| Local political reporter Clancy DuBos appeared on WWL-TV to talk about Rep. Charlie Melancon chances against the Sinning Senator in next year's Senate race. WWL-TV needs to make their videos embeddable, but since they don't, here's the transcript of what Mr. DuBos had to say:
Clancy Dubos: Vitter of course, is the incumbent. He's not necessarily a favorite against a guy like Melancon, because Melancon is clearly the best that the Democrats have to offer against an incumbent like Vitter.
Lee Zurik: Dubos says that's because of Melancon's heritage - the Napoleonville native will intrigue what Dubos calls the key bloc of voters in this race.
Clancy Dubos: Louisiana basically has three big groups of voters, you have blacks, you have, uh, WASPS, white Anglo-Saxon protestants, or bubbas, and you have Cajuns. And the Cajuns, traditionally, are the swing vote.
Lee Zurik: And Dubos says the Cajuns in Acadiana and parishes like Terrebonne and Lafourche could decide this election.
Clancy Dubos: Vitter got elected the first time because he was able to get a significant portion of the Acadiana vote. Melancon, as a native son, and as a conservative, will probably have first call on a lot of Cajun votes, and that will make it tough for Vitter - not impossible.
The most recent public poll done by Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 3/2-4. Registered voters. MoE 4%. (No trend lines)
David Vitter (R) 48
Charlie Melancon (D) 41
Even better were the favorable/unfavorable numbers:
| Candidate |
Favorable |
Unfavorable |
Net (Fav - Unfav) |
| Sinning Senator Vitter (R) |
49% |
42% |
7 |
| Rep. Charlie Melancon (D) |
43% |
18% |
25% |
While I agree with Mr. DuBos that the Cajun voters will be a swing vote, I believe it is vital that any Democrat that runs against the Sinning Senator spend a disproportionate amount of time up in Central and Northern Louisiana pressing the flesh. For a candidate like Melancon, this will be extremely vital.
The question is ... will Melancon run? An announcement is expected in a few weeks. |
