Republican hopeful John Kennedy's efforts to corral the upstate vote took a big hit yesterday when the Shreveport Times decided to endorse Senator Landrieu's re-election:
Sen. Mary Landrieu's experience, willingness to work across party lines and fierce loyalty to Louisiana makes her the best candidate in the heated U.S. Senate race against state Treasurer John Kennedy.
For 12 years, Landrieu has been building relationships and gaining experience. If elected to a third term, she will retain her spot on the all-important appropriations committee and expects to become chair of the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs - certainly critical with expected expansions at Fort Polk and - we hope - Barksdale.
Her relationships in the Senate have repeatedly included members of the other party. Her position on offshore drilling and voting against the economic bailout package put her at odds with other Democrats.
She has also taken action to reduce partisan rancor in the Senate by joining "every gang in Washington" - those bipartisan committees that have pushed pragmatic over partisan legislation on heated issues such as energy and judicial nominees.
While I was checking emails this afternoon, I received an email from the Kennedy campaign. (I'm not really a fan, I just wanna keep tabs on the Wanna Be.) Before I get into the spin Kennedy's people are putting out there, if y'all missed the debate, you can find out all y'all need to know about from Lamar. He put up a pretty concise explanation of the debate.
Now, for dat spin ... they sent out an email claiming that confused John Kennedy is the "most qualified candidate" to lead Louisiana through these "unprecedented economic crisis."
I think they forgot about the Great Depression. Did they miss American history that day?
Anyhow ... back to that email. Wanna Be's people claim Kennedy won the debate ... which is to be expected. But the email links to SIX times to the same blogpost.
The blogpost author is none other than conservative brown-noser Jeffrey Sadow. Just read the link, and you'll know all you need to know about him. 'Nuf said.
Now, for dat poll ... for the third straight poll, Senator Landrieu leads Kennedy by double digits, 53% to 43%. The key here is that Landrieu is still over the magic 50% marker.
Now, dat don't mean we can afford to be complacent. No ... we have to be vigilant, and get our people out to the polls. Drag a friend to the polls ... between now and Tuesday ... and then volunteer to help get out the vote on Election Day.
The final debate between Senator Landrieu and Republican hopeful John Kennedy is set for tonight at 7 PM Louisiana time. You can watch it on the following channels throughout the state:
WWL-TV in New Orleans
WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge
KSLA-TV in Shreveport
KLFY-TV in Lafayette
KNOE-TV in Monroe
KPLC-TV in Lake Charles
The question for tonight's debate is whether John Kennedy will constantly mention his love for John McCain, or will he run as far from McCain as he can? Tune in to find out!
Earlier this week, it came out that Louisiana GOP Chairman Roger Villere was considering censuring Louisiana Republicans that have endorsed Senator Mary Landrieu in her campaign against Republican John "Wanna Be" Kennedy.
Well, the Times-Picayune reported on Wednesday that Republican Congressman Rodney Alexander attended a fundraiser for Senator Landrieu that was held at former State Senator Randy Ewing's home.
Rodney even spoke(!) in support of Senator Landrieu at the event:
"I spoke for her and told the people there how we have worked closely together on projects for farmers."
So, Roger, what's the punishment you're gonna levy on Rodney?
On Wednesday, it came out that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), sensing that their incumbents in Kentucky and Georgia were in serious trouble, were pulling their ad buys in Louisiana after Tuesday.
I just wanna thank the NRSC for staying here in Louisiana. According to sources, the NRSC is buying a mere $500k ad buy, which is a maintenance ad buy. And it's only for the week, which means the average voter will only see the ad 6 times, which ain't enough to move them, usually.
They did release a poll that supposedly only shows Landrieu up by only 5 points, but they won't release the party affiliation breakdown, nor do they release the ethnic breakdown. So, until they do, I'm skeptical. If any of the national polling outfits want to chime in about now, that'd be awesome.
So, my fellow Democrats ... don't rest on your laurels ... this race truly ain't over yet. Leave it all on the field by going to volunteer for Mary and get out that vote!
Hey y'all, just wanted to stop by and tell y'all that the NRSC is pulling out of Louisiana and has apparently given up on Wanna Be.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has decided to pull its television advertising out of Louisiana, a decision that drastically reduces the party's chances at its lone takeover opportunity in this election cycle.
The ads, according to buy information obtained by The Fix, will end next Tuesday -- two weeks before the Nov. 4 election between Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and state Treasurer John Kennedy (R).
NRSC communications director Rebecca Fisher offered no comment when asked about the move to pull down the ads.
The decision to stop advertising in the race against Landrieu reflects a recognition by the NRSC of the stark financial reality it faces in the fall campaign. The Republican committee has been consistently outraised by its Democratic counterpart and, as the political environment has worsened for the GOP in recent weeks, several Republican senators that appeared safe -- Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) to name two -- have suddenly appeared more vulnerable.
And this is my favorite part of all:
The news is a blow for Kennedy who was personally lured into the race by former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, and touted as one of the few recruiting successes for Senate GOPers in an admittedly difficult cycle.
Now we are even closer to 60 seats than before. Let me congratulate Mary Landrieu for running a GREAT campaign and all of you pelicans on a job well done!
[Editor's Note]But don't get complacent, y'all! Leave it on the field, and make sure that you volunteer to get folks to the polls, starting on Tuesday, when early voting starts!
In all the hoopla surrounding Round 3 of the Obama-McCain debates, I forgot that Senator Landrieu and Republican hopeful John "Wanna Be" Kennedy have a debate scheduled for tonight at 6 PM.
Regrettably, I will not be able to live-blog the Senate debate, as I will likely be stuck in traffic on the way to New Orleans this evening.
Y'all can watch it live on C-SPAN 2 throughout Louisiana, online at c-span.org or WDSU 6 in New Orleans.
If it's anything like the first two debates, it'll be a back and forth barrage of attacks, with Senator Landrieu coming across as more likable, as she delivers her jabs with a smile.
The Wanna Be's campaign has been trying to make hay out the fact that if you want change in Washington, we need to change the Senator here in Louisiana.
Well, with this new information out there, I'm not so sure anybody is gonna want to change the Senator:
You say you wanna change Washington? That's all good and fine. But I gotta ask:
Has your ambition to be a big dog clouded your ethical judgments?
And with all the information in the ad being fact-checked quite nicely by the folks behind One Confused Politician, and posted below the jump, I know you have taken $350,000 from folks who appear before the Bond Commission. Damn, I know you wanna be the Senator, I just never realized how badly.
I was in New York this weekend for a wedding, so I missed the debate. However, Lamar over at CenLamar gives a pretty good synopsis of the debate, including the latest immortal line of Louisiana politics:
"John, I know you're trying very hard, but Senator McCain's coattails are not long enough for you."
Wanna Be has been trying very hard to tie Senator Landrieu to Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, much like Suzanne Haik Terrell tried to tie Mary Landrieu to Senator Hillary Clinton 6 years ago.
I guess the Republicans never learn ... if it didn't work 6 years ago, why would it work 6 years later?
UPDATE: The Landrieu campaign released a video of the first debate at the Baton Rouge Press Club, taken from the Fox News report of the debate:
Now, one of John Kennedy's biggest supporters - Republican Senator Tom Coburn, (R-Ok) - who directed $5,000 of his PAC money in March and again in September to the Wanna Be, used procedural maneuvers to block passage of legislation that would aid farmers affected by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, not just in Louisiana but wherever the storm passed through.
The Wanna Be originally supported Coburn's maneuver. But when he realized that he was going against members of his party here in Louisiana - in particular Sinator Vitter and Ag Commissioner Mike Strain - he changed his tune.
Louisiana, at this critical juncture, does not need someone who's gotta be told what's the right thing for Louisiana ... we need someone who's gonna get it right the first time around. And that someone sure ain't Wanna Be.
Folks ... Wanna Be wanted to veto $1.5 million for hurricane response equipment and first responders back in 2006, calling the earmarks "junk":
Hey Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Acadiana, how much were those generators worth in the aftermath of Gustav? Priceless, right? Apparently, John Kennedy didn't think so.
UPDATE on Wednesday morning: The Advocate reports on Kennedy's remarks!
In honor of Wanna Be's campaign event before the Shreveport Republican Federation of Women tomorrow, Tuesday, August 26th, I want to air this clip of Wanna Be at a Bond Meeting this week to discuss a bond for Antoine's:
The audio ain't that great, admittedly. But the clearest line in that is of Wanna Be saying "This is Antoine's, not Hooters."
Apparently, the Sinator's got hookers on his mind, and Kennedy's got hooters on his mind. Strange bedfellows they are.
It's incredible that the Wanna Be's campaign has relinquished the airwaves to the Landrieu campaign for so long. They've already introduced Wanna Be as ONE confused politician. They're hitting him on his flip-flop on Social Security with this ad ... I mean, putting Social Security into the stock market? That means some folks will be winners and some will be LOSERS. Social Security was not meant to for some to win and some to lose. It was supposed to be a win-win for every senior citizen in America.
Wanna Be, you wanna "fix" Social Security? Then do the right thing, and raise the payroll taxes on Social Security. Right now, the payroll taxes are capped with Social Security at $102,000. This means that us poor working class folks are paying more of our paychecks percentage-wise into Social Security than folks who make more than $102,000. Doesn't seem fair, does it?
And now Wanna Be wants to help Wall Street make a killing on our Social Security money? Yeah, Wanna Be's really looking out for us.
There he goes again! John "Wanna Be" Kennedy sends out an email to his supporters blasting Senator Mary Landrieu for not agreeing to debate yet. Here's the pertinent language:
Over one month ago, John Kennedy called on Mary Landrieu to debate, because he believes Louisianans deserve ample opportunities to hear directly from the candidates. On Wednesday, John even sent Mary Landrieu a formal letter reiterating his call for campaign debates.
... she's now trying to duck debates until October!
Oh, Wanna Be ... Your confusion is confounding. Because the Louisiana Municipal Association had a major conference in Lafayette that started on Thursday and ends today. And they invited you and Senator Landrieu to discuss the issues at a forum before their members. Senator Landrieu accepted. YOU, John "Wanna Be" Kennedy, DID NOT, instead choosing to campaign at the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Baton Rouge.
I guess because the TV cameras weren't going to be in Lafayette, it's not a debate. So enjoy your time at the Hot Air Ballon Festival ... because that's just what your campaign is, Wanna Be. A whole lotta hot air about nothing.
I know the campaign has been in swing for quite some time now. But I want to take this moment to christen dear old John with a nickname. As I'm sure you've discerned from the title, it's "Wanna Be."
It's pretty self-explanatory ... John Kennedy is one big Wanna Be. First, he bought the website url "www.johnkennedy.com" from a memorabilia dealer that hawked products about the Kennedys (you know, the family from Massachusetts that produced two U.S. Senators and U.S. President) back in 2003 to use as his campaign websites. That's all good and fine, as his name is John Kennedy. What's not good and fine is that he left the original signature for his website up for 5 years. Why is that a big deal? Because when folks searched on Google for John Kennedy for Senate up until the last two months or so, they would find this:
"Wanna Be" wants so badly to be linked to the Kennedy name that he sent out flyers to African American voters in 2004 that stated:
"John Kennedy. . . Not just another election day Democrat! The Kennedy tradition! The Kennedy commitment!"
"Wanna Be" is also a wanna be big shot politician ... always seeking to run for other, more important elective offices rather than serve as a mere State Treasurer. After all, he's run for the following offices over the last 20 years:
Attorney General: 1991, 1995 and considered it in 2007
Governor: 2003, but dropped out to run for re-election as Treasurer
Senate: 2004, as a LIBERAL Democrat
Yep, John "Wanna Be" Kennedy ... coming to a town near you soon!
I know the campaign has been in swing for quite some time now. But I want to take this moment to christen dear old John with a nickname. As I'm sure you've discerned from the title, it's "Wanna Be."
