Liberal Senator Landrieu

Witness for the Right ^ | 10/13/02 | Bill Kelly

[WFTR]

Liberal Senator Landrieu

Mary, Mary, quite contrary
how do our taxes grow
to Hillary and the DNC
you just won't learn to say "No!"

With less than a month to go before election day, Mary Landrieu is pretending to be a "conservative Democrat." She is touting a voting record that is "74% in agreement with President Bush" and trying to pretend that the agenda she's advancing isn't out of step with the voters of a state that supported President Bush in 2000. In all honesty, her record isn't the worst in the Senate, but she is being a hypocrite when she pretends to support conservative values.

74% is Meaningless

The "74% agreement" statistic is meaningless for two reasons. First, President Bush hasn't challenged the liberals during his almost two years in office. He didn't campaign for big changes, and he didn't try to implement them. After the terrorist attacks, everyone tried to present a unified front, and President Bush went even further to avoid confrontation. Unfortunately, he signed some bills that were absolutely wrong. The worst of these was campaign finance reform, and his signing that bill marked one of the few times he has broken a campaign promise. Building a 74% agreement record in this atmosphere is nothing for Mary Landrieu to be proud of.

NPAT on Vote Smart

A website called Project Vote Smart offers a survey questionnaire to every candidate for federal office. This survey is called the NPAT, and Mary Landrieu has failed to answer the questions in the survey so far in this election cycle. (See Issue Positions Data for Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.) Dr. John Cooksey, one of her opponents, hasn't answered the survey either, but he isn't trying to define himself as a "conservative" in a liberal party. What is a "conservative Democrat?" Mary Landrieu could help define what she means with that label, but she refuses to answer the questions.

Some Issues

I've done some quick research at Project Vote Smart to get a sense of who Mary Landrieu is as a "conservative Democrat." I've looked at some individual votes on specific legislation, and I've looked at interest group ratings. Project Vote Smart gives some good disclaimers about these interest group ratings, and I agree that one must use them carefully. At the same time, comparing legislators with similar ratings often paints a good picture of who those people really are when they are in Washington, D.C.. (See Interest Ratings by Groups.)

Abortion: Mary Landrieu is not pro-life. While she voted for the ban on partial-birth abortion, her other votes have been consistently supporting legalized abortion. She voted for a resolution affirming Roe versus Wade as a good decision. (Roe v. Wade Decision) She regularly votes to allow our military hospitals to perform abortions. (2001 - Military Base Abortions, 2000 - Abortions at Military Hospitals) She votes to spend our tax dollars on abortions for teens here in the United States (Abortion and Children's Health Insurance Program) and for "family planning" around the world (International Family Planning - Passage). Groups supporting and opposing legalized abortion rate her among the more liberal members of the Senate.

Abortion-related issues include the use of fetal tissue for research and the entire cloning debate. While her commercials claim that she is a leader in the fight against cloning, her votes on fetal tissue research show her to favor the use of aborted embryos for this kind of research. (Fetal Tissue Research)

Second Amendment: Mary Landrieu is not pro-gun. She is a fairly consistent vote against the Second Amendment. She is in favor of burdening us with more government harassment at gun shows and wants to let the federal government keep records on gun owners. She has very low ratings from the Gun Owners of America and high ratings from gun-control groups. (Mandatory Gun Show Checks, Background Checks, Lautenberg Amendment, Mandatory Gun Locks)

Family: Mary Landrieu is not a true friend of the traditional family. She receives low ratings from conservative family groups and some of the highest ratings from pro-homosexual groups. One group saying it was the only one with the courage to stand up for gay issues gives her an 80%. (Gay Rights Info) This rating is one of the highest in Congress. The Human Rights Campaign which is really just another homosexual advocacy group gives her a 100% rating. (Human Rights Campaign)

Business: Mary Landrieu receives pretty good ratings from some business groups but does not do well with groups that advocate free enterprise, freedom from regulation, and less government spending. Maybe she is a friend of businesses that want favors from Congress. I guess some nominal "conservatives" even support this kind of action, but small-government conservatives like myself aren't interested in a senator who wants more corporate welfare to go with the regular welfare.

General: Mary Landrieu is not a conservative. Her voting has been slightly more conservative since the 2000 elections, but that trend is also a sign that she is an ideological liberal. Many liberals will change their voting after a more conservative presidential candidate wins their state. She is clearly trying to use this tactic, and liberals who win with this tactic go back to their liberal voting patterns once they've fooled the voters. Another strong indication of her liberalism is her 100% rating from the National Education Association (NEA). The NEA hasn't stood for strong education for a long time, but its ratings are an excellent barometer of a politician's liberal tendencies. Mary Landrieu's 100% speaks volumes for her real agenda.

Summary

Mary Landrieu is not a conservative of any kind. On a good day, she's a moderate, and I'll admit that she has a few good days. Unfortunately, these good days don't change the fact that her presence in the U.S. Senate is advancing the agenda of people like Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle, and Ted Kennedy. Her presence doesn't advance what is best for Louisiana or our country.

The Best Candidates

Dr. John Cooksey

Tony Perkins

Suzanne Haik Terrell

Recent Updates:
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A Year Later
Louisiana US Senate Candidate Forum
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[WFTR]

It's been over a month since I've done a vanity, and I've only done two or three all year. I hope that I can post this one without exciting too much scorn from those who hate vanities.

Mary Landrieu is running in Louisiana as a "conservative Democrat." Considering that this state voted for President Bush and has a strong conservative base, her strategy makes political sense. However, it is also dishonest. She is no more a conservative than I am a male model. I've written this commentary in hopes of countering her claims somewhat. I hope that it will be of value in showing Louisiana voters that she is not one of us.

Liberal Senator Landrieu
Bill

[WFTR]

Bump list material?

[WFTR]

research vanity

[RJayneJ]

Thanks for the heads up! };^D)

[PhiKapMom]

WFTR: This is great information!

Could you please tell the rest of us how the Louisiana Senate race is handled? It is unlike anything I have heard of from any other state and I think people would be interested in seeing out they pick their Senator from LA.

Personally it seems like it was set up to insure a DemocRAT was always the Senator from LA!

Thanks!

[backhoe]

Contrary Mary is among these:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/723210/posts

Liars-- and Sleaze, Incorporated... ( my files on the clintons and friends )

various links | 7-27-02 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

[Landru]

HA!
Maybe you already heard, the Liberal-Socialists are going to dispatch 4,000 lawyers to various polling places around the nation during the election?
Yea; & their mission?
To record voter complaints SHOULD the Liberal-Socialist 'Rats lose the senate.
Lends an entirely new meaning to pre-emptive strike, eh?

Methinks the GOP oughta detail at least two of our lawyers to shadow these 'Rat sheisters around; actually, three would be better if we wanted to be safe.
We are after all talking about lawyers, here; who, just happen to be 'Rats, also.

...an exceptionally powerful evil double-whamy.

[Dog Gone]

Anybody heard from Irma lately? She always kept us up to date on Lousiana politics.

[MeekOneGOP]

[blackie]

Let's Roll !!

The RATS are in disarray...eradicate the rodents !!

Fire Democrats, Hire Republicans !!

GWB Is The Man !!

Snuff Saddam, NOW !!

Death To all Tyrant's !!

The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[PhiKapMom]

I haven't heard from Irma now that you mention it.

[PhiKapMom]

I heard that -- they are already getting it in the minds of the press the spin that the Republicans are going to steal the Senate when in fact their side is the side of fraud.

I agree with you -- we should be dispatching lawyers right with them to oversee the RAT lawyers!

I know that DOJ is going into South Florida and St. Louis -- would bet they might head to SD now with the fraud coming out. Best thing is that this time WE control the DOJ instead of the RATS!

[mwl1]

I hate Miss Mary. She is such a corrupt fraud.

[Saltmeat]

Senator Landrieu broke an appointment with the newspaper in Monroe, LA last week. She was unhappy about some print that they gave her even though it was all factual news. She showed them her backside. The managing editor did an editorial and scalded her.

Senator Landrieu is a Catholic. She was educated in the finest Catholic schools in New Orleans. Yet she is pro-abortion. She turned her backside to her church.

Senator Landrieu voted in lock step with her colleagues in the democratic party in the senate when she voted Bill Clinton not guilty when she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was. She turned her backside to integrity.

She is performing a charade and trying to appear to be a "conservative democrat" now that she is seeking re-election. There is no such thing as a conservative democrat. NO ONE CAN BE A CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRAT AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE POSITIONS ADVOCATED BY THE DEMOCRATS. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Finally, how can a person that lives in a $1.2 million mansion in Washington identify with the problems of a single mom with two or three kids trying to make ends meeet on $30,000 or less back in Louisiana. SHE CAN'T.

[No dems 2002]

I agree. Senator Landrieu is as close to useless as you can get. She's part of the problem and not part of the solution. VOTE HER OUT!

I hope that the run-off scheme works. The GOP has got to be really clever this time around with the amoral democrats doing everything in their power to hold on.

[WFTR]

Could you please tell the rest of us how the Louisiana Senate race is handled? It is unlike anything I have heard of from any other state and I think people would be interested in seeing out they pick their Senator from LA.

Thanks for asking. In Louisiana, all candidates run together on election day. The ballot may label a candidate by party, but there is no differentiation by party. Every voter sees every candidate that filed to run. If one candidate receives 50% + 1 vote, that candidate wins the election. If no candidate receives this majority, the top two candidates are in a runoff. The party affiliations of these candidates are irrelevant, and there have been many cases where they were both Democrats and some cases where they were both Republicans.

I don't know whether the system was devised so much to ensure a Democrat victory as much as it was devised because no one besides a Democrat ever won. When the state was so solidly Democrat that no Republican ever had a chance, they probably didn't want to bother with a primary when so many elections came down to two or three Democrats and one of them was capable of winning a majority on one ballot.

A kind of advantage to this system is that no one can win without eventually winning a majority of the votes. When there are few candidates, the system discourages "spoiler" candidates. A "Perot" can't come along here and drag one of two strong candidates just below his opponent. The lack of a majority for either candidate would force a runoff, and the one hurt by the spoiler would have the chance to run against the other without the spoilers in the race.

The disadvantage of the system is that kooks and crooks in a crowded field can sometimes make the runoff as long as they mobilize a faithful base. I wasn't here at the time, but people tell me that the Edwin Edwards vs. David Duke race resulted from that situation. Neither of them could have won the nomination of either party in a regular primary system. However, in this system, they could each reach the runoff with a small but motivated following.

WFTR
Bill

[WFTR]

Senator Landrieu voted in lock step with her colleagues in the democratic party in the senate when she voted Bill Clinton not guilty when she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was. She turned her backside to integrity.

I had collected the links to the votes and was considering including this point in my commentary. In the end, I decided that true swing voters probably wouldn't care anymore about the impeachment trial. I was also running long on the word count and decided that a shorter commentary might have more impact. I would vote against her on this issue even if she were strong on almost every other issue.

WFTR
Bill

[WFTR]

I hope that the run-off scheme works. The GOP has got to be really clever this time around with the amoral democrats doing everything in their power to hold on.

It will be interesting to see how things go. While the three Republican candidates are very different in style, I think they are very similar in substance. I hope that other Republicans see them this way and that we can mobilize all supporters for all three candidates in the runoff. I saw a public television news report about the race recently. In it, Landrieu or maybe someone with her campaign commented that while the Republicans had three different candidates to appeal to different parts of the electorate, the Democrats don't believe that any of the three can hold the supporters of the other two. Admittedly, this statement was mostly campaign rhetoric, but maintaining all Republican votes will be a concern for the party.

[PhiKapMom]

Thanks so much for posting the election rules for Senate races in Louisiana. It is confusing to the rest of us with primaries!

[millco88]

You need to remember that if Senate control comes down to the Dec election, Bush will spend as much time as necessary to make the contest a choice between him and Daschle. Also, how would the money work since soft money is supposedly illegal after November 5??