Word: shuler
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...Democrat Heath Shuler is unlike any candidate that Republican Representative Charles Taylor has faced in the past. Shuler is not only young and dynamic, but he's a local boy who made good playing college and professional football as quarterback. But more than anything else, it's Shuler's rural background that makes him such a formidable challenger. During Taylor's 16 years representing the mountainous 11th congressional district in western North Carolina, he has won reelection by dominating the rural vote against candidates from the larger area cities like Asheville. But Shuler, like Taylor, is conservative on many social...
...Maybe that's why one of Taylor's first commercials slyly tried to paint Shuler, 34, as being from out of state and not a local boy at all. Shuler did indeed play college and professional football across the border in Tennessee. But few in the mountain area seem to care about that distinction: they remember Shuler as the quarterback from Swain County High School. And it's certainly why national Democrats - including former North Carolina Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards, who recently came to campaign with Shuler - think this is one seat they can win against...
...that Taylor, 65, faces such a tough fight, the race is getting predictably ugly. His campaign has mounted an attack ad campaign against Shuler, with the first volley fired over how Shuler failed to pay some $69,000 in taxes for a business he was involved in. "This is the same playbook the Republicans have used for years and no one takes it seriously anymore," says Andrew Whalen, Shuler's communication director. Whalen pointed to Taylor's own problems over taxes: widely believed to be the largest private landowner in western North Carolina, Taylor has had drawn-out legal battles...
...Heath Shuler, an ex-NFL quarterback who lives in North Carolina, resisted Emanuel's entreaties because, Shuler said, he was worried that a race would stop him from spending time with his family. Emanuel started barraging Shuler with several phone calls a day last summer, leaving messages like, "Heath, Rahm. I'm taking my kids to day care." The implication: You can do it too. Shuler signed up for the race, and polls show he's already even with Republican Charles Taylor in the Asheville district. Emanuel's army includes a sheriff, a former FBI agent and several Iraq...
...Shuler, the quarterback who had never run for office, hears from Emanuel as often as once a week. "So how much money have you raised today?" Emanuel asks, often barely greeting Shuler before getting to the question. "We don't need pronouns, adjectives or verbs," says Emanuel. "They know why we're calling...