Louisiana voters elected Donald Cazayoux, a pro-life Catholic Democrat, to fill a vacant seat in Congress than had been in Republican hands for 33 years. (The Republican incumbent resigned mid-term to become a big time lobbyist for Wall Street). Republicans tried to win over white voters by appealing to racial fears but Louisiana voters proved they are above such tactics. The defeated GOP candidate, Woody Jenkins, is known for using voter lists provided by former Klansman David Duke. Republicans spent millions of dollars on racial charged TV ads linking Cazayoux to Barack Obama (the two men have never met) and other African-Americans.
Republicans funded their effort through the National Republican Congressional Committee. Individual Republican members of Congress hesitated from donating fearing their constituents would not look kindly at their involvement in George Wallace/Jesse Helms style campaign tactics.
The Louisiana election give further evidence that harsh attacks on Barack Obama with racial overtones will backfire on Republicans this fall.
4 comments:
Baton Rouge Blues
Obama survived one critical test this weekend. No, not the Russert interview. The LA-06 special, a closely watched election where GOPers poured tons of money on ads trying to link conservative Dem Cazayoux to Obama in an attempt to nationalize the race. It didn't work out as planned. To be sure, GOPer Jenkins was a flawed candidate, making this an imperfect test of Obama's down-ballot strength. The 5/13 special in MS-01l, which features a stronger GOPer, will be a better indicator. Even so, if Obama can't be used effectively as a wedge: 1) when he's at his weakest and 2) in a CD carried by Bush w/ 59%, what does this say about GOP chances to hold their open seats in more competitive districts? Special elections aren't always reliable harbingers for Nov. Just look at CA-50 in '06. And, LA and IL were the easy seats. Almost half of the 26 open seats GOPers have to defend this fall are ones which Bush narrowly won in '04. Then there are the three incumbents (Kirk, Shays and Reichert), who sit in Kerry CD's. Add it up, and Dems get to double digit gains w/out much of a sweat. Given that math, will it matter who Dems have at the top of the ticket?
Betcha won't talk about Bobby Jindal, a Catholic Republican winning despite the Louisiana Democrat machine's efforts...
Betcha you won't talk about David Duke, a Louisiana Republican beat by the Democrats.
Wait, how is i "race baiting" to align this candidate with the man who will most likely be the Dem's (the candidate's party) nominee. Obama is a super-liberal and whether he is black or not doesn't matter when you are running a campaign against him in a mostly republican district.
Funny how Obama supporters claim he is "above race" but don't hesistate to play the race card when it is to their benefit.
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