I would be shocked if Jay Dardenne (who I like a lot) would enter the the GOP race for Senate against David Vitter. I think this is Dardenne just doing the sensible thing of reminding people he exists and perhaps making deals for the future. He makes some noise and in the future cashes in his political chips that he did not enter the GOP race and make a possible nasty scenario.
See Dardenne entry could intensify U.S. Senate race.
I must say how times have changed. Many "experts" were saying Christians would not support Dardenne for Sec of State because he was Jewish and his opponent a Christian. That was wrong of course. Now we see in this article:
Pearson Cross, head of the political science department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said the "Draft Dardenne Movement is the result of two things" -- Vitter's relatively low polling numbers against Melancon and the Christian conservative wing of the party still bothered about Vitter's confession of "a serious sin" -- being linked to prostitutes in Louisiana and on the phone list of a Washington, D.C., escort service.
"Although he had led Melancon eight to 14 points, he has yet to crack 50 percent," Cross said. "Sen. Vitter's 'very serious sin' has hurt him with the group he needs the most.
Who are these Christan leaders that are so bothered? They are keeping a low profile if they exist. From my understanding in the most Christian Conservative areas of the State Vitter numbers are alright.
As I keep pointing out Vitter's "serious sins" occurred before he was in the U.S. Senate. The talk of that serious sin was well known when he ran for the U.S. Senate so Christian leaders and voters I think had a understanding what they were getting. I mean we all knew something had happened.
So color me skeptical that the conservative Christian wing is looking for an alternative. Vitter has done a good job shoring this up.
I live in Bible Belt central and from the town hall meetings he has held up here I am not sensing a lot of Vitter dissatisfaction.
I stand by what I have always said. Louisiana Christians, of both Protestant and Catholic flavors, are very forgiving of their politicians sins of the flesh.
a great deal of those of us in the south of our beloved state are slightly less impressed than our brothers to the north apparently. I am one of many of my friends who are seriously considering voting Melancon or 3rd party in the next election due to the Vitter Scandals which include the prostitution scandals AS WELL AS the Rudy Giuliani endorsement. Even if one likes Giuliani, one should be able to see that it was a bad policy move for someone with a stain on family values who runs as a family values candidate to endorse someone against family family values. In addition, from the perspective of a Catholic who loves the Church's social teaching (including its family values positions), for a so-called Catholic to endorse a so-called pro-choice "Catholic" is quite despicable. I don't particularly love Melancon's position on embryonic stem cell research ... but there's a very good chance he gets my lesser of two evils vote ... unless I can find a compelling 3rd-party candidate to vote for in protest.
ReplyDeleteJoe I was going to mention something you brought up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that his Giuliani endorsement caused him trouble. In fact I was amazed by that. It is not just the pro-lifers that get upset but the whole 2nd amendment crowd. I think that hurt him more in reality than the sex scandal among many Christian voters
Still I am getting a sense that has died down.
The problem I see with voting for Mealancon is simple Math. One Party (whose leadership is very anti Catholic on issues) almost has total control. The magic number is 60 and they have it. If it was a 2004 situation where the numbers were more equal I would not be so concerned about people voting in protest. I think until we get that number down some what sp at the very least we can slow stuff down we are in trouble.
I find myself in the odd position of defending VItter who in many ways I never liked that much. I actually like him more since the sex scandal because it appears he is more humble now. Which is a nice change
but it's not a matter of the party having 60 people ... it's a matter of there being 60 people willing to disallow filibuster and by that delay the legislative process ... and there are some Democrats who may not want that ... especially, say, a relatively conservative Democratic senator of a Republican-leaning state. Obviously, the situation's not ideal ... but Vitter has become another scandal for Louisiana. When I turn on the news and listen to the newscasters talking about some issue that I happen to support Vitter's views on, and on which Vitter has recently broadcast his views, the newscasters immediately jump into how hypocritical Vitter is ... the truth is Vitter has ceased to be a very compelling spokesman for Louisiana ... and it's difficult to support someone like that especially since there will be someone whom I agree with on most issues I deem important running against him.
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