UPDATE: A reader emailed me the link to the Shreveport Times write-up on the race. There is another Democratic candidate considering the race ... look below for the green text.
As most of y'all know by now, Congressman McCrery has chosen to retire, rather than continue on in the minority up in Washington, D.C. Amazingly, I cannot find one article in the major local paper up there - The Shreveport Times - about any potential successors planning to run for the seat.
But that's beside the point. Among Democrats, there are three four men rumored to be considering a bid. There are ranked in no particular order.
One is former Shreveport Mayor Keith Hightower. He ended his second term as one of the most popular Mayors Shreveport ever had in 2006. He was also one of the focal points in the getting the old New Orleans Committee reorganized as the Local and Municipal Affairs Committee in the State Legislature. He reminded folks that Shreveport is just as much a part of Louisiana as New Orleans is. If he were to throw his hat in the ring, we just might see a Democrat representing the Sixth again.
Another potential candidate is current PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell. While Foster didn't do as well as I had hoped in the Governor's race, he should do better in a Congressional race that includes his home parish - Bossier. If he jumps in the race, I hope he'll flesh out his platform beyond the oil processing tax on foreign oil companies that send their oil to be refined here in Louisiana.
Another potential candidate is former Caddo Parish Police Juror Jim Crowley. Mr. Crowley has served in the following capacities: former member of Democratic State Central Committee, former member of Caddo Parish Democratic Executive Committee and former Chairman of the Board of Caddo Parish Young Democrats. However, I find it interesting that he ran as an Independent for Secretary of State back in 2006.
And the last potential candidate is Artis Cash, Sr., a longtime activist up in Shreveport. He ran against McCrery in 2006, garnering 17% of the vote. He seems to be a perennial candidate, so I include him here because it is likely he'll run just to make waves.
Governor: This is too easy. We've got a Fundamentalist Blowhard in Jindal, a rich businessman who thinks he can buy the Governor's chair in Georges, a DINO in Boasso, and a true progressive fighter in Campbell.
I appreciate that many folks are unconvinced by Campbell's tax plan, going so far as to say that Galveston and Mobile will take a lot of business away from Louisiana, but where's their proof? All of our nation's oil refineries are operating at 95% capacity. There's only so much the oil barons can divert to other refineries.
Here's what gets Campbell my vote, and my endorsement: He's been fighting for all Louisianans for the past 30 years. Here's just a sample of what he's done:
In the mid-1980s he created the Bossier Educational Excellence Fund for Bossier Parish schools from Louisiana Downs racetrack revenues; the BEEF now contains $12 million raised from racetrack and casino revenues. Using BEEF as a model, he created the $1-billion Louisiana Educational Excellence Fund for local schools from the state Tobacco Settlement.
In 2001 he coauthored the "Do Not Call" legislation protecting consumers from sales calls at home.
At the PSC Campbell has pushed to make utility companies and the commission more accountable to the people. He has led efforts to restrict entertainment of commissioners and staff by utilities. He hosts public meetings in each parish in his district each year, and persuaded the full commission to move its monthly meetings around the state.
In 2004 he made national and international news by leading the effort to provide telephone service for the Mink and Shaw communities, the last areas of Louisiana to receive telephones.
In 2005 he persuaded the Federal Communications Commission to set aside $39 million to provide free cellular phones to Hurricane Katrina evacuees. He has championed job-creation by utilities, efforts to make bill-paying more convenient and the use of renewable energy.
Lt. Governor: There's no question on this one - it's Mitch. He's done a great job for our state, and he deserves to be re-elected.
Attorney General: I'm tired of Foti. Royal's a Republican good ole boy. I'm backing Buddy Caldwell.
SD 14: I don't like how DeCuir's mail sounds like "Bobby's." Dorsey's another Cleo in the making, I think. And Schilling was put in the race to take votes from DeCuir. I'm still not sure who back in this one.
HD 67: I LOVE what I've heard and seen from David Brown - he's an environmental lawyer, and he'll bring some good progressive views into the State Senate. But I've watched Pat Smith on the School Board, and she's done some mighty fine work supporting the unionizing of teachers. I know Lorri Burgess is a City Councilmember that has done much to piss off many folks by the way she approaches her job. She definitely DOES NOT have my endorsement or vote. DKF supports both David Brown and Pat Smith.
"Bobby" Jindal's reported expenditures in his campaign finance report for the period covering 14 April 2007 through 12 July 2007 are incredibly vague for a candidate who is waging what he calls a "war against corruption." Only the most general categories are used to describe each expenditure, a clear attempt to conceal the operations of his campaign. But within all this opaque darkness is a slight glimmer that casts a glow on at least one of special interests deeply embedded within Jindal's inscrutable machine: the oil and energy lobbies.
Witness the following expenditures to a certain Stephen Waguespack of 1306 Massachusetts Ave. SE, Washington, DC, 20003:
Stephen Waguespack
$3,004.12
16 April 2007
Salary
Stephen Waguespack
$3,004.12
30 April 2007
Salary
Stephen Waguespack
$3,004.12
15 May 2007
Salary
Stephen Waguespack
$130.79
17 May 2007
Office Supplies
Stephen Waguespack
$3,004.12
31 May 2007
Salary
Stephen Waguespack
$3,004.12
15 June 2007
Salary
Stephen Waguespack
$3,004.12
30 June 2007
Salary
Although Stephen Waguespack is the only salaried employee of the Jindal campaign who does not reside in Louisiana, he receives a salary of $72,098.48 per annum, the highest of any of Jindal's staffers excepting Jindal's campaign manager, Tim Teepel. His job description must be elaborate, and the services he provides must be viewed as crucial to the campaign. But what role can he possibly play when he is a registered lobbyist with The Alpine Group, a "consulting firm dedicated to providing our clients with individualized lobbying assistance on tax, trade, agricultural, environmental, energy and several other issues," and a law student at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University? Or is he remunerated at the annual rate of $72, 098.48 as a result of his current status as lobbyist for the industries with whom he engaged quite regularly while serving as a staff member for former House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX)?
Tonight, y'all ... the FIRST televised debate of the campaign season for the Governor's Race. It's going to be televised, starting at 7 PM on LPB/PBS.
Scheduled to attend are Democrats Foster Campbell and Walter Boasso, Independent John Georges, and Republican "Bobby" Jindal.
If you are in the Shreveport area, Foster Campbell's campaign is inviting folks to watch the debate at their Shreveport HQ, located at 520 Spring Street, at the corner of Spring and Milan. I am unaware at this time of any such gathering of Boasso folks, Georges folks and Jindal folks.
The debate is expected to last one hour, and should be entertaining at the least. I look forward to hearing what "Bobby" has to say about coastal restoration and insurance, two of the issues he has thus far avoided like the plague, other than to give the usual blather about how we need to restore our coasts, and the difficulties that Louisianans are facing with their insurance companies. Hopefully, one of the candidates will pin him down on those two issues.
Today, the Baton Rouge Advocate profiled Walt Boasso. Now, dedicated readers of this site know that I am fan of Foster Campbell, but the more I learn of Mr. Boasso, the more I come to respect where he's coming from.
I hate that he switched parties not once, but twice, but I can rationalize that as a legislator trying to do good for this constituents. I understand his frustration with all the problems our State faces - from the insurance mess, to the slow pace of recovery from Katrina and Rita, to our abysmal education system, and the poverty throughout the State, and on and on. But I also know that what's wrong with Louisiana can surely be fixed by what's right in Louisiana - her people.
Boasso's answer to all these challenges is simple:
"Just fix it."
It's the right answer. The question is, where do we start? And how do we do it? I have been saying that we need to start taking care of our problems, and start getting our house in order before we go back up to Washington, D.C., with our hand out, as damn near every Governor for the last 20 years has done. My only question is this: Does Mr. Boasso agree?
Yesterday, the Baton Rouge Advocate profiled Foster Campbell, as part of a series in which they will be profiling each of the "major" candidates in the race.
You gotta love a political candidate that lists President Harry S. Truman as his hero. Foster received the highest praise a politician can get from former state Sen. Edwards Barham of Oak Ridge:
"He and I did not agree on every issue, but he is a straight shooter. You don’t have any trouble understanding where he is.”
I think Harry S. Truman would be proud to work with Foster Campbell, as ol' Harry was a straight shooter, too. And this quote from Sen. Robert Barham, (Edwards Barham's brother), an Oak Ridge Republican:
“He is the real, dyed-in-the-wool traditional Democrat. He is a stump speaker. He is entertaining. When he went to the microphone, everyone wanted to know what Foster wanted to say. And he was always well-prepared for debates. When he came to the microphone to debate you with regard to specifics, he had his specifics."
Foster's specifics are outlined here. He's the real deal, and don't be surprised if he makes the runoff.
Yesterday, the Louisiana AFL-CIO Federation endorsed Foster Campbell for Governor. The picture at left shows Louisiana AFL-CIO President Louis Reine shaking Foster's hand at the announcement. The Campbell campaign sent out an email announcement to their supporters, in which Mr. Reine had this to say about Foster:
"Unions representing the building trades, public employees, teachers, fire fighters and police officers, transportation workers and others all agreed that Foster Campbell is the best candidate for working people and their families. He has had an outstanding career as a consumer advocate fighting for workers' rights.
Foster Campbell's plan to tax foreign oil is an idea whose time has come in Louisiana. Our state has been bled dry by the foreign-dominated oil companies, and it's time for them to pay their fair share. Under his plan, we can restore our coastline, rebuild our transportation infrastructure, improve our health care, protect and educate our citizens, and at the same time give all workers a pay raise by abolishing the state income tax."
Seriously, that's the best way to explain abolishing the state income tax I've ever heard - give yourself a pay raise. Of course, we'd have to ensure that the oil and gas fee on foreign oil is in place before doing so.
Damn right, it's about courage. I've been wondering when the candidates were going to start talking about how they were going to pay for the things they want to do. Of course, Foster's been talking about how he wants to pay for his ideas all along with the fee on the foreign gas and oil interests that have been raping our coastline for years and never, not once, paid for the PRIVILEGE to do so.
"Bobby" Jindal hasn't even discussed how he's gonna pay for everything he wants to do in his 1,000 point plans for everything under the sun. He's mentioned cutting out "wasteful" spending, but there's only so much he can cut before he starts pissing off the people, and the legislators, too. He's also said that he will CONTINUE to do what he has criticized Governor Blanco for doing - go to Washington with his hand out.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again ... it is high time we started taking care of ourselves. Once we demonstrate that, then Washington will be more than happy to help us out. And Foster Campbell is the ONLY candidate with the plan to do that.
Now, this was no gimme for Foster. He had to go through a candidate forum, straw polls of the UFT membership in each region of Louisiana, and extensive interviews about his platform and his record.
Not suprisingly, "Bobby" Jindal didn't even bother to meet with the LFT officials, nor did he bother to respond to the LFT's questionnaire. Lord knows he worked to get the endorsement of the Sheriffs and Police, so why not expend some effort to gain the endorsement of those who help shape our State's future on a daily basis?
But back to the matter at hand ... the LFT's endorsement of Foster Campbell. LFT President Steve Monaghan said it better than I can:
“As a state senator, a member of the Public Service Commission and as a citizen, Foster Campbell has always put the interests of the people first. Our executive board’s decision to endorse him was unanimous and enthusiastic.”
But more importantly, the LFT will be pushing the Louisiana AFL-CIO to endorse Foster at their next meeting ... which is today.
This morning, the Baton Rouge Advocate leads off with the news that none of the major candidates for Governor is signing onto Blueprint Louisiana's "contract." Earlier this summer, I penned two posts on Blueprint Louisiana's funders, as well as their policy goals.
What is interesting about this is that both Democrats - Boasso and Campbell - state policy differences with the health care plank of Blueprint Louisiana's platform:
Provide First-Class Access to Health Care Our state-run health care “safety net” fails to provide adequate access to care. All of our patients, insured and uninsured, deserve a health care system that meets their needs. Responsibility for providing care to the uninsured should be shared by the private and public sectors, with an emphasis on local governance, allowing LSU to focus on world-class medical education and research.
Here's what Campbell had to say about why he was NOT signing Blueprint's contract:
“I can’t agree with them on the hospital system. They want to get rid of the charity hospital system. The only other alternative, privatizing indigent care, will cost about $2 billion more than the state currently spends and won’t be able to serve all the people who need access to care,” Campbell said in a prepared statement.
"Until representatives of Blueprint Louisiana can convince us that their health-care ideas do not constitute a dismantling of the charity hospital or Louisiana health-care system, then we are not inclined to sign it."
Here's what "Bobby" Jindal's campaign spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, had to say:
“Bobby is focused on releasing his own detailed policy plans and is not signing onto the plans of any other groups.”
Pray tell, why might that be, Ms. Sellers? Because "Bobby" is going to steal Blueprint Louisiana's plan and pass it off as his own, like he did with his ethics plan?
Or is he trying to appear not to be in the pocket of Blueprint Louisiana? Fat chance at that ... as quite a few of the folks on Blueprint Louisiana's Steering Committee either gave themselves, or had the companies under their charge give the maximum contribution allowed by law to "Bobby" Jindal's campaign. Here's the list:
(I'll put it in a table delineating their contributions after my last class today)
Bill Fenstermaker - 5000
William J. Dore, Sr. - 5000
Van Pardue - 1000
Mike Polito - 5000
Kevin P. Reilly of Lamar Advertising - 3500 (Sean Reilly is part of the BPL Steering Committee)
Dr. Philip Rozeman - 1000
Virginia Shehee - 5000
Robert Stuart - 5000
Foster is on the air, y'all. And might I add, I can't wait for this race to get STARTED?! If this is the kind of ad we can expect out of the Campbell campaign, this is gonna be a lively one.
The so-called front-runner for the Governor's race, "Bobby" Jindal, continued his cowardly ways this weekend. He skipped a gubernatorial campaign forum in Monroe on Saturday, claiming pressing Congressional votes. He was present for ONE vote on Saturday morning - the one to adjourn the session that FAILED 136-246.
Then he decided to take the rest of the day off, missing 22 votes on Energy Issues, the Protect America Act, and the Defense Appopriations Bill. Don't believe me? Then click here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here,
and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here.
That's 22, count 'em, 22 votes he missed because he was oh, so busy attending to pressing Congressional votes. The issue here is not so much that he missed doing what we pay him some $165,000 per year to do, but the fact that he LIED about having to attend to pressing Congressional votes, and then skipping out on 22 of 23 votes that day! Has "Bobby" Jindal no shame? Pray tell, where did the erstwhile Congressman go?
Republican billionaire candidate John Georges released a poll today showing that "Bobby" Jindal's base of support is a mere 38%, with 62% saying that they support someone else, haven't made up their minds, or could change their minds before October 20th.
The poll, conducted by Verne Kennedy of Market Research Institute, was taken between July 18-20, and asked 600 voters the following question:
"In the upcoming election for governor, do you plan to vote for Republican Bobby Jindal, favor one of the other candidates, or would you say you have not made a decision on your choice for governor?"
There are two Democrats in the race folks ... follow after the jump for their ads.
I've been in Chicago the last few days, attending the annual YearlyKos convention in an attempt to direct more attention to Louisiana in this critical election year, and to learn more about the art of blogging. I am new to this gig, unlike pointecoupeedemocrat, (who is MUCH better at this than I), so I wanted to take the opportunity to meet folks who have been doing this longer than I, and steal their ideas on blogging to help further progressive Democratic politics in this state.
One of the things that has been asked of me A LOT while I've been here is whether I really think that "Bobby" Jindal can be beaten. And the answer is HELL YES. Here's why:
Three months ago, Jindal was favored by 62% of Louisianans. After State Senator Walter Boasso went on the air, Jindal's support shrunk to 52%.
I can only imagine what will happen once Foster Campbell gets on the air, along with the Louisiana Democratic Party, and the other Republican in the race, John Georges.
Along with the meet and greets, the obligatory pandering, the open bar, the Cajun cuisine, and the much-anticipated speech from Presidential candidate John Edwards, the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, held last weekend in Baton Rouge, also featured somewhat of a surprise, a rousing speech from Gubernatorial candidate Foster Campbell. Campbell, unlike his opponents Walter Boasso and Bobby Jindal, had remained relatively quiet, even when Boasso switched parties in order to run against Jindal as a newly-reminted Democrat.
According to Mr. Alford, Campbell's six-minute speech received no less than fifteen interrputions of applause or laughter. Though many in the media have preferred to paint Mr. Cambell as a "single-issue candidate," Campbell spoke about "education, corruption, consumer rights and environmental concerns," among other things. But the speech itself is not the full story.
Yesterday, "Bobby" Jindal's campaign announced that it raised $2.7 million over the last three months, leaving them with $6.4 million cash on hand.
The other Republican in the race, John Georges, who made his fortune by supplying convenience stores with liquor and tobacco, not to mention owning video poker machines throughout Louisiana, has donated $6.3 million of his own money to this race, and he has $7 million cash on hand.
State Senator Walt Boasso, who recently switched parties to run as a Democrat, $1.4 million to date, but he has spent a ton on commercials, leaving him with $232,250 on hand.
Last, but certainly not least, longtime Democrat Foster Campbell donated his campaign $400,000, raised $265,000 which leaves him with $1.3 million cash in hand.
All other candidates are committing their own funds to this race ... which begs the question, who is giving "Bobby" Jindal his money? Who will he be beholden to if he wins? This is something that I plan to look into if possible.
UPDATE: I just took a look at Jindal's press release touting his fundraising numbers. They are calling this campaign a "once-in-a-lifetime" chance to take Louisiana back. Hmmm ... didn't Jindal run 4 years ago? Or was I dreaming?
(Edited for style and clarity. Promoted despite the source of this news ... I can't stand the proprietor behind The Dead Pelican because he fancies himself a Louisiana version of Matt Drudge, who is consistently proven to be a liar when it comes to his "breaking" news. If The Dead Pelican is proven wrong, I will DELIGHT in bashing him over the head with it repeatedly. - promoted by ryan)
Louisiana's own right-wing gossip-rag, The Dead Pelican is currently reporting that Walter Boasso, GOP state senator from Arabi will be changing party affiliations to run for Governor at a news conference on Saturday.
Foster is currently the PSC Commisioner for District 5, which encompasses North Louisiana, representing 24 parishes, and nearly 1 million people. Prior to his election as a PSC Commisioner, Foster served as the State Senator for District 36 for 27 years (1976 - 2003). Aight, enough about his resume. Want to know his plans for Louisiana as Governor? Follow me after the jump!
UPDATE: A reader emailed me the link to the 
Today, the 
Yesterday, 
Yesterday, the 
Along with the meet and greets, the obligatory pandering, the open bar, the Cajun cuisine, and the much-anticipated speech from Presidential candidate John Edwards, the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, held last weekend in Baton Rouge, also featured somewhat of a surprise, a rousing speech from Gubernatorial candidate Foster Campbell. Campbell, unlike his opponents Walter Boasso and Bobby Jindal, had remained relatively quiet, even when Boasso switched parties in order to run against Jindal as a newly-reminted Democrat. 
