Probably the biggest bust in Redskin history, former quarterback Heath Shuler is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 11th District. His opponent is Republican Charles Taylor. Shuler is mounting a heck of a campaign: his website claims he is up by 4 points. And he has raised some serious coin – over $1 million.
Shuler is making such strides in the race that his opponent has invoked the specter of “Speaker Pelosi” as a way of trying to discredit him:
“Rookie Heath Shuler is following the playbook of San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi,” an announcer intones as the noise of a stadium crowd and marching band plays in the background of a 60-second Taylor radio spot. “The Pelosi game plan: Elect Heath Shuler and others like him, and take over Congress with the votes of illegal immigrants.”
[…]
Shuler’s campaign calls Taylor’s ad dishonest, noting that Shuler has repeatedly said he opposes illegal immigration and supports effort to strengthen the nation’s borders.
“I’m a Democrat,” Shuler said. “I feel that (Minority) Leader Pelosi and I certainly have different viewpoints on the social issues, but I feel like as a whole … I’m a Democrat, kind of the old, Southern-style Democrat, certainly a more moderate-style Democrat.”
Here’s hoping Shuler has better luck at the polls than he did on the football field.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Heh, Heath Shuler lost out to a guy who later decided to play chicken with a brick wall. Even if he loses this race, Shuler cannot look that bad again.
IIRC, he originally signed a $19 million contract. And Gus is still in the league – or at least he was last year. Not too bad for a guy who head-butted a goal post 😆
Yeah, I think he still is. If Gus still being in the NFL is not proof that miracles do happen, then nothing is.
Shuler was one of the most exciting college football quarterbacks Ive seen. His bad luck in the pros can largely be contribulted to a foot injury that wouldn’t go away. He has really strong ties to the “Franklin” area of western NC / northeast TN / southwest VA, and I think he would make an excellent congressman.
Shawn – did that foot ever heal? And you seem to know more about his candidacy than even shows up on his website. Can you fill us in on why he would be good?
His “bad luck” in the pros was due to the fact that he wasn’t very good, not injuries.
The important issue is that the Redskins are finally coming out of those dark days of the Shuler era — the last thing DC needs is Shuler coming back. We need to keep Heath Shuler as far away from the Redskins as possible. Sometimes, football is more important than politics (actually, it almost always is).
Stop Shuler!