Republicans End the Week on a High Note
Posted by Chris Connolly on 12.07.2008
Hey, we can win an election every now and then!
On the heels of Saxby Chambliss blowing out Jim Martin in the GA senate seat runoff and Norm Coleman closing in on winning in Minnesota, the much embattled Republican party ended the week strong by actually winning some U.S. House elections in Louisiana:
Indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was ousted Saturday from his New Orleans area district, while Republicans narrowly held on to the seat vacated by a retiring incumbent.
The wins followed Republicans' reconquest of another House seat earlier this fall that had been lost to Democrats.
In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson's 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state legislature.
In the 4th Congressional District in western Louisiana, Republican John Fleming squeaked past Democrat Paul Carmouche in the race to replace retiring 10-term Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La. Only a few hundred votes separated the two.
While the 4th District seat should be easy to hold on to, the 2nd District spot may be more difficult depending on who the Democrats get to run in 2010. I've read a lot about Cao. He seems to be a good man and his life story is pretty compelling. But at the same time the main motivation behind his win wasn't necessarily who he was or what he stood for, it was more along the lines of "we just want someone who isn't a national embarassment and uses a freezer as a piggy bank". Granted, that's as good a reason as any to give the guy the boot, but it shouldn't give Mr. Cao delusions of an easy reelection in two years.
What will be really interesting for the GOP is how these recent events play into the race for RNC Chairman, which is starting to heat up with some big names starting to throw their hats in the ring.
William Jefferson - one corrupt son of a bitch down, the rest of the state to go....
Posted By: Chris (Guest) on December 07, 2008 at 02:28 PM
Where did your other article about how Franken needs to give it up go? Or did I dream that one?
Posted By: KTL (Registered) on December 07, 2008 at 02:34 PM
"William Jefferson - one corrupt son of a bitch down"
Agreed. Jefferson was to the Democrats what Ted Stevens was to the Republicans -- only more blatant and for a shorter period of time.
Posted By: J.D. Dunn (Registered) on December 07, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Yeah Chris - where did that Franken article go?
Posted By: Chapman Baxter (Guest) on December 07, 2008 at 05:36 PM
And that's just him J.D. - you should see what the rest of his family has done. Whole family is corrupt. I was at a bar last night in mid-city New Orleans and when the announcement came that Cao won, you would have thought that the Saints had just thrown the game-winning touchdown in the Superbowl. It bears repeating, one son of a bitch down - the rest of the state to go...
Posted By: Chris (Guest) on December 07, 2008 at 05:57 PM
What's sad is that he was actually up for reelection. He was indicted before the 2006 election and still managed to keep his seat.
I wonder if New Yorkers will have the same tolerance for Rangel when he gets indicted.
Posted By: Chris Connolly (Registered) on December 07, 2008 at 07:47 PM
"What's sad is that he was actually up for reelection. He was indicted before the 2006 election and still managed to keep his seat.
I wonder if New Yorkers will have the same tolerance for Rangel when he gets indicted."
Representatives wedge themselves in like termites because they only have to service a tiny part of the state.
It took us forever to get rid of Marilyn Musgrave.
Posted By: J.D. Dunn (Registered) on December 07, 2008 at 10:15 PM
The RNC should elect Michael Steele.
Posted By: J.R. LeMar (Registered) on December 07, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Eh, I'd rather have Blackwell or the SC GOP chair.
Posted By: Chris Connolly (Registered) on December 08, 2008 at 12:51 AM
You would think, seeing as there's like 100 Senators and 435 Representatives---that is, we get to choose 535 people from more or less all of America--the problem of having people serving who have ACTUALLY BEEN INDICTED would rarely come up. Weird little world.
Posted By: Andrew Tobolowsky (Registered) on December 08, 2008 at 01:27 AM
Well that would be true if politicians had any sense of honor. Let's not forget that Ted Stevens got convicted and still wanted to keep his spot. I think Duke Cunningham also stuck around through his trial. Back in the day Rostenkowski and Trafficant did it too, and something tells me that Rangel will do the same thing.
Posted By: Chris Connolly (Registered) on December 08, 2008 at 01:58 AM
STAY CURRENT