Just as Texans should have re-elected Nick Lampson, who won the corrupt Tom Delay's seat -- but, son of a gun, they didn't, because it's a Republican district. Go complain to the people who draw district lines to make them favorable to specific parties. (And no one was more flagrant about that than...Tom Delay)criddic3 wrote:It's sad when corruption becomes a mainstay of the local political scene. This is an opportunity, regardless of party affliliation, for Louisiana to reinvent itself. Why do the locals insist on keeping corrupt people in power? If Cao does a good job for them, they should re-elect him in two years.
2008 Election Results Discussion: House
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Mister Tee
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It's sad when corruption becomes a mainstay of the local political scene. This is an opportunity, regardless of party affliliation, for Louisiana to reinvent itself. Why do the locals insist on keeping corrupt people in power? If Cao does a good job for them, they should re-elect him in two years.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
I saw Cao on TV and he went to great lengths to state that he was not a hard-core conservative. He probably knows he will he to back up at least some of this rhetoric with his voting record if he wants to be reelected. I think he could be very well one of the Republicans who votes for the massive stimulus/infrastructure/pulbic works/investment package Obama has called for.kaytodd wrote:His chances to win re-election in 2010 are slim unless he switches parties.
Local talk radio shows were filled with shouts of joy when Jefferson went down.Greg wrote:In a surprise, one of the two runoff U.S. House elections in Louisianna -- the heavly-Democratic New Orleans district --was won by a Republican. The runoff in the other more-Republican district is too close to call. Considering the defeated incumbent was found to have tens of thousands of dollars of questionable cash found in the refrigerator of his U.S. House office, this might actually be better news for the Democrats than the Republicans.
You are absolutely right that the Democratic leadership in the House is glad William Jefferson is gone, even if he is being replaced by a Republican. He will likely be convicted of several serious felonies in his trial early next year and the last thing Pelosi wants is for him to be a sitting Democratic Congressman when it happens.
The winner is not only a Republican, he is the first Vietnamese American to ever serve in Congress. 41 year old Anh "Joseph" Cao (He is doing with his name what our Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is doing. Jindal knew his chances of being elected to office down here would be reduced if he was known as "Piyush.") is a former Catholic priest who left the priesthood, got married and had children, got a law degree and devotes much of his law practice to local political activism and public service. Much of the local Vietnamese community lives in areas that were hard hit by Katrina. But the Vietnamese rebounded very quickly from Katrina, and he was a big part of it. The success of the Vietnamese in post-Katrina New Orleans has been the subject of a lot of discussion down here and I am not surprised that one of them has had political success.
A large percentage of the refugees who fled Vietnam after the war were settled in the New Orleans area. The reasons for that are our tropical climate, our large commercial fishing and rice industry, the large Catholic population and the prominence of the French language and culture down here. They have been a tremendous asset to our community and I am happy they have someone like Cao to take pride in.
His chances to win re-election in 2010 are slim unless he switches parties. African American Democrats are already lining up for the chance to take him on. But they will be part of the local political machine that I believe to be partly responsible for New Orleans being near the bottom of so many quality of life surveys. Having newcomers like Cao and Jindal who do not have ties to the local power structure in positions of power give me hope that people from around the U.S. and the rest of the world will take another look at New Orleans as a place to live and do business. The people who have been running this city (William Jefferson, for example) have fucked things up very badly for very long. The mere fact that Cao and Jindal are not connected to people like that is a big point in their favor.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes
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Mister Tee
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And, in case anyone was bummed by the Jefferson loss, it's offset by Mary Jo Kilroy rallying in the provisional ballots to win the undecided OH seat. That brings Dems to 256, with two seats pending -- the LA one Greg referenced, where the GOPer leads, and a VA seat where the Dem has a solid lead but the vile Virgil Goode is refusing to say die.
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Mister Tee
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Jefferson was an albatross the Dems in DC did their best to shove aside, but the LA primary voters just wouldn't cooperate. I hope they're happy now.Greg wrote:In a surprise, one of the two runoff U.S. House elections in Louisianna -- the heavly-Democratic New Orleans district --was won by a Republican. The runoff in the other more-Republican district is too close to call. Considering the defeated incumbent was found to have tens of thousands of dollars of questionable cash found in the refrigerator of his U.S. House office, this might actually be better news for the Democrats than the Republicans.
This is strictly a 1-cycle win. The district is one of the most Democratic in the country -- more Democratic than ANY district is Republican -- and it took the freakish circumstance of Hurrican Gustav forcing the election into December (and resultant extremely low turnout) to give the GOPer a 3% win over a criminal. Much as happened with DeLay's seat '06/'08 -- and Rostenkowski's '94/'96 -- the dominant party will win it back at the next opportunity.
In a surprise, one of the two runoff U.S. House elections in Louisianna -- the heavly-Democratic New Orleans district --was won by a Republican. The runoff in the other more-Republican district is too close to call. Considering the defeated incumbent was found to have tens of thousands of dollars of questionable cash found in the refrigerator of his U.S. House office, this might actually be better news for the Democrats than the Republicans.
