Asheville News

Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell on U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler’s re-election bid: I’ll be surprised if he wins

Jason Sandford August 27, 2010

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

A couple of snippet’s from a good post over at americanindependent.com, which quotes Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell talking about the prospects of U.S. Rep. Health Shuler, a Democrat, winning a third term against challenger Jeff Miller, a Republican:

A little set-up:

A poll released on August 2 by SurveyUSA, changed the framing of the race, as it showed Shuler ahead of Miller by a 45-44 percent margin. Some questions about the intent of the organization that commissioned the poll aside, pundits were now taking this race seriously. Chris Hayes, analyst for the Civitas Institute which commissioned the poll, echoed what those who had seen Bothwell’s e-mail already knew. “Shuler has a base problem. He only won 60% in the primary,” Hayes said.

And this, quoting Bothwell:

Shuler was originally tapped to run for the seat by Bill Clinton and the Democratic National Committee precisely because he was centrist to the point that he supported conservative Republicans when he lived in Tennessee. He was deemed conservative enough to beat Charles Taylor and that strategy worked. But what the DNC didn’t reckon with is the aftermath of the (Howard) Dean phenomenon which begat the Obama campaign and the leftward turn in Democratic politics. The new grassroots activists, Democracy for America, MoveOn, Progressive Democrats of America and Obama’s ongoing national campaign have activated many social liberals and peace advocates who are not much impressed by Shuler’s BlueDog credentials. I’ll be very surprised if they bother to vote for him this fall, and, frankly, very surprised if he wins.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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4 Comments

Asheville Dweller August 30, 2010

Shuler will win his re-election because his district is bigger then just downtown Asheville.

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TJ August 28, 2010

Amen Josh!. Here is one liberal voter that is going to bite the bullet and vote for a GOP candidate whom I don't agree with on probably anyway. However, I voted for Shuler once, didn't vote in his race two years ago because I couldn't bring myself to vote for Mumpower, but enough is enough. It's time for Miller … for 2 years and then we can get a real liberal … like say Gordon Smith

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Politics Watcher August 28, 2010

Does Heath Shuler have any comments about Cecil Bothwell's chances for re-election?

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Josh August 28, 2010

I agree with bothwell. Shuler is a republican in all but name, and should stop pretending he has anything at all to offer liberal voters.

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