So I listened to Heath. As a football fan, I had to get over he was a huuuuuuge NFL bust. But given that I've never been drafted in the first round or paid millions for my college athletic prowess, it's tough to really get on him for not making it in pro sports. But Heath was pretty well spoken and didn't soft peddle his more socially conservative ways, he's not wild about gun control, doesn't like abortion but doesn't so much want to make outlawing it a political cause and does not support gay marriage. Ok, so he's not my ideal guy on those social issues.

But here's the kicker that I thought summed up and refuted the whole "Republican in Dem clothing" argument. When asked about what he see's as his role in Congress, he said that (paraphrasing) while some social issues divide Democrats in Congress, the importance of working in short order to raise the minimum wage, improve access to healthcare and work on better solutions to education and poverty are really the key. He said that he's a Democrat because he believes that's the party that stands for giving a helping hand to those less fortunate, and that it's embarrassing that one in five children in this country live in poverty. Quoting directly, he said "we're better than that." He supports fiscally conservative measures, i.e. a more balanced budget, but that giving huge tax cuts to the rich isn't the way to do it, rather measured tax cuts for the middle and lower class is a better revenue solution for the country. And making smart choices on spending is critical, because the funds we do have should be directed at supporting the middle class and helping those in poverty find a better life.

So gun control, personal feelings about abortion and gay marriage aside (not to downplay those issues, they are biggies, and we'll continue to debate them), I'd like the GOP pundits to take the Heath Shuler interview, stick in their pipes, and smoke away. Because what he said sounded nothing like a conservative, or Republican win to me.