The Bottom Line in NC/7: Mike McIntyre Is No Conservative Democrat.

 Verne Strickland Blogmaster / November 2, 2012

by Warner Todd Huston  

Breitbart.com 2 Nov 2012
 

Mike McIntyre is the 8-term, incumbent Democrat Congressman from North Carolina's 7th Congressional District. He sells himself to the folks back home as a true "Blue Dog Democrat," a conservative who doesn't fall for the far left's nonsense. But a look at his voting record does not substantiate this conclusion, as he's voted the left's party line far more than he lets on.

A look at his voting record between 2007 and 2010, for instance, shows that McIntyre sided with ultra left-wing Nancy Pelosi 90 percent of the time. That isn't such an independent record, is it?

One of McIntyre's favorite anti-lefty votes is his vote against Obamacare. Again and again McIntyre points to this vote to prove his independent streak. Of course, the truth is then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did not need the votes of the few Blue Dogs that opted out of a yea vote to protect their status back home. It was even reported at the time that Speaker Pelosi gave these Blue Dogs dispensation to make their anti-Obamacare vote.

Is a vote that was "allowed" by the boss a real vote of conscience? We don't know McIntyre's heart, of course, but getting permission to cast such a vote ahead of time casts suspicion on that vote.

McIntyre is also wildly out of step with his own voters. During his 16 years in Congress McIntyre voted to pass the failed stimulus bill, voted to make Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House not once but on four different occasions, and has voted with Barack Obama as much as 82% of the time.

However, his District is not nearly so left-wing. The National Republican Congressional Committee reports that a recent poll shows that Obama has a 60 percent disapproval rating in McIntyre's district. Fifty-six percent say that they want Obama's job killing policies stopped.

McIntyre supported billions in bailouts, voted to spend $800 billion in stimulus funds that ended up creating jobs in China instead of North Carolina, yet has said that North Carolina is now "better off" now than it was when Obama was elected in 2008. McIntyre said this even though at press time North Carolina was suffering an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent. Incidentally, that is higher than the national average of 7.8 percent unemployment.

So, while he campaigns back home like a conservative Democrat when in Washington he acts more like a normal, liberal Democrat often voting in lock-step with his very liberal Party leadership.

You can see some of the NRCC's ads against McIntyre HERE.

Facing long-time incumbent McIntyre is Republican David Rouzer. Mr. Rouzer's bio is impressive. He's a successful businessman, has extensive experience in legislative strategy and public policy development, and is a former staffer to Senators Jesse Helms and Elizabeth Dole.

Rouzer is no newcomer to elected office, either. He is currently serving his second term in the North Carolina Senate, representing Johnston County and Wayne Counties. He has a proven track record of garnering votes.

Before becoming a state legislator Rouzer was a senior level appointee of the President at USDA Rural Development. In that capacity, Rouzer helped manage the administration of a program level budget of more than $1.2 billion along with a loan portfolio of $5 billion in investments in rural America – including numerous investments in Johnston and Wayne Counties. He also worked with the White House, Congress, and various agencies on a variety of initiatives that involved rural development programs so he is intimately familiar with the needs of his rural districts.

One of McIntyre's pointed attacks against Rouzer really misses its mark by a wide margin. McIntyre claims that Rouzer is wrong for having done work with Japan Tobacco. This proves, McIntyre claims, that Rouzer is not interested in North Carolina's economy.

But, Rouzer properly notes that Japan Tobacco is the biggest customer for America's tobacco!
This seat should be ripe for a GOP pick-up.