I write today with mixed feelings about this campaign season. While I am elated that this nation has seen fit to send Barack Obama to the White House, I am not surprised that Louisiana did not put her 9 Electoral Votes in Mr. Obama's column. I am however, looking into buying a "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Obama" bumper sticker for my car when I go out of state in it.
I am elated that Senator Mary Landrieu won her campaign relatively easily. Did you notice that you can drop Orleans Parish from the totals, and she STILL would have won? This means that no Democrat running a state-wide campaign from here on out should even think about not running a state-wide field operation. That field operation, which contacted many Democrats for the first time in years(!), gave Senator Landrieu her impressive margin.
I am not surprised that Jim Harlan lost in LA-01. It's unfortunate, but the results of this election show that there is much, much, much more work to be done. I don't anticipate seeing a Democrat elected in that district for some time to come.
I am incredibly upset about the result in LA-06. I'll have more to write on this one later, but suffice it to say that I hope someone out there sees fit to give Mr. Cassidy hell for the next two years by starting a blog marking his every move for the next two years, to make it a little easier for any Democrat that decides to run against Mr. Cassidy in two years in terms of opposition research. Here's one such example of a fine blog tracking a Republican Member of Congress.
I am disappointed in the result in LA-07. But I am optimistic about State Senator Don Cravins, Jr. I think he has a future in the Democratic Party of this state since he's only 38, and the fact that he started the campaign LATE. Hopefully, if he decides to run again, he'll start the fundraising process in January, and continue to meet with voters throughout the 7th District during the two years.
One of the things that stands out to me about this election season is that the candidates that tried to out-Republican the real Republicans in their races LOST. Mr. Harlan, Mr. Cazayoux, Mr. Cravins, Jr ... all ran ads emphasizing their pro-life, pro-gun views. That's all good and fine ONCE.
In LA-01, all of Mr. Harlan's ads mentioned that he was pro-life and pro-gun.
In LA-06, quite a few of Mr. Cazayoux's ads mentioned his conservative views. This is NOT a completely conservative district. Yes, the voters are culturally conservative, but they will vote for a pro-union Democrat. A majority of them did on Tuesday.
In LA-07, Mr. Cravins ran four ads - 2 focusing on him ... one on his conservative views, and the other on how he's a church-going man.
The Republican playbook is to smear Democrats on the cultural issues. There is nothing we can do about that. They're going to do it even when it is obvious that the Democratic candidate has the same views on the cultural issues as the Republican does! Focus on why you're a Democrat. Remind people that there are other issues to consider ... like the economy, health care, the environment, and on and on. And do it not only on the stump, where few voters see you, but also on television.
The results in our congressional elections affirm Howard Dean's message of 2004: If voters are given a choice between a Republican and Republican-lite, they'll choose the real Republican every single time.
A couple of observations ... LA-01 needs to be redrawn before we can consider it being competitive.
LA-07 ... Cravins did a great job for a first time candidate that started LATE. If he decides to run in 2010, he's got to start in January with the fundraising, and make sure he has $1 million to drop, if not more.
LA-06 ... Congratulations, Mr. Cassidy. You can thank Michael Jackson and L. Lane Grigsby for your victory. If you add Jackson and Cazayoux's total, you get 11,623 votes more than Cassidy, and I'm sure that 90% of Jackson's total would have gone to Cazayoux.
The last post until my thoughts of being a poll watcher tomorrow afternoon sometime. Without further ado:
President: Barack Obama LA-Senate: Mary Landrieu LA-01: Jim Harlan LA-02: Vote your conscience LA-04: Vote your conscience LA-06: Don Cazayoux LA-07: Don Cravins, Jr.
EBR Bond: This is an important issue for the future of Baton Rouge. The downtown core needs to be revitalized, and this will help ensure that it is. Vote YES.
New Orleans DA: Both campaigns have gotten down and dirty as of late. As a future lawyer, I have to give more credibility to the fact that District Attorneys across the region have endorsed Capitelli. But his campaign just smeared Cannizaro this afternoon with door hangers linking him to Jefferson. Vote your conscience.
New Orleans Charter Change: This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on any ballot anywhere. They want the voters of New Orleans to agree to changing the City Charter, but they won't tell the voters how it will be changed. Vote NAY.
Amendment # 1: This amendment would impose term limits on state boards and commissions - the Board of Education and Secondary Education (BESE), Civil Service Commission, the State Police Commission, some other appointed boards of higher education, the Forestry Commission and the Public Service Commission.
I am in general, against term limits, because they tend to concentrate power in the hands of the special interests, who will often write the legislation and find a legislator to introduce it. In this state, that means the corporations and the right-wing fundamentalist Christian groups.
By the way, you really want to help Entergy ram their proposals through the PSC, rather than get blocked by consumer advocates like Foster Campbell? I think not. Also, I don't trust Governor PBJ that much ... I think he's doing it to consolidate power within his Administration even more. If you're conservative, do you really want to see a liberal have that much power? I don't think so. Vote NAY.
Amendment # 2: This amendment would require that the Governor give seven days notice of special legislative sessions, rather than the current five.
While there was some grumbling about Governor Jindal's call for the second special session on a Friday afternoon, folks knew it was coming. Vote NAY.
Amendment # 3: This amendment would establish a procedure for naming "temporary" legislators to fill in for those called to active military duty for more than 180 days.
This happens rarely. But it is happening for State Rep. Nick Lorusso (R-New Orleans), who was called up for one year, and it starts in the spring. While I applaud Mr. Lorusso's service to the nation, I don't much like the idea of changing the state Constitution to benefit one legislator. Vote your conscience.
Amendment # 4: This amendment would, over time, give parishes that have oil, gas and mineral production a greater share of the severance tax. It will also dedicate some of the severance tax collected from state lands to the Atchafalaya Basin Conservation Fund.
The parishes could put the money to better use than the state currently does. And more money to preserve one of the state's environmental gems? Vote YES.
Amendment # 5: This amendment would allow a homeowner over the age of 65 or in the military whose assessment is frozen to transfer the frozen assessment to another home if the home is taken by the government or sold to them for public use purposes.
Seems fair to me ... they lose their home for the public good, these folks should be protected. Vote YES.
Amendment # 6: This amendment deals with some slop work, as a law professor of mine would say, committed by the State Legislature in the aftermath of Kelo v. New London, a Supreme Court case in which the Court said it is constitutional for a state to take property for economic purposes, thereby equating economic purposes with the public good. The "slop work" limited the authority of state and local government in Louisiana to transfer "blighted" property to private parties. This amendment would remove the restriction of transferring "blighted" properties to new owners.
This is a NOLA based amendment, y'all. Proponents say it will help recovery efforts in New Orleans. I'm not so sure ... I don't trust the big real estate developers that much, nor the New Orleans City Council. I voted NAY. Vote your conscience.
Amendment # 7: This amendment would allow public entities to invest post-employment benefits in the stock market.
Supposedly they would be barred from investing pensions. I think they're insane to invest ANYTHING dealing with retirement in the stock market ... because a downturn can and will happen. Vote NAY.
Oy. I knew Steve "Mistake on the Lake" Scalise was an opportunistic politician, but I never knew that he'd lie to his constituents and be mis-informed about Corps of Engineer projects in his district.
The second issue raised, the mis-informed charge, is much, much, more serious. The "Pump To The River" drainage project is vital for Lakeview and Metairie residents, as it will help keep flooding during major rain storms, and assuming the levees hold, hurricanes. The Corps of Engineers held a community meeting on October 22nd, and Mr. Scalise was nowhere to be found. It's unfortunate that he decided doing something else was more worthwhile, as he would have learned that the Corps had cancelled the "Pump To The River" project.
Because he didn't even send a staffer to the event, he didn't know that the Corps cancelled the event, as evidenced by this interview on New Orleans' CW channel 38 news the very next day:
Lord. The First District can't afford two years of Steve Scalise's lies or incompetence. Vote for Jim Harlan.
Well, Election Day is almost here. It starts tomorrow, folks, thanks to early voting, which occurs today (the 21st) through Saturday (the 25th), and then again on Monday (the 27th) and Tuesday (the 28th). I am convinced that the more folks that vote early, the less problems (if any) there will be on November 4th.
If you want to help boost turnout in Louisiana, you can follow this handy checklist that the Louisiana Obama team came up with:
October 21
Your first task is for you yourself to go and vote the first day of early voting. Find your local Registrars office and get a friend to go with you.
October 22
The next task is for you to send a message to everyone about early voting in your email lists especially if you have multiple emails. Also, if you are a part of social networks like facebook or myspace send messages out to friends on those networks and create early voting events.
October 23
Before the weekend rush of so many businesses we want to deliver some flyers to their location and see if they will put them in their place of business for us. This can include barber shops, beauty salons or any other place that you know would not mind having them in their window.
October 24
Call 5 of your family members or friends here in the state of Louisiana and tell them to get up and go early vote for Obama.
October 25
Identify three of your friends or colleagues where you work who are Obama supporters and encourage them to go vote early. If you do not work, 3 people in classes you take or 3 people in local businesses that you are a regular to (example. Hair salon, barber shop)
October 26
Knock on three neighbors doors that you know are Obama supporters and inform them about early voting and try and commit them to a day to go and early vote for Barack.
October 27
There is only one day left after today, we are challenging you to drive a friend, family member, colleague or just a regular voter to the polls to guarantee they early vote.
October 28
Get one person to volunteer for a November 1-4 Get-Out-The-Vote shift. Identify the shifts in your local office and commit someone to a shift.
Not that hard, eh? As for voting locations, the list is after the jump! This does not include all the locations, I'm afraid. There are some extra locations in Orleans, Jefferson, Washington, East Baton Rouge that I am aware of. Please call the phone number of the Registrar of Voters for the Parish you reside to find out the other locations!
The difference in this race that all of Jim's debt is to himself. The Mistake's debt, on the other hand, is to his campaign staff, as well as political consultants, and a printing company.
On top of that, Scalise is running one of the sleaziest ads ever seen in politics ... against the Democratic Presidential nominee, Barack Obama. Why doesn't he simply stick to the issues that matter to the people of LA-01, which includes hurricane protection? You wouldn't know it by visiting Scalise's website.
The DCCC has named Democratic contender Jim Harlan to their Red to Blue list with 21 days left in the election!
The DCCC Chairman, Rep. Van Hollen, (D-MD) had this to say about Jim's campaign:
"Jim Harlan is running a powerful campaign and is committed to fighting for the critical needs of the people in his district such as hurricane protection and better energy policies. With less than 21 days to make his case for change to voters, the Red to Blue program will give Jim Harlan the financial and structural edge to be even more competitive in November."
Folks ... if you live in LA-01, this is it. Less than 21 days before the election. If you wanna party hearty the night of November 4th, then you've got to leave it all on the field. That means, if you've got some spare change, donate! If you've got some time to spare, volunteer!
Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your friends. Talk to your co-workers. Tell them that this is literally the best chance y'all have in LA-01 to elect a Representative that will fight for y'all, rather than use it to springboard to another elective office.
There has been lots of Louisiana blogosphere discussion today about the fact that the "Mistake on the Lake", err, Steve Scalise and John "Wanna Be" Kennedy are busy attacking the Democratic nominee for President in their ad campaigns.
Jeffrey says it's not wise to claim it's a stupid move because it may work. He's right. But so are E and Oyster, who state that it reeks of desperation. For the Mistake to run ads trying to link Democratic contender Jim Harlan to Barack Obama in a district that gave Bush 70% of the vote against Kerry in 2004 is a move that reeks of desperation.
I've finally got the video of the "forum" attended by both Steve Scalise and Jim Harlan. I find it interesting that Scalise directs his campaign to go on the attack, but is afraid to debate his opponent in a real debate that goes for longer than 20 minutes!
This spring, once the Mistake On the Lake, errrr, Steve Scalise secured the Republican nomination, he decided he didn't need to face the voters for the general election. So he skipped a scheduled League of Women Voters (LWV) debate with Democratic nominee Gilda Reed in May.
It seems that he's at it again, as the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany Parish plans to host a debate between Steve Scalise and Democratic nominee Jim Harlan later this month. Mr. Harlan has agreed to debate, but the LWV hasn't set a date yet, thanks to the failure of Steve Scalise to respond to several phone call requests from the LWV.
Mr. Harlan has also accepted a Press Club of New Orleans invitation to debate. The question remains whether Mr. Scalise will even bother to face his opponent or the voters. It'd be nice to see if Mr. Scalise believes that the people have a right to hear the views of candidates for public office. But I'm betting he'd rather go to Alaska to hunt some moose and learn how to field-dress one from the Barracuda herself.
So, the Good Lord granted my wish of a picture of the Mistake On The Lake, pardon, Steve Scalise, with Vice-President Dick Cheney. At a time when we are facing a economic meltdown, thanks to the Dow slipping below 10,000 for the first time since 2004, and our state is rebuilding yet again from 2 hurricanes in one hurricane season, our Congressman from LA-01 is sharing a laugh with the Vice-President of an Administration that engineered our current malaise.
This is already over, folks. Harlan's gonna win this in a walk. With 478 of 506 precincts reporting, it's official ... Jim Harlan has received more votes than Steve Scalise did in the May general election:
"The Louisiana Republican Party opened an office for their candidates Saturday right next door to the Covington headquarters of businessman Jim Harlan, whose successful campaign for Congress is threatening the GOP's three-decade hold on the First District seat."
Might the Louisiana Republicans be looking gain some popularity by having their office right next to the hard-charging Jim Harlan's campaign office, who has whittled a 53 point gap down to 11 points as of two weeks ago?
Or might their motives be a tad more sinister? I'll keep y'all posted.
UPDATE: I'll be live-blogging the results from Jim Harlan's Victory Party tonight. It's being held at the Holiday Inn's Pontchartrain Room in Covington. The address is 501 N. Highway 190.
Today is primary day. There are 4 Congressional races that will be impacted by today's vote, as well a slew of races throughout the rest of the state:
LA-01: The Democratic Primary in this district is pretty much a formality, as Vinnie Mendoza has run numerous times in the past while not coming anywhere near close to winning.
LA-02: This is a big one. Congressman Jefferson has been indicted, and the trial starts next winter. He's facing off against 6 Democrats - James Carter, Troy "C" Carter, Byron Lee, Helena Moreno, Cedric Richmond, and Kenya Smith. It'll go to a run-off to be held on November 4th ... which is tantamount to election, as there are few Republicans in this district to make a difference. The question is, WHO will be in the run-off?
LA-04: Both the Democrats and Republicans have party primaries today. The Democratic Primary is largely a formality, as Paul Carmouche is very well-known in the district, having served as the Caddo Parish D.A. for the past 30 years.
On the Republican side, it's going to a run-off. There are 3 candidates - John Fleming, Chris Gorman, and Jeff Thompson. It's gotten mighty nasty, and I expect the run-off to be even nastier.
LA-05: This is a Republican primary, which will decide the election, as no Democrat stepped forward to challenge the ethically-challenged Rodney Alexander. He faces off against 25 year old Andrew Clack, who is running a shoe-string campaign.
New Orleans: There are a lot of races on the ballot, the most important of which is the District Attorney's race, as well as some very important questions regarding permanently funding the Inspector General's office and a bond for building yet more jails in Orleans Parish.
Baton Rouge: The Mayor, the entire City Council, and the District Attorney's offices are up for re-election. The current Mayor, Kip Holden, has done a fine job, and should cruise to re-election without the need for a run-off.
The current District Attorney, Doug Moreau, is retiring. The two candidates running to replace him - Democrat Hillar Moore and Republican Dan Clatoir - have been campaigning for over two years now. This should be settled tonight.
I haven't been keeping up with the rest of the state's elections ... what else is out there that you want me to live-blog the results of later tonight y'all?
The Advocate reports that Vice-President Dick Cheney will be leaving his unidentified bunker to raise money at fundraisers for Republican candidates Steve Scalise and Bill Cassidy on Monday.
Cheney's first stop will be in Metairie to help out at a Scalise fundraiser. The Scalise campaign that continues to insist it's not a close race. Then why do they have Vice-President Dick Cheney coming in to raise some money for them?
"His comments are going to be on behalf of our campaign," Cassidy said. "It is not a public event."
If you're running for Congress, don't we deserve to know who you're associating with, and what folks speaking on your campaign's behalf are saying?
Now, since Cheney has been one of the most secretive Vice Presidents we've ever had, one would normally assume that he wanted the events closed to the public. Apparently, that's not the case:
"Cheney will be speaking at both events, but they are closed to the media and public at the request of the campaigns," [Cheney spokeswomen Megan] Mitchell said.
Guess they don't want to see pictures of Cheney and them plastered all over the news.
The bill included tax break extensions for folks suffering from Hurricane Ike. In case y'all didn't know, LA-01 suffered from some pretty bad flooding during Ike. But the bill didn't include one parish from LA-01 as being eligible for those tax breaks.
Yet Mr. Scalise chose to get political attention for himself by railing against Wall Street, and voting Nay on the bailout. He even took the time to call into WWL on Thursday and talk with constituents about his opposition to the bailout.
Had he been doing his job as an advocate for LA-01, he would have fought to get LA-01 parishes included in the Hurricane Ike tax breaks. Some of y'all might say that he was opposed to the bill, so why would he include things in it? Folks, while on WWL on Thursday, he stated that he knew the bill would pass. If he knew it would pass, you would think he'd try to help out his own constituents, no? That is what we sent him there to do, right?
Late last week, after we learned that Harlan had closed a 53 point gap to 11 points, the National Republican Congressional Committee hid the news that their Chairman, Tom Cole (R-Ok), would be making a visit to stump with the Mistake by the Lake, er, Steve Scalise, in this competitive district.
Now we find out from Mr. Cole's spinmeister, Brendan Buck, that Cole is coming to Louisiana primarily because of the LA-06 race because "that race is tight." But the fact remains that Cole is making a visit to shore up Scalise's support.
I finally find the Scalise campaign response to the Harlan poll ... in LaPolitics Weekly, a subscription-only newsletter written by Republican apologist John Maginnis. Scalise spokesman Jason Hebert doesn't even respond to the poll's findings, but rather goes on the attack:
"I think this poll lacks credibility because Jim Harlan, a Barack Obama delegate, already lied about Steve Scalise's record and his background in a desperate attempt to fool voters and give Barack Obama another supporter in Congress."
Nice to know that the Scalise campaign has already ceded the Presidency to Barack Obama! If the Scalise campaign had the money to conduct a poll, they would have released contrary findings by now. Since they haven't done so, coupled with the fact that the spokesman just gave us spin when asked about the poll, means they know the race is "competitive."
So, if you've got time over the next five weeks, go to the Harlan campaign website, and sign up to volunteer!
Louisiana's first district has long been considered by the BSM and the pundits to be Republican-ville that many Democrats didn't even bother running for Congress. That began to change in 2004, when 5 challengers stepped up to the plate, and in 2006, when 3 more challengers stepped up as part of the 50-state strategy.
This spring, a Netroots Challenger stepped up ... Gilda Reed, and she criss-crossed the district, putting some 25,000 miles on her van in a valiant attempt to run a winning grassroots campaign.
Now, we're finally starting to see dividends from running Democrats in this district ... in the form of a poll done by the Kitchens Group on LA-01 for Democratic challenger Jim Harlan:
Candidate
Poll % (July #'s)
Steve Scalise (R)
42% (68%)
Jim Harlan (D)
31% (15%)
Undecided
26% (17%)
HOLY COW! In a span of 6 weeks, Jim has closed the gap by 42 points, starting from 53 down to a mere 11!
Scalise is in a very precarious position, as 42% for an incumbent with less than 6 weeks to go is not a good place to be.
Even worse for Scalise, his favorable/unfavorable numbers have tanked from 61%/13% to 44%/24%!
But our work is NOT YET DONE, Louisiana Democrats ... we have less than 6 weeks to go ... 40 days and counting down. If you're not registered, or you're not sure, go here to find out!
If you live in LA-01 or nearby, and you want to help Jim take down the Mistake On The Lake, you can sign up to volunteer online or you can call 985-635-4599 and ask what you can do to help elect an independent-minded pragmatic go-getter in Jim Harlan, rather than your typical Republican who doesn't care about the district enough to take the lead in Congress on hurricane protection for the communities on Lake Pontchartrain.
This plan of his speaks to the sorry state of education in Louisiana and Mississippi ... even in the private schools, as he received his high school education at St. Stanislaus of Bay St. Louis, and then he received a degree in Communications from Louisiana State University.
The idea came to LaBruzzo after hurricanes Katrina and Gustav when the state was forced to evacuate, shelter and care for tens of thousands of people.
"I realized that all these people were in Louisiana's care and what a massive financial responsibility that is to the state," LaBruzzo said. "I said, 'I wonder if it might be a good idea to pay some of these people to get sterilized.'"
Wow ... so this is a plan designed to ensure that poor black folks procreate less ... and we'll even pay these poor people to let us keep them from procreating! LaBruzzo tries to explain it's not just black folks he's worried about ...
"The majority of people on welfare in the nation are white ..."
Oh, so the economic problems this nation is currently having is the fault of the working class and its' procreating ways? Do yourself, and us, a favor sir, by sitting down and shutting up.
As we head into the final stretch of the cycle, the DCCC announces its fifth round of candidates who have earned a spot in the highly competitive Red to Blue program; the next round of Emerging Races; and, the first round of Races to Watch.
NEWEST EMERGING RACES
(IA-04) Becky Greenwald
(IL-13) Scott Harper (LA-01) Jim Harlan
(SC-01) Linda Ketner
(TX-10) Larry Joe Doherty
This comes on the heels of the latest Harlan ad, and taken together, it shows the voters of LA-01 that we have a Democrat that will be able to go tit-for-tat on the air this campaign cycle in LA-01.
On an unrelated note, but certainly noteworthy, this brings the number of Louisiana Congressional races the DCCC is taking an active interest in to 4:
Louisiana's first district has long been considered by the BSM and the pundits to be Republican-ville that many Democrats didn't even bother running for Congress. That began to change in 2004, 
