Tar Heel Blue Dogs Mum on Pelosi Vote

Shuler, McIntyre, and Kissell refuse to address fate of House speaker

RALEIGH (By Amanda Vuke, Carolina Journal Online) — As they seek re-election, North Carolina’s centrist Democrats are quick to claim their independence from the party’s liberal Washington leadership. And yet the state’s three self-styled moderates — Mike McIntyre, D-7th; Larry Kissell, D-8th; and Heath Shuler, D-11th — refuse to say how they plan to cast what may be the most consequential vote of the 112th Congress: the vote for speaker of the House.

'Carolina Journal' contacted the offices of Shuler, the whip of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, fellow Blue Dog McIntyre, and Kissell, and asked whether they planned to vote to re-elect Speaker Nancy Pelosi if Democrats retained control of the House in November and she was renominated. Phone calls and e-mails were not returned.

All three voted against their party’s signature health care reforms; McIntyre and Kissell voted against the cap-and-trade legislation targeting greenhouse gases; and Kissell has voted against raising the nation’s debt limit.