We've got some folks protesting our very own Congressman Bill Cassidy's seeming indifference to health care reform, as he continually pans the Democrat's health care reform bill, which will bring health care to another 30 million people. That's right ... 30,000,000 people. Anyhow, here's the Advocate's coverage of the protest:
So what's the beef about? $50,000 in unpaid consulting fees.
What's really interesting is that Mr. Cassidy's lawyer and his campaign treasurer are on two different pages about this lawsuit, according to this article in the Advocate by Sarah Chacko:
When asked for a response from Cassidy about the lawsuit, press secretary Wes Climer said the congressman deferred comment to his attorney, Leo Hamilton.
"We find the suit baseless," Hamilton said.
However, Cassidy's campaign committee is setting aside contributions for a potential settlement.
"It is anticipated that the lawsuit will be settled with an amount owed to the media advisor well in excess of any amounts that have been received as campaign contributions after the general election," according to a letter from Cassidy's campaign treasurer, Ralph Stephens, to the Federal Elections Commission.
So, which is it? Is the Congressman confident of victory, or is he preparing to fork over more than $50,000 to the maker of one of the Ten Worst Ads of last year's election cycle?
While I've been whipping attention to the fact that Senator Landrieu doesn't want to listen to her constituents on the issue, Rep. Bill Cassidy has been busy currying favor with the banking and health care industries with his plan for health care reform:
He envisions a modified form of the current Health Savings Accounts that would "wrap around" to cover catastrophic treatment as well as preventative treatment.
So ... folks who work, and contribute to the Health Savings Account set up by their employer would be okay ... until they or their children get cancer, a heart attack, or some other catastrophic illness, which would deplete the money in said health savings account.
How would this rein in the costs? It won't.
How would this increase access to health care? It won't.
Pray tell what would this idiotic plan do, other than giving banks more fees to charge, and health care providers more opportunities to over-charge for medical services?
Lucky for us, y'all can ask the Congressman himself at the town hall meeting he's holding in the auditorium at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center tomorrow at 5:30 PM.
Senator Landrieu announced today her recommendations for three posts in the federal government that are located right here in Louisiana: the United States Attorney for the Middle District, a United States District Court Judge, and the United States Marshal for the Middle District. Her choices are:
Don Cazayoux for United States Attorney
Y'all know Don if you've been a regular reader of this site. In terms of his qualifications to be a United States Attorney, Don received his bachelor's and Master's degrees from LSU prior to earning his J.D. from Georgetown University. He originally began working in private practice in Baton Rouge, before going home to Pointe Coupee to work as an Assistant District Attorney, never losing a jury trial.
From there, he ran for the State House of Representatives, serving for 8 years, prior to winning election to Congress last spring.
Brian Jackson for U.S. District Court Judge
From 1994 to 2002, Mr. Jackson was the First Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, where he managed or litigated a variety of civil and criminal cases. Because of his leadership, he was selected in 2001 to be the interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District pending the confirmation of then-President Bush's nominee.
Since 2002, Brian Jackson has been a partner in the law firm of Liskow & Lewis, where he heads the firm's government investigations and white collar crime groups. In terms of his academic qualifications, he graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana and Southern University School of Law where he served as editor-in-chief of the Southern University Law Review. He also received an LL.M. from Georgetown University in international and comparative law.
Kevin Harrison for United States Marshal
Since receiving his bachelor's degree from Nicholls State University, Mr. Harrison has worked his way up the ranks of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Since 2005, he has been the Assistant Agent in Charge of the DEA's operations in 51 of Louisiana's parishes (there are 64). New Orleans.
The recommendation of Mr. Cazayoux all but confirms he will not be the Democratic candidate against Bill Cassidy next fall, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Former Congressman Don Cazayoux has taken a position with Perry Dampf Dispute Solutions in Baton Rouge.
This move is surprising, but not altogether unexpected, as the United States Attorneys positions in Louisiana have yet to be filled with Democratic appointees. The background for those unaware is that Mr. Cazayoux was a reportedly a front-runner for the United States Attorney (USA) position in Baton Rouge, which has been led by Bush appointee David R. Dugas since 2001. It has been five months since the Obama Administration took office, and they have yet to announce their USA's in Louisiana.
Traditionally, Senators from the President's party have significant input in whom gets nominated for the highly prestigious posts in their state. For Louisiana, that means Senator Landrieu has the final say as to who is named USA in the three districts for Louisiana - the Eastern, based in New Orleans; the Middle, based in Baton Rouge; and the Western, based in Shreveport.
The question now is whether this new job for Mr. Cazayoux means that he will not be the United States Attorney for the Middle District. If he is not going to be the USA, will he be taking on a rematch campaign against current Congressman Cassidy?
The Business Report notes that Republican Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) will be in town Saturday to attend a town hall at Bill Cassidy's district office, and then will headline a fundraiser for the accidental Congressman at a private residence.
Last week, I brought this ad on Craigslist to your attention. But there is much, much more happening in regards to 2010:
Two commentators have dropped Don Cazayoux's name as a candidate for the Senate in 2010, here and here. This may be why the Business Report reported today that Senator Landrieu is among those pushing to have Cazayoux named as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana.
According to well-placed sources, one on the Republican side of the aisle, and another on the Democratic side of the aisle, Congressman Rodney Alexander is considering running for the Senate in 2010. And these sources tell me he's not made up his mind entirely as to which party he'd make the run in! I can't see Alexander being welcomed with open arms in the Democratic primary, so my guess is he's stuck in the GOP.
It's an open secret within Democratic politics that Shaw Chairman Jim Bernhard is seriously considering running for the Senate. What folks don't know is that some of the big money donors in Louisiana Democratic politics, like Sarah Palin donor Calvin Fayard, are attempting to clear the field for Mr. Bernhard. Whether they are successful is another matter, as rumors abound that the Landrieu camp is trying to entice a Central or Northern Louisiana Democrat into the race.
Sinator Vitter is still attempting to shore up his biggest weakness - North Louisiana - by calling into Tom Pace's "Talk of the Town" radio show tomorrow on Shreveport's KRMD-AM 1340. You can listen in here.
If you add up the totals of both Cazayoux and Jackson, that means that the majority of the voters in LA-06 voted for a pro-union candidate. A majority voted against Mr. Cassidy.
There were two things at play here - the belief that a Democrat needs to emphasize their conservative credentials in order to win, which I discussed here; and the fact that Michael Jackson was bought and paid for by L. Lane Grigsby, the owner of Cajun Contractors, an anti-union construction corporation. I wonder what Mr. Jackson gains being paid off by Mr. Grigsby to spoil the election. Some have suggested that the Federal Election Commission needs to delve into the full extent of their financial relationship, since Mr. Grigsby has already made illegal donations to Mr. Cassidy, and the fact that there is no disclaimer on ANY of Mr. Jackson's election paraphernalia:
This is the image plastered on billboards all over North Baton Rouge:
And this is the image on the few lawn signs they had printed up:
Do any of y'all see the union label on these signs? I don't. Do any of y'all see the disclaimer required by federal election law that states it must detail who paid for the signs? I don't.
Mr. Jackson is a lawyer. I'm sure as a candidate, he took the time to read federal election law as to what was required of him as a candidate. The fact that he didn't put a disclaimer up there leads me to believe that there is a pattern of disregarding the law on his part. Mr. Grigsby broke the law by donating more than is legally allowed to Mr. Cassidy. And we know that Mr. Grigsby has donated nearly half of the money raised by Mr. Jackson in this campaign. Were there more donations that we don't know about?
All of that aside, I am saddened by the decisions made by Michael Jackson in this election. While I understand his frustration about losing the special election primary run-off in April, as someone who is progressive, how he runs a campaign fueled in large part by money from a wealthy, anti-union, Republican donor who is diametrically opposed to most of what he stands for is beyond me.
I don't buy the idea floated by other progressives that this election was the best opportunity for a progressive candidate to win election to Congress. I also don't buy the idea floated by some black commentators that this was the best opportunity for a black politician to win election to Congress from this district.
The conventional "wisdom" propping up this belief were the ideas that the white "conservative" Democrat and the white Republican would split the white vote down the middle, and so long as the "independent" black candidate took 90% of the black vote in a general election plus the liberal white vote, the black candidate would win.
Such thinking assumes that black voters are sheep, and will only vote for the black candidate. Black voters are Democrats, y'all. The vast majority of them vote for the Democrat in a general election, not the black candidate. This election should prove that, as Don pulled a majority of the black vote from majority African-American precincts in EBR Parish:
Candidate
African American Votes
% of African American Vote
Bill Cassidy (R)
1,503
4.91%
Don Cazayoux (D)
19,955
65.20%
Michael Jackson (Lane Grigsby)
9,147
29.89%
I've actually had a few discussions with folks via email and in person that voted for Michael Jackson, and they all say that it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Michael Jackson could win he took 90% of the black vote like he did in April. The problem with that analysis is that it conveniently forgets that Mr. Jackson got 90% of the black vote in a Democratic Party primary. Either way, black folks would win ... they would get their concerns listened to by whomever got out of the Democratic primary. In a general election, when black voters make up far less that 50% of the vote, getting 90% of the black vote simply ain't enough to win in a 3 way race. If Mr. Jackson were the Democrat, perhaps, but he wasn't. He ran as an Independent who was paid off by L. Lane Grigsby to tilt the race to Bill Cassidy.
There is one more thing these folks forgot ... when there is a Republican candidate in the race, to assume that a majority of black Democrats will vote for the Independent black candidate is
fallacy, especially when the white Democratic candidate is almost certain to get the endorsement of the party's first black Presidential nominee. Why these folks thought that there was a snowball's chance in hell that a majority of black folks were going to disregard the endorsement of Barack Obama is also beyond me. Further, please tell me the last time an Independent candidate won in a 3 way election in this state.
Another person I have discussed this with brought up the salient point that it makes no sense to keep pushing DINO's like Mary Landrieu and Don Cazayoux when I am for progressive policies, and they are not.
In a general election, when the choice is between a Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent candidate (who can't win), the most progressive candidate will ALWAYS be the Democrat. I don't care how smart Bill Cassidy is. He votes the way the fundamentalist wing of the Republican Party tells him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have a 100% rating from the Louisiana Family Forum. And in the United State Congress, where the Republican Party exercises a vise-like grip on their Members' votes, Mr. Cassidy will not be free to exercise his "reasonableness." He will be forced to vote the way the Republican leadership wants him to, just so he can get their support for re-election. And he has done just that in the Legislature, with respect to his votes for the Louisiana Family Forum.
Mr. Jackson's egomaniacal candidacy sent Mr. Cassidy to Washington. His shameless selling out of the working families in this district is absolutely despicable. The losers in this are not Don Cazayoux, who will be fine; nor Mr. Jackson, who will also be fine; but the black voters of Baton Rouge. They have done without adequate representation for all but 6 months of the last 15 years.
They can thank Mr. Jackson for the lack of representation for the next two.
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.
In Cassidy's most recent FEC report, Lane Grigsby, the owner of Cajun Contractors that is attempting single-handedly to unseat Rep. Don Cazayoux by supporting both Republican Bill Cassidy and Independent Michael Jackson, has, along with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and his CFO's wife, illegally contributed $8,700 to Republican hopeful Bill Cassidy. Don't believe me ... read the law (pdf alert):
§ 441a. Limitations, contributions, and expenditures
(a) Dollar limits on contributions.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (i) and section 315A (2 U.S.C. § 441a-1), no person shall make contributions-
1(A) to any candidate and his authorized political committees with respect to any election for Federal office which, in the aggregate, exceed $2,300*
I don't have a problem with several individual family members maxing out ... that's fine. If several individual family members give more than they are allowed to give, that's illegal. That's a broken law. And it is CLEAR that the Cassidy campaign and Lane Grigsby, his family and a friend have broken the law:
I knew that Republican hopeful Bill Cassidy was determined to be a Congressman, but I didn't realize that he'd be willing to break the law to do it, as federal election law states that one can only donate $2,300 per election.
It's also nice to see L. Lane Grigsby be so vigilant about following the law in this regard. After all, he's the guy pushing money towards Independent candidate Michael Jackson and Republican Bill Cassidy. There are rumors flying that L. Lane is the one paying for the Jackson billboards all over Baton Rouge, since there is no disclaimer as to who has paid for them, as required by federal election law.
There are a lot of political ads out there and yes, I know that is an understatement. But with all of them out there, you find that a lot of them with photo-shopped images of candidates in an attempt to make them look goofy or somehow criminal.
Well in all that mess, there is still nothing that breaks through the clutter than having a real person tell their story. It will always make the biggest impact on voters and here is one to watch:
I've been hearing from the liberals in the Garden District that they are voting for Republican hopeful Bill Cassidy because they think he's more socially "liberal" than the Democratic incumbent, Don Cazayoux. I make this statement since I'm told that Cassidy friend BM was overheard at a Garden District party pushing Cassidy in conversations with fellow party-goers a few weeks back (PG stands for party-goer:
BM: "You should vote for Bill Cassidy. He's the real liberal in this race."
PG: "Well, what about Cassidy's Louisiana Family Forum ratings?"
BM: "Well, I talked to him about that, and he said that he just did that to get elected."
Rumors abound that Bill has received donations from Planned Parenthood board members during his State Senate campaign, as they believed he was an ally, thanks to his position on the Medical Committee of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, (pdf alert), which has donated a minimum of $31,250 to Planned Parenthood of Louisiana for educational purposes since 2004. I've attempted to find out exactly how much was donated to Bill, but have had no luck, presumably due to security concerns on the part of the Planned Parenthood Board.
Well, he's turned out to be some ally of Planned Parenthood ... receiving a 100% rating from the Louisiana Family Forum in BOTH legislative sessions he's served in:
Those votes include bills limiting access to abortion at any time during the pregnancy to only when the woman's life is at stake, never mind that the woman may be the victim of rape or incest; allowing creationism to be taught in public schools; repealing the progressive Stelly Tax Plan; and refusing to expand the Louisiana Government spending cap at a time when we have major, serious infrastructure needs.
Bill Cassidy ... a former ally of Planned Parenthood, who will say anything and become anyone simply to get elected. That's not the kind of change we need in Washington.
I mentioned this terrible, terrible ad from the Cassidy campaign in the past:
Well, Politico called this ad one of the year's TOP 10 Worst ads of the election cycle. While I agree, I think they could at least know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to why the ad was run:
The ad begins with Cassidy's wife pull-starting a generator - for no obvious reason - and yelling, "Okay, Bill!" Cassidy then begins an anti-earmark, drill-now spiel in the rain, under an umbrella, again with no explanation. Maybe it had something to do with Katrina. The ad - the candidate's first - has been taken down from the campaign's YouTube page. But we dug it back up.
Wow. Maybe it had something to do with Katrina? Are the people who wrote the piece at Politico that dumb? Do y'all recall a little hurricane called Gustav? If you don't, I suggest you take a look at this this post, and this one.
I've been wondering where Jackson was going to raise the necessary money to run a real campaign. The Politico's Scorecard gives us some answers:
Through his own 527 organization, Grigsby has bankrolled much of Jackson's campaign, helping him get his message out to black voters in the district.
Over half of Jackson's $58,450 in fundraising to date has come from Grigsby, his family or his associates at his construction company.
Grigsby has spent money on anti-Cazayoux mailers endorsing Jackson's campaign. The mailer features a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. on the front and attacks Cazayoux for his connections to labor groups. At first glance, the piece looks like it's from Jackson's campaign.
He also has been paying to produce yard signs for Jackson, according to a Democratic source in the district.
We've noted the numerous donations to the Jackson campaign from the Grigsby family. We have the MLK mailer, which we'll scan and put up in the morning.
Yesterday, I received a fundraising email from the Cazayoux campaign decrying the "outrageous ads" attacking Don in this election. Intrigued, I decided to investigate. Sure enough, the National Republican Campaign Committee, a group that Cassidy could publicly ask to stop running the ad, and they would likely comply, is running the following ad:
This ad is so disturbing that even Republicans I know have commented on the tone of it. And these Republicans are allies in the culture wars - pro-life, anti-gay rights, etc. Let's take a look at the claims:
The ad references HB 736, with no mention of what year, or when the vote took place. So I investigated. And I found two bills that refer to human cloning in 2005 in the Louisiana Legislature:
HB 492, introduced by Dan Morrish
HB 736, introduced by Eric LaFleur
So, according to this ad, I would have expected Don to have voted against these bills, as they both called for the prohibition of human cloning in the field of stem cell research.
OH, SNAP! Don voted in FAVOR of BOTH BILLS, which called for the prohibition of human cloning in the State of Louisiana.
But, wait ... the ad references a few newspaper/magazine articles from TIME, San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Advertiser. Might it mention Don's "support for human cloning?"
OH, SNAP! The articles are all about how some scientists found a way to clone a MONKEY embryo. Perhaps the excellent fact-checkers behind the National Republican Campaign Committee ad can tell me what that has to do with a pro-life, anti-human cloning Democratic officeholder by the name of Don Cazayoux?
They can't ... and you know why?
Don Cazayoux voted in FAVOR of PROHIBITING HUMAN CLONING in the State of Louisiana EVERY TIME he voted on the issue in the Louisiana State Legislature!
But, wait ... the ad does reference some Louisiana Family Forum propoganda. Let's check out where that came from:
See the asterisks next to all of Don's "answers"? If you read the NOTE at the bottom of the chart, it states:
Democratic candidate Don Cazayoux .... chose not to respond to LFF's Questionnaire. Responses for Don Cazayoux were taken from the candidate's federal party platform.
Hmmm ... despite Don's lengthy record on these issues in the Louisiana State Legislature, the LFF couldn't be bothered to tell the voters of Louisiana the truth. Instead, they resort to subterfuge and use the Democratic Party Platform to fill in Don's answers.
Hmmm ... here's the platform, folks (pdf alert). I could not find the term "human cloning" in this document at all. Perhaps you can.
So, let's recap: Don voted to prohibit human cloning in the Louisiana Legislature both times he faced the issue. The newspaper/magazine articles talk about how scientists were able to clone monkey embryos, not human embryos. The Louisiana Family Forum is LYING when it comes to Don's position on human cloning, linking to a document that doesn't even mention the issue.
When is Bill Cassidy going to condemn this blatant lie? When will he tell the NRCC to stop lying to the voters of LA-06? Hmmm ... I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, considering that all the Cassidy campaign has done with its' own negative ads attacking Don Cazayoux is LIE.
If you're fed up with the Cassidy/Republican lies, donate to Don so he can fight back with a ground game during the final weekend of the race and turn out the Democratic vote.
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!
Cazayoux finally broke down the amounts raised and spent for this election on its own, which is why the numbers are so different from the last fundraising report I put up. He's still raised more than Cassidy, although Cassidy has a cash on hand advantage.
I'm not sure that's gonna matter, because Cazayoux spent all that money early on re-introducing himself to the district before the Republican smear machine got going. It's paid off so far, with Cazayoux leading by 16% or 17% depending on which poll you believe. If the Cassidy people think it's closer, then I dare them to release their polling.
Michael Jackson has no coin. At least not enough to win. So you know he's going for the spoiler role here. What I wanna know is who is paying for all those billboards in the area. Since they DO NOT contain the "Paid for by" disclaimer required by FEDERAL LAW, we don't know.
