The GOP wants to help its candidate, Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, win the 11th Congressional District U.S. House seat. They really do. It’s just that Mumpower’s insistence on doing what he thinks is right, regardless of what his party wants, makes it a bit difficult.

Couple that with Mumpower’s flair for the dramatic, and it has made for an interesting ride in Mumpower’s bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Heath Shuler.

Given, Shuler isn’t an easy candidate to beat. He’s a Swain County native and football hero who once played in the NFL. He was named one of the best looking people in Washington by a political magazine. And he hasn’t done much during his first term to turn voters against him.

But Mumpower’s campaign antics likely didn’t do much to boost his chances. Months ago, he stubbornly suspended his campaign until all the local GOP chapters around the district promised to revert back to the original principals of the Republican Party. He talks to a cardboard cutout because Shuler won’t debate him (though the two will finally face off at the end of the month). He’s refused to accept party money. As a result, his campaign has just $2,225 in its coffers, and he’s stopped running ads in the crucial weeks leading up to the election.

“He’s a different kind of candidate,” says Don Livingston, a political science professor at Western Carolina University. “Sometimes, he can drive the Republican leadership nuts.”

Mostly due to his refusal to accept party money, Mumpower has had trouble getting his message out. He’s raised $126,648 — more than 10 times less that of Shuler, who’s raised $1.5 million, according to Open Secrets. Mumpower can’t do the mass mailings and television commercials to get his name out to the public.

“Mumpower has chosen not to have the resources to be able to run a traditional modern campaign, so he faces a big uphill battle,” says Gibbs Knotts, head of the political science department at WCU.

Ironically, Mumpower’s principled stand against taking special interest money has hampered his ability to tell voters that he’s the kind of guy who takes principled stands.

“He won’t take the money because he wants to be independent, so he’s in a quandary,” says Knotts. “He’s got to get some money somehow to get out this message of independence.”

The GOP hoped Mumpower would win back the seat lost by 16-year Republican incumbent Charles Taylor. The race between Taylor and Shuler attracted national attention for its potential to swing Congress in the Democrats’ favor. Shuler may be hard for anyone to beat after his first term — by most accounts, he’s played his first cards in Washington just right.

“Heath has done a good job during the expansionist stage of his career, sort of solidifying his basis for it,” Livingston says. “He’s done a good job in terms of case work, and I think he’s done the right things that will help him win re-election.”

Shuler has managed to vote along party lines while striking a balance with the conservative base in his mountain district. He’s aligned with the Blue Dogs, a group of conservative Democratic congressman, and went against his party with most of the Blue Dogs to vote against the recent economic bailout.

Shuler’s most prominent piece of legislation thus far is his bi-partisan S.A.V.E. Act, which aims to curb illegal immigration.

Beyond that, he’s mostly signed his name to benign pieces of legislation that deal with families, veterans, small businesses and the environment — avoiding hot-button issues and distancing himself from controversy. All in all, Shuler hasn’t given his constituents much reason to vote him out. That’s not to say he’s unbeatable — it just may take a more traditional campaign, and candidate, than Mumpower to defeat him.

“The right candidate might have a shot at it,” says Livingston. “A more traditional type, one who will accept the political action committee money and take party money and go out and do a certain degree of pandering.”

In other words, not quite Mumpower’s style.

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