NFL QB Shuler to run for Congress

DC Debate has a story on former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler(D) challenging eight term incumbent Representative Charles H. Taylor (R) for his US House Seat in the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina, according to the NY Times.

In areas such as this one in North Carolina, football loyalties run deeper than party lines. "Because Shuler is a Democrat who played football at the University of Tennessee, and because this part of western North Carolina

generally votes Republican and roots for Tennessee, the endorsement usually goes this way: "You're on the wrong side of the ticket, but you know what? I'm going to vote for you anyway."

Shuler is a 33-year-old real estate executive who is best known elsewhere as one of the most disappointing draft picks in NFL history. "But in this area - in the Blue Ridge Mountains where North Carolina meets Tennessee - legends are built in high school and in college, not in the pros."

Shuler is not a traditional Democratic candidate: he opposes abortion rights, gay marriage and gun control. "He is perhaps the only kind of Democrat who can compete in this part of North Carolina."

Although he ain't a traditional dem socially, if he opposes reducing Medicaid, food stamps, student loans, agriculture subsidies and child support enforcement in favor of tax-cuts for the rich, then im all for him. Besides, I have his rookie card.