We did it! HB 780 passed unanimously out of committee!

Thanks so much to readers and friends who called and emailed their legislators!

It mattered!

HB 780, which to us at first seemed like a real long-shot, passed out of the Health and Welfare UNANIMOUSLY!

HURRAY!

Big thanks to Rep. Nowlin of Natchitoches for sponsoring and fighting for this bill.

Additional thanks to Reps. Hines and Abramson of New Orleans. They seemed skeptical at first and asked some legitimate questions as to what the consequences of this bill would be but took everyone's testimony into consideration and were won over.

Even Treasurer John Kennedy sounded like his old self again. Check it out:



There were some real fireworks between Kennedy and LSU's Dr. Fred Cerise. You don't want to miss the full report at SaveCharityHospital.com!

I can't say it loud enough: those phone calls, those emails, the testimony of affected New Orleanians - it made all the difference.

When the bill goes before the full Legislature, we'll need to do it all over again.

Jindal Career Counciling

Oyster aptly assesses Bobby Jindal's prospects for national office after Mitt Romney fluffs the governor on local radio:

Running for Prez in 2012 would be difficult for Bobby. He'd have to gear up while running for Gubernatorial re-election in 2011, which would be sort of farcical. Also, displacing a sitting President isn't an easy thing to do. 2016 would make the most sense for him. He'd still be young and fresh, but would have more "executive experience"... etc. And after eight years of Obama and a Democratic powergrip on Congress, the GOP will be looking for a political savior to lead them out of the wilderness.

I agree to an extent. The McCain campaign exemplifies an erosion of the Republican coalition and message that will take more than one election cycle to halt. The GOP will have a very difficult go of things in 2012 for a wide variety of reasons. It is a lot easier to picture a successful "savior" campaign in 2016 when memories of recent history have been sufficiently erased.

My disagreement is with Oyster's assumption that the 2012 campaign would complicate his 2011 reelection bid. Running on a 'the work's not done' message would only be slightly more complicated when questioned about his habitual getaways to Iowa and New Hampshire. I do not foresee any challenge that Bobby Jindal's astronomical approval rating cannot withstand. His core donors are extremely wealthy and have been extremely generous on his behalf. While some might tap themselves out propping up the Vitter campaign in 2010 there will be something left in the tank for the Governor, if what I've learned about Vitty Cent's diminished support within the base is true. Plus, given that Bobby Jindal has already being introduced to the national kingmakers, he'll have no problem glad-handing his way to an enormous reelection war chest.

What Democrat in Louisiana will consider it worthwhile to go up against an exceedingly popular incumbent governor with overflowing campaign coffers?

Will the promise of a couple of TV ads worth of "duh, den why he all in Iowa?" be enough to convince a high profile Democrat to go all-in?

For my money, Mitch Landrieu, Charlie Melancon, and Don Cazayoux are the only Democrats with the credibility to run a statewide campaign. Either Melancon or Cazayoux will defeat Vitter in 2010 and the remainders are smart enough to realize that it's much wiser to consolidate Democratic power by locking down and expanding reach into the various congressional seats.

The only democrat dumb enough to campaign for governor in 2011 is John Neely Kennedy.

In other words, Jindal has nothing to worry about if he wants to go all-in for 2012.

However, to go back to the first point about the national political climate in 2012, my guess is that Jindal will go all-in on a bluff. It will be very much worth his while to campaign hard in the early primary states in 2011 in order to build an infrastructure for the real thing in 2016. The other possibility is that the Republican primary voters get it together to nominate somebody with the sense to remake the conservative message. For instance, should Mike Huckabee continue to make a play for young evangelicals with a message of charity, environmental responsibility, and the Earth is 6000 years old. . . well Bobby Jindal might find it helpful to slide into the VP slot. If Rudy Giuliani is the GOP nominee, Jindal might find it helpful to soak in the national security credentials rub.

Whatever the outcome, Jindal will almost certainly have his sights set on the 2012 GOP primary. However, his intention will be to run, not to win. If he is to seek the Presidency in 2016, if he is to even consider it, he'll need to have some semblance of a national grassroots infrastructure already in place. He can afford to prime the pump in 2012 because the 2011 gubernatorial reelection will be nothing more than a pesky mosquito.

Kennedy campaign stalks Senator Landrieu, discovers she's a human being

Apparently Mary Landrieu buys groceries!

For some reason, the JNK campaign is criticizing Mary Landrieu for her choice of grocery stores and that she's in Washington D.C. instead of Louisiana.

Why wouldn't he just condemn the creepy stalking?

Won't this desperate bullshit backfire for Kennedy?

The Head Pelican don't like and neither do I.

More:

Rasmussen, which always seems to have temperate polling numbers, gives Mary Landrieu a comfortable ten point lead.

On Republicans Running Against Obama in Louisiana

Jeffrey makes some good points about state Republicans running against Obama in their campaigns against local Democrats that have mostly never met Barack Obama or don't vote anything like him. (Including a the tasteless invocation of Reverend Wright in a political ad against the conservative Democrat Jim Harlan)

Jeffrey is right not to assume that this is a 'losing strategy' though I'm not sure which liberals are making that argument.

He is also right to assume that the identical and simultaneous strategies of Steve the Sleaze and the Neely Weather vane reflect some degree of coordination.

It is very possible that Scalise and Kennedy will see their electoral prospects improve based on this guilt by peripheral association smear campaign.

But this is unmistakably a desperate strategy. The Kennedy campaign is in awful shape and Scalise is looking in the rear view mirror at the fast-approaching and well-financed Jim Harlan. They don't have positive messages. They don't want to defend their past positions. They don't want to discuss the state of the nation. They don't want to debate the merits of their current policy positions. If they attempt to engage their opponents on any of these substantive things, the best they can hope for is a draw - as good as a loss given the momentum in each of the respective campaigns.

With nothing to run on and plenty to run from, the Kennedy and Scalise campaigns are forced to dig deeper and deeper into the depths of their sleazy souls in order to find mud sticky enough to stay on the minds of voters when they go to the polls.

Maybe attaching their opponent to Obama will work and maybe it won't.
Neither the Scalise and Kennedy campaigns know either.

The only calculation they've made is that they can't afford not to try it.

State GOP Pointlessly Threatens Own Membership

I really don't see the point here:

With more than two dozen prominent Republicans publicly backing incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu over her GOP opponent, state Treasurer John Kennedy, the state Republican Party is considering ways to discipline Republican officials who endorse Democrats, the head of the state party said Saturday.

When high-profile elected Republicans endorse Democrats, it "sends the message that we are not united," state GOP Chairman Roger Villere said. "It confuses the Republican message. . . . We are not looking to punish people, but we don't want this to develop into a trend."

Speaking with reporters after the quarterly meeting of the party's governing body, Villere said several party leaders want to adopt a formal mechanism to censure GOP officials who break with the party's candidates. He said passing a resolution "without teeth" simply to sanction a Republican who backs a Democrat, as party leaders have in the past, "doesn't make sense."

This is really rich stuff from Villere. Which confuses the Republican message more?

1. Is it that high level GOP officials endorsed Mary Landrieu?
2. Or is it that the feckless state GOP leaderships couldn't find anyone willing to run against her until the criminal rogue Karl Rove convinced a Democrat to switch parties and totally reverse nearly every major position he's held for the last decade or so?

Aren't conservative activists pretty unenthusiastic about the Kennedy campaign? Aren't they more frustrated with the professional GOP establishment that put him forth than with the popularly elected officials that have logically determined that the Kennedy campaign is a lost cause not worth spending money or time on?

And to threaten retaliation now, in October?

Wouldn't it have made more sense to bully the caucus into supporting Kennedy when, I dunno, they announced the guy's candidacy?

Meanwhile, the biggest irony of the Villere threat is that the message your average Louisiana voter gets as a reader is:

A lot of Republicans aren't happy with John Kennedy. They're not united. Most of the Republicans I voted for are actually endorsing Mary Landrieu. She must be pretty centrist and effective after all.

I really don't think the Landrieu is liberal meme resonates with the general electorate any more than it does with the facts, particularly with weather vane John Kennedy as the supposed alternative.

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And this doesn't even begin to explore what Villere means when he speaks of "the Republican message." Perhaps someone could ask him exactly what the Republican message or platform is these days because I'm not sure he knows.


UPDATE:

Adrastos has a great recap of Neely Kennedy's abysmal debate performance last night.

Is Mr. Villere absolutely positive that he won't be voting for Mary Landrieu himself?

Landrieu Landslide? It's the WCBF Bounce!

Pollster.com no longer considers Louisiana to be a Senate toss-up. In fact, it doesn't even just lean toward Senator Landrieu, as the polls indicate "strong" support. Ditto electoral-vote.com.

The latest poll from Rasmussen indicates that the effective Senator Landrieu has opened up a sixteen!! point advantage over serial candidate John N. Kennedy, tapped personally for this race by Karl Rove.

It would seem that Kennedy's strategy of cribbing notes from wikipedia, parroting patently false and locally insulting right wing talking points, and holding sparsely attended campaign events is failing to resonate amongst voters.

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The truth is that these polls and poll watchers are simply catching up to trends already identified here at We Could Be Famous.

Kennedy Supporters As Confused As Their Candidate?

Are John N. Kennedy supporters as confused about what their candidate is running for as I am?




It's nothing compared to their confused stances against social security as a public asset, against increasing the minimum wage, and against a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

A Senate Toss Up?

Political pundits and prognosticators have again and again cited the Louisiana Senate race between Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican State Treasurer John N. Kennedy as the GOP's only realistic chance of knock out a Democratic incumbent in their quest to prevent a filibuster-proof majority. Yet, by and large, there has not been extensive media coverage of the Louisiana race comparable to other swing Senate races around the country. The reasons for that may seem obvious at first-glance.

The Alaska race features the progressive former mayor of Anchorage, Mark Begich against the longest serving Republican Senator, Ted Stevens, who may be as likely to face jail time as he is to see another six years in office. The Colorado contest between progressive Rep. Mark Udall and Abramoff-connected, oil-pocketed Bob Schaffer has largely been a laugh-fest for those of us on the left. The insurgent campaign of Rick Noriega in Texas against arch-conservative John Cornyn and the seemingly unlikely viability of Ronnie Musgrove against Republican Senator Roger Wicker in Mississippi have captured a good deal of attention because of their symbolic implications.

Further, Louisiana political campaigns traditionally receive relatively little national attention because pundits admittedly don't understand the state's electoral structures, to say nothing of the colorful personalities that routinely defy the nation's sense of rational thought.

Nonetheless, considering the importance of this Senate race, I do feel as though coverage of this race has been seriously lacking.

And the specific reason for that may become glaringly apparent by the end of this quick primer.


Incumbent Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu has established herself as a big swing vote, consistently rated as amongst her chamber's most moderate members. While progressives often decry her caves on FISA, the Iraq War, oil, etc., it is clear that she has aptly positioned herself to bring bacon home for her state. Whatever your feelings are on earmarks or pork-barrel legislation, it is difficult to argue that Louisiana doesn't need or deserve as much federal help as it can get.

Then there's John Neely Kennedy, the State Treasurer.

In 2004, when Democrats were working to save the open seat vacated by longtime Senator John Breaux, John Neely Kennedy was a Democratic candidate. He couched himself as the most progressive option in the primary, running to the left of eventual nominee Chris John. He even gave an enthusiastic speech introducing John Kerry, whom he endorsed, at a campaign event in New Orleans.

Still a Democrat and still the state treasurer well into 2007, the Louisiana GOP seemed to be struggling to find a candidate to run against the effective Landrieu. Top Bush advisor and possible convict Karl Rove made a special trip to meet with potential challengers. At the time, Stuart Rothenberg (see link), noted that Rove's eroding stature may have rendered him an ineffective recruiter, especially for a Democrat.

Yet John N. Kennedy was somehow convinced and a few short months later, switched his affiliation, ignoring not only all of the foibles of the GOP during the Bush administration, but also constantly updated national poll data reflecting overwhelming public dissatisfaction. In November of 2007, just five weeks after being reelected State Treasurer, he announced his intention to run against Landrieu.

Since then, he has run an inarticulate and unenthusiastic campaign. His inability to raise money in reputably ruby red Lousiana forced him to call in George W. Bush to Katrina territory for a fundraiser in late March.

The Daily Kingfish crunched the numbers when the 2nd quarter fundraising totals were released. The Bush fundraiser alone accounted for over one third of Kennedy's meager haul. Without Bush's help, Kennedy would have raised less money in the 2nd quarter than he did in the first.

Meanwhile, Kennedy has awkwardly masked his party-hopping and flip-flopping by just gobbling up GOP talking points with little regard for fact. Last month, he took one of the more insulting routes possible, repeating the GOP-derived myth that "not one drop of oil" spilled during Hurricane Katrina ignoring that the talking point is patently false. While that may put you in the good graces of John McCain's campaign, it is awfully insulting to the people in your own state that survived the storm and are still learning the extent to which our eroded environment contributed to the strength of the storm and the extent to which the storm has eroded the environment.

Then, after slamming Mary Landrieu for an appearance with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg because of Mr. Bloomberg's progressive stance on social issues. That is ironic for a couple of reasons. First, as Oyster from Your Right Hand Thief points out, Kennedy has had trouble deciding how much he'd like to associate with sex-scandal marred Republican Senator David Vitter. After taking campaign money from Senator Vitter, he refused to answer whether or not he would be accepting Vitter's appearance on the campaign trail. Then he decided to indeed schedule a joint appearance at the end of August. The second interesting point to note about that is that Senator Vitter was once regional campaign chair for former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is a well-known liberal on the same social issues for which Kennedy panned Bloomberg.

Just last week, the Daily Kingfish made another interesting observation about a Kennedy radio appearance - he was reading his policy on oil shale nearly verbatim from a wikipedia entry.

So with a filibuster-proof Senate majority on the line, the GOP has pinned its only hope of defeating an incumbent on a guy that isn't even properly prepared for softball radio interviews.

One would think that national GOP operatives would be really promoting this race in the media or working the right-wing fundamentalist roots for donations or activist assistance. But they're not. Not at all.

Maybe it's because not even the local GOP seems interested in this race.


This is John N. Kennedy kicking off his campaign bus tour to his most loyal supporters:



Here is one of his events in Alexandria, another critical population center:



Here is John Kennedy speaking to a quorum of supporters at another appearance in Houma:



So it's no wonder the national press doesn't have much to say about the supposedly-critical Senate race in Louisiana, neither does the local GOP. They're not exactly lining up to greet the man. Additionally, since John Kennedy has proven not to have much to say for himself, it looks like Mary Landrieu might not have much of a race on her hands after all.

John Kennedy A Flip-Flopper, An Office-Hopper, and Now A Plagiarizer?

Just caught up on some Daily Kingfish.

He posted on this last week but I'm thinking it needs to be reiterated.

Did you guys know that Senate candidate John N. Kennedy has taken his energy platform nearly verbatim from wikipedia?

Because wikipedia at least has it's facts straight?

Huh?

Will Grassroots Conservatives Eat From Kennedy's Flip Flops?

There has been a lot of talk about Republican Senate candidate John N. Kennedy recently.

Though much of that talk has been about whether or not this pathetic showing actually constitutes a campaign:


Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of enthusiasm amongst Republican activists. I can't confirm this, maybe Brian Welsh can help shed some light, but perhaps Kennedy's people (or person) forgot to put out the platter of Triskets and cheddar cheese cubes. As anyone familiar with events that pair impressive banquet hall carpeting with soulless out-of-touch millionaires who lack any political values other than their own greedy thirst for power, it is difficult to obtain the intern/service staff attendance necessary to make the room look enthusiastic without toothpicks and slices of under-ripened honeydew.

While we wait for reports of the event refreshment situation, we'll be left to speculate as to why Kennedy failed to attract any Republican interest from Republican stronghold Baton Rouge. Mr. Kennedy's campaign against Senator Mary Landrieu is slated as the GOP's only realistic chance at unseating an incumbent Democrat.

Mr. Kennedy himself was personally recruited for the race by Karl Rove, the brain behind President Bush's historically low approval ratings and a future convicted felon. Mr. Kennedy, it would appear - after listening to the advice of Mr. Rove - took a look at all his previously-stated political positions, realized that they were of increasingly popularity in a climate toxic toward the failed policies of the Bush administration, an administration he had been wise enough to repudiate when he endorsed and campaigned for Senator Kerry in 2004. . .

. . . And ultimately decided to go ahead and declare himself wrong on all the things which he had actually been totally right.

That was a mouthful, let me attempt to simplify that into a simple diagram:

Future felon + Kennedy's correct and politically popular positions on important economic and foreign policy issues = Embarrassingly abrupt reversal + adoption of factually inaccurate and politically unpopular positions on economic and foreign policy issues

Pretty clear, no?

Anyways, after Mr. Rove promised Mr. Kennedy all kinds of campaign resources because Landrieu's seat was apparently such a golden lifeboat for the GOP to not be entirely blown out in November, the State Treasurer decided to jump on board the sinking ship.

So how did Karl Rove follow up on his promises to John N. Kennedy?

Rove put the Kennedy campaign on the right foot by allowing the Landrieu campaign to out-raise Kennedy by nearly 2 to 1, in spite of George W. Bush's $500,000 plea to Republican donors and Louisiana citizens on the importance of voting for Mr. Kennedy before giving him a "fair hearing" on his views.

So with Kennedy in a huge financial hole and national GOP helpers slowly backing away at the site of polls occasionally putting him 12 and 16 points behind Senator Landrieu, he launched his refreshment platter and supporter-deficient bus tour.

Now, national GOP helpers may be running for the hills.

John N. Kennedy is going to have to out-conservative an insurgent primary challenger.

With a name like J. Jacques Boudreaux, how can he not gain at least some traction amongst grassroots Republicans?

Knowing absolutely nothing about the man, he should instantly possess more credibility amongst conservatives and objective human beings of all stripes than the spayed down-ticket pet that Karl Rove took from John Kerry's kennel of no-talent castaways.

Whether or not Mr. Boudreaux will be able to raise the money necessary to legitimately challenge Mr. Kennedy's nomination is unclear. It is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that there are a lot of activist fundagelicals less than pleased with Mr. Kennedy's commitment to conservative doctrine.

Either way, John N. Kennedy is going to have to spend a lot more of his already meager campaign loot than he thought on the carrot, celery and ranch dip plates necessary to fend off this most unexpected primary opponent.

I'm no fan of Senator Landrieu centrism but Louisianians would be absolutely out of their mind to elect a stiff like John N. Kennedy when Senator Landrieu is poised to become one of the most powerful blue dogs and effective pork farmers in all of Congress.

I predict a relative blowout in favor of Senator Mary Landrieu.