"Bobby" Jindal's campaign has retained Baton Rouge political consultant Roy Fletcher for what the Shreveport Times calls "the Louisiana Republican Party's third-party campaign on behalf of Jindal." This surprises me for three reasons. First, Roy Fletcher recently had very strained relations with the Louisiana Republican Party as a result of his attempts to derail the Republican Party's coronation of Suzanne Haik Terrell during the 2002 Senatorial race. Fletcher represented her Republican rival John Cooksey; he showered Terrell with verbal abuse during the race; and he even had the temerity to try to recruit former Governor Mike Foster. Because Fletcher overplayed his empty hand so many times during this competitive race, one of his main clients, Jim McCrery, fired him after contracting his services for 16 years.
While the 2007 Louisiana Gubernatorial race and 2008 Presidential speculation are probably gaining the bulk of the attention, the 2008 Senate race in Louisiana should be interesting. Mary Landrieu is regarded as the most vulnerable Democrat of the cycle across the country. So, what is the current state of the NRSC and LA-GOP finding an opponent for her?
It's like the LA-GOP and NRSC are standing at a microphone mumbling, "Is this thing on?" While there is still almost 18 months until Election Day 2008, Republican options are slimming awful quickly.
