Right Wing Politics Bored John Shadegg
Even during his 2008 re-election campaign, U.S. Representative John Shadegg was showing signs of ennui. “Congress can be so boring,” Shadegg commented, and expected voters to sympathize. Now it seems that Shadegg can’t stand the boredom of Congress any longer. He’s announced that he will retire in January 2011, declining to run for re-election this year.
No one would ever have made the mistake of calling Representative Shadegg a progressive, and his record in the 111th Congress reflects that. Shadegg didn’t support a single one of the progressive legislative measures included in our legislative scorecard.
In fact, Shadegg made some remarkably anti-progressive votes over the last year. He voted to prevent videotaping of interrogations to ensure that interrogators do not torture or otherwise violate the law. He voted against legislation to provide working Americans with the same bankruptcy protections currently given to the wealthy. He voted against efforts to provide health insurance to America’s children.
Congressman Shadegg has found it easier to vote against progressive measures, but he found it harder to find any legislation to actually support. Though in previous sessions of Congress, Shadegg had a high right wing score, in the 111th Congress, he couldn’t seem to muster as much extremist fervor. He obtained only a 37 out of a possible 100 right wing score, suggesting that Shadegg had become emotionally exhausted with the right wing politics that had propelled his congressional career.
It’s not at all clear who will be running in the Republican primary to replace John Shadegg as the GOP nominee. On the Democratic side, Jon Hulburd is currently the only candidate, though that may change as other politicians smell an opportunity.
