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#NC8’s Larry Kissell: Another elected Democrat running away from Obama

The Charlotte Observer reports today [1] on yet another Democrat who can’t get away from President Obama fast enough in an election year:

Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, whose rural North Carolina district has become even more Republican, is bucking his party again in two high-profile congressional votes.

Last week, Kissell was one of 17 Democrats who voted with Republicans to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress. And next week, he plans to vote with them again to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law.

“I’ve heard from hundreds and hundreds of people from my district about their opposition to the health care law,” Kissell told the Observer Monday. “I voted against it originally and I will vote to repeal it.”

Kissell also said he doesn’t plan to endorse Obama for re-election and isn’t sure he’ll attend his party’s national convention in Charlotte.

Kissell represents the 8th District, which runs from Mecklenburg County to Robeson County. Last year’s redistricting added heavily Republican areas of Rowan, Davidson and Randolph counties while removing thousands of Democratic voters in Charlotte and Fayetteville.

Redrawn districts have helped make him and Rep. Mike McIntyre of Robeson County – who also voted to find Holder in contempt – two of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the country.

The GOP nominee for this seat has not yet been decided – Scott Keadle and Richard Hudson will face off one more time July 17th in a runoff. As per the Observer, Hudson just received the endorsement of former Ark. Governor and candidate for President Mike Huckabee, while Keadle has gotten a nice chunk of change from the conservative Club for Growth ($716,000 so far).

NC-8 is a true swing district in this state, even with it being redrawn, and Kissell’s hard tilt to the right just might convince the newly added Republicans to vote to keep him in office in November. But because of the district being redrawn, naturally the fight to keep his seat becomes more challenging [2] in a year which sees President Obama’s popularity decreasing every day among key voting blocs – especially independents, so Republicans in his district are not the only people whose vote he has to worry about winning. Oh, and my money’s on him NOT attending the DNC in September. It’s become the trendy thing among Democrats to declare, you know.

To be continued …