| Back during the 2003 Governor's race, Nagin backed Jindal, even against a fellow Democrat - Governor Kathleen Blanco - in the runoff. Apparently, there was a deal regarding the endorsement ... Jindal was to back Nagin in his re-election bid in '06.
But Jindal stayed silent, not having the guts to take a public stand, fearing that a public endorsement of Nagin would come back to haunt him with his conservative base in this year's Governor's race.
And that's why Nagin WANTS to get in this race. He wants to get back at "Bobby" Jindal by beating him in the Governor's race. Let's game plan this scenario the way Nagin's supporters are probably doing at this time ...
Jindal gets an overwhelming majority of the Republican vote as the only serious Republican in the race. Boasso and Foster Campbell split the white Democratic vote, leaving Nagin with the overwhelming majority of the African-American vote, putting him in the runoff against Jindal, as it did for Senator Cleo Fields and Rep. William Jefferson against former Governor Mike Foster.
Such a scenario ... Jindal v. Nagin ... as scary as that seems, may actually produce a "Democratic" victory according to Nagin's supporters, if the following happens:
A large portion of white voters upstate stay home, as they don't want to vote for either candidate. Nagin will get the entirety of the black vote, Jindal will get the conservative Christian white vote. The question here is where do the rest of white voters throughout the rest of the state go?
Nagin, by getting in the race, would be betting that a majority of the white vote that's not part of the Christian Coalition block comes out and votes for him, thereby giving him the Governorship.
I don't believe for a minute that Nagin can beat Jindal, mainly because I believe that the upstate white voters will come out and vote for Jindal in a Jindal-Nagin match-up, as I have no doubt that the Republican Party will cater to the fears of upstate voters.
What say you? |
