Secret Ballot, Anyone?

As you know by now, Nancy Pelosi defeated Heath Shuler to remain the leader of the Democrats in the House, now as Minority Leader. But I was interested by these stories for another reason.

Newsweek:
"Why Heath Shuler Is Challenging Nancy Pelosi"
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/11/16/why-heath-shuler-is-challenging-nancy-pelosi.html

"Congressional observers predict Shuler may get more votes than one might expect, since the ballot is secret and many Democrats might want to express frustration with Pelosi and the party more generally."

NewAmerican:
"Pelosi Again? Are the Dems Gluttons for Punishment?"
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/5244-pelosi-again-are-the-dems-gluttons-for-punishment

"...Pelosi was elected to the position of House minority leader by 150 Democrats in a secret ballot."

The obvious question is: WHY IS IT A SECRET BALLOT? Why should the Democrats use a secret ballot when they sure as hell don't believe that American workers deserve a secret ballot when voting for or against unionizing? Think about it.


Oh, and back to Heath Shuler for a minute. Heath Shuler lives in Western North Carolina and represents the area where I used to live. I listened to some of the radio debates between him and his opponent (difficult to listen to Shuler's smarmy, condescending tone, but I suffered through it). Shuler is one of those guys who pretends to be conservative to get elected but is anything but. He claims to be a Blue Dog Democrat (fiscally conservative). He's not. His opponent challenged him as being a Pelosi pawn. He claimed he's not. Running for Minority Leader against Pelosi was nothing but a stunt to make himself look more conservative to the folks back home. Amazing to me that people don't see through his act.