On the heels of a pretty successful online fundraising drive to counter Mr. 28%'s $500,000 haul, Senator Mary Landrieu's campaign announces that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed ... her over her Republican opponent, John N. Kennedy.
From the press release sent out by the Landrieu campaign:
"At no other time in our nation's history has it been more critical that Members of Congress provide leadership that protects and advances the interests of the business community, "Thomas Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote in the Chamber's endorsement letter to Sen. Landrieu. "We believe that your election to the U.S. Senate will help produce sustained economic growth and promote America's competitiveness in world markets."
"I am honored to receive the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's endorsement," Sen. Landrieu said. "It affirms my fight for Louisiana jobs and a stronger economy. I look forward to working with Louisiana business people on a bipartisan basis to strengthen our state's business climate and to improve our educational system and infrastructure."
Can this year get any worse for John N. Kennedy. Oh yeah ... a nice ol' butt kickin' at the polls in November will do the trick. Oh, wait ... he has a primary.
The $500,000 haul now puts Kennedy above the $2 million cash on hand mark.
Mary Landrieu also held an online fundraiser to counter the funds raised by Mr. 28% ... while the Landrieu campaign has not released the total amount raised, 387 folks have donated to Mary's campaign since they started the online fundraiser.
Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who understands the importance of securing a working majority in the Senate for the Democratic Party, set up an ActBlue page, where some 272 folks donated $14,660 in the last 24 hours or so. That's an average of about $54 dollars a donor. If we assume that the folks that donated at Mary's website averaged the same amount, that would be another $20,858 to add.
$35,000 for a 24 hour online fundraiser is nothing to sneeze at.
By now, y'all know that President Bush, Governor Jindal, and Senator Vitter are coming to town tonight to raise money for John N. Kennedy.
This is why Senator Landrieu's campaign just sent out an email asking for a mere $5 to show Mr. Kennedy and his brand new amigos in the Republican Party that she's got more grassroots support.
So if you can forego that cup of coffee from CC's, PJ's or Starbucks for the next few days, drop her some coin by clicking on the image to the right. Let's show the Republican Party that they cannot count on Louisiana this fall.
UPDATE: Lamar over at CenLamar emailed me 5 more questions, which are below.
Tonight, our illustrious President will join Governor PBJ and Sinator Vitter to host a fundraiser for Democratic Republican Senatorial Candidate John N. Kennedy in the hopes that he can win the Republican nomination for the right to face Senator Mary Landrieu.
In honor of the Bush/Jindal/Vitter fundraiser, I have some questions for John N. Kennedy:
1. You ran for re-election to the State Treasurer post last fall saying that the "job was not yet done." Is it done now that you're running for Senate, a mere 6 months later?
You recently endorsed Woody Jenkins for Congress in LA-06. Do you agree with his stated beliefs that we should abolish the Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development and Commerce?
2. In 2004, when you ran for the Senate, you were in favor of stem cell research, affirmative action, and minimum wage hikes. The Republican Party is opposed to these things. Have you flip-flopped?
3. In 2004, you stated that President Bush's policies were "cold" and "mean." Do you still believe that?
4. Do you approve of Sinator Vitter's extracurricular activites? After all, you are using him as a host for your fundraiser tonight.
5. You recently endorsed Woody Jenkins for Congress in LA-06. Do you agree with his stated beliefs that we should abolish the Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development and Commerce?
CenLamar's questions:
1. Do you support proposals that would allow the government to negotiate prices for prescription medications with pharmaceutical companies?
2. Please explain why you felt it appropriate to use public tax dollars to promote your name and whether or not you believe Joe McPherson's bill was appropriate.
3. How do you respond to the accusations from Republicans that you have cost the State over $1.4 million?
4. Do you support Senator McCain's notion of a 50-100 year presence in Iraq?
5. Why should Louisianans relinquish their seniority in the Senate and a seat in the appropriations committee in order to elect a freshman member of the minority party?
WOW. State Treasurer John Kennedy is expected to face a primary challenge from the RIGHT this fall from Paul Hollis, the son of former State Senator Ken Hollis, who is a businessman in rare coins based in Mandeville.
Paul Hollis is a 36 year-old, first-time candidate for elective office. According to the New Orleans City Business, Paul is:
"a fiscal and social conservative who will run to the right of Kennedy on most of the major issues in the campaign. He will focus on his 18-year history in the Republican Party and contrast that with Kennedy's recent conversion. He is prepared to personally invest in the campaign and says he has the ability to raise significant funds from his contacts across the state and country."
So I received an email yesterday from the Kennedy campaign touting his fundraising #'s. I decided to wait to find out what Senator Landrieu's fundraising #'s were before going ahead with this post. Here they are:
Candidate
Money Raised This Quarter
Total Raised
Cash on Hand
John N. Kennedy
$1,400,000
$2,100,000
$1,600,000
Mary Landrieu
$1,051,155
$6,977,955
$4,564,081
Mary's still got 2.5 times more than John, though that should decrease in six days, when Mr. Kennedy has Mr. 33% come to town to help raise money for him, along with Sinator Vitter, and Governor PBJ.
Question of the Day for Mr. Kennedy:
You recently endorsed Woody Jenkins for Congress in LA-06. Do you agree with his stated beliefs that we should abolish the Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development and Commerce?
While I realize that Rasmussen is not the most reliable polling outfit in business, it's currently all we've got. Rasmussen released a poll they did of 500 likely voters on April 10, 2008. Here are its numbers:
Candidate
Poll %
Mary Landrieu
55%
John N. Kennedy
39%
Other
3%
Not Sure
4%
Also, Landrieu's favorable/unfavorable numbers are 65/32, whereas Kennedy's are 51/43. Would love to see that unfavorable of Kennedy's rise over 50%. Might it be that Louisiana Democrats hate a Benedict Arnold?
What I find curious is that the lead-in question to the question on the Louisiana race is a question on Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. I just hope they polled the right folks!
Don't forget ... April 22nd will have John Kennedy showing his love for George W. Bush and David Vitter. Here's one question for John N. Kennedy:
You ran for re-election to the State Treasurer post last fall saying that the "job was not yet done." Is it done now that you're running for Senate, a mere 5 months later?
UPDATE: The DSCC just released a video entitled "Mary Landrieu: Fighter." You can see it below the jump, or in the Media box in the next column.
This morning, Senator Mary Landrieu released her second video diary. I'm glad to see they're going to be keeping this as a regular part of the campaign.
UPDATE: Kennedy's campaign just released their figures for the 1st Quarter - $1.4 million.
I just received an email from Mary Landrieu's campaign that states the following:
United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., has continued her record-breaking fundraising into 2008, bringing in more than $1 million for her re-election campaign since the beginning of the year. This total nearly triples her fundraising from the first quarter of 2002, the year Sen. Landrieu won her last campaign for re-election, when she raised just under $382,000.
This should bring her total Cash on Hand to nearly $5 million, assuming she had roughly the same amount of operating expenses that she did last quarter.
Can Mr. Kennedy match Senator Landrieu in the Cash on Hand department? Kennedy raised more this quarter ... but he is still more than $2 million behind. I ask, because for the Republican Party, this seat is supposedly their best chance to take a seat from the Democrats, so it should follow that the money is flowing into Mr. Kennedy's coffers, no? For the GOP's best chance, $1.4 million raised ain't much.
Well, not really. It is April Fool's Day, after all. But he is pretty laudatory towards Senator Landrieu in the video below. He was asked why Senator Landrieu has picked up major GOP endorsements during an interview with Jeff Crouere on Ringside Politics (hat tip to The Reduct Box:
Mr. Villiere was noticeably less effusive in his praise for Republican Treasurer John N. Kennedy ... not even mentioning Mr. Kennedy's name! He also claims that "there will be a lot of Democrats for our nominee." Pray tell, Mr. Villiere, care to name any? Yeah, I thought not.
WOW! Treasurer John Kennedy apparently doesn't get it ... as he's having Mr. 30% come and raise money for him in April. He states in an email that the fundraising event featuring President Bush and Governor PBJ will be:
"a major part of my fundraising effort."
Let's show Mr. Kennedy that having Mr. 30% is not a good thing by donating to Mary. With this effort to tap into Mr. Bush's wealthy supporters, Mary will need every cent she can get. Let's show the Republicans of Louisiana that having Mr. 30% come to town to raise money does not pay.
Donate to Mary here before the March 31st deadline.
Haven't heard anything from either candidate in terms of fundraising for the final quarter of last year. Part of the reason that Senate finance reports don't get reported on as quickly as the House finance reports is because the Senate does not require electronic submission of finance reports. They've got to join the 21st Century in that regard FAST.
Now, the numbers ... Mary's got nearly a 10 to 1 advantage in cash on hand - $4.1 million to $472,000. While her burn rate is higher, she is partaking in campaign style events, and has a fully functional website, unlike Mr. Kennedy's circa-1990's website that has absolutely nothing on it save a rather dated poll, and a contribution link. If Kennedy wants to make a race outta this, he better start raising dough at a better clip that than that.
That being said, if you want a laugh, read the following from Senate 2008 Guru:
"Apparently, he must have ripped off Senator Landrieu's mass e-mail template. This appears to be the case because, at the bottom of a recent fundraising e-mail (see graphic below), when you click on the text that reads "Visit JohnKennedy.com," it takes you to Senator Mary Landrieu's website! He changed the text but not the link! So all of Treasurer Kennedy's supporters who click on the link get to read about Senator Landrieu's many accomplishments on her website! Treasurer Kennedy is hilariously inept. If this is how he manages his campaign's infrastructure, do you really want him having a hand in managing the nation's infrastructure? (No wonder Treasurer Kennedy was so comfortable giving Halliburton no-bid contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.)
So, newly-Republican state Treasurer John N. Kennedy has taken the first steps toward a 2008 Senate challenge to Senator Mary Landrieu, as he announced yesterday by e-mail and via a message on his circa 1997 Geocities website.
To kick off his campaign, I'd suggest the media ask two questions of Treasurer Kennedy:
First, Kennedy has demonstrated incredibly mercurial career goals, always seeming willing to better-deal his constituents for the next gig down the line. As Landrieu adviser Norma Jane Sabiston reminds us: "John Kennedy, the first candidate in the Republican primary field, ran ads just four weeks ago saying 'the job's not done' and asking for Louisianians' support to 'continue to be your state treasurer.'" Why should Louisiana voters offer him a six-year job when he never seems happy to complete his four-year jobs?
Second, in response to his willingness to offer Halliburton no-bid contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he said: "Well, in an emergency situation, you do what you have to do to get the job done." Similar to allowing Halliburton's no-bid contracts as "doing what you have to do to get the job done," would Kennedy also support extreme and illegal measures such as waterboarding and other torture, warrantless wiretapping, and suspending habeas corpus "to get the job done" against terrorism?
One of the reasons that it's important for Democrats to field a candidate against Treasurer John N. Kennedy in his 2007 re-election bid is to get him to answer questions like "If elected, do you promise to serve your entire four-year term?" and "If you plan on running for another office next year, why should voters elect you to this office this year?"
Why is that important? Treasurer Kennedy has a history of flip-flopping on his career goals. In 2003, as Treasurer, he flirted with the idea of running for Governor, but "abruptly" dropped out in favor of a Treasurer re-election bid, "a move that angered some donors." Then, just three months after being re-elected Treasurer, he was willing to junk that role in favor of his first failed Senate bid in 2004, a race in which he only garnered 15%.
And then, earlier this year, he of course danced between another re-election bid for Treasurer and a run for state Attorney General, another office for which he had earlier run (in 1991) and lost. And now he is swapping Parties, in what appears to be the politically expedient maneuver.
The bottom line is that it is clear that Treasurer Kennedy is always ready to trash his current role to climb the next rung on the ladder and better-deal whatever office he currently holds. Ambition in and of itself is not a bad thing; but when it trumps integrity, then there's a problem.
(Oh, it's on. It's gonna be Landrieu v. Kennedy for the Senate. The only question I will ask of the erstwhile Treasurer is "Are you going to run for the Senate, and if so, doesn't Louisiana deserve someone who will be our FULL-TIME Treasurer?" - promoted by ryan)
Six weeks after Louisiana's highest ranking elected Republican, Senator David Vitter, made it clear that he cheated on his wife with prostitutes, the state's Treasurer, John N. Kennedy, declared that "I have concluded that the Republican Party is the party that best reflects my values today." Some great values, huh? Treasurer Kennedy is now a Republican, which heightens expectations that he will challenge Senator Mary Landrieu in 2008. Hopefully Democrats will run a credible candidate against Kennedy, if only to get him on the record with answers to questions like "If re-elected, do you promise Louisiana voters to serve your full term?" and "If you're just going to run for another office next year, why should voters re-elect you to this office this year?"
