[newgeezer]

"Boy, da way Glenn Miller played..."

This is why the rumored Condolezza Rice VP candidacy would be a net loss, especially in the Old South (nevermind the fact that she's also a woman).

[tiamat]

If you don't vote, you lose your "b*tching rights" .

Go ahead. Don't vote. Just don't whine to me if you hate how things turn out.

Besides, even if you can't find someone to vote FOR, there is ALWAYS someone you can vote AGAINST!

Tia

[GraniteStateConservative]

The sooner he moves to a state willing to elect him, the better for the country. After Blanco for 8 years, LA will elect Mitch Landrieu for 8 years. The state will continue to be a Democrat-conrolled trash pile like Arkansas-- and I'm an Arkansan.

[justshutupandtakeit]

So the dumbassed crackers let us down again, what a surprise.

[jordan8]

First rule of American public debate: It's always safe to bash whitey. (Esp. Southern whitey).

Jindal led the primaries and got 60% of the white vote but it's never enough for the hate-spewing genocidal left and their "conservative" collaborators.

I wonder if Fred Barnes will ever write a article about the "LeRoy vote".

[Ima Lurker]

I don't think his dark skin was as much a problem as he was perceived by some to be a foreigner....a foreigner from the middle east at that. As far as the black vote goes, we can forget that. The majority of blacks are not going to vote for a Republican no matter what color he is.

[kimoajax]

This is why it has and will for a long time to come continue to be a waste of effort for Republicans to court the Black vote.

I have good Black friends that in every respect, save party affiliation and voting, hold the same social values and opinions as conservative Republicans. Yet, year after year, they simply cannot bring themselves to vote for a Republican over a Democrate.

There are some foundational notions steeped in Black culture and history that explain such stark inconsistency. Notions to which Blacks desperately cling and which from a cultural perspective provide a sense of understanding, identity and emotional security. Notions which current Black leaders have every reason to continue to cultivate.

One notion Blacks cling cling to is the belief that they have only made progress as a race when they have successfully hung together as a group...no matter what. Voting Repulican when the majority of the Black vote is expected to vote Democrate is understood as selling out your race.

Second, Blacks tend to only trust leaders they see as being one of their own. To be seen as such, a leader cannot be too different. So, Republicans can put forward all the strong independent self made Black Republicans condidates they want, such as Rice and others, and they will not be viewed by Blacks as one of their own and will therefore make little real difference in terms of changing Black perspectives.

You see exhisting Blacks leaders have a very useful labels for Republican alternatives. One is that he or she is an "Uncle Tom"....which is code for House slave. Others are that they are an up-ity N????r or not black enough. Such a labels quickly and effectively communicate to Black voters that such examples are from the outside, too different and therefore paint them as some sort of undermining challenge to Black indentity and security.

Unfortunately this sort of group loyalty means Blacks not only tend to overly exhalt "their" leaders, they also tend to not hold "their" leaders accountable. Being one of their own gives "their" leaders a pass on all kinds of gaffs and faults which would otherwise disqualify from leadership. Even worse...such exhaltation apparently even extends even to the point where it is not even a requirement Black voters agree with "their" leaders in order for them to vote how they are told to vote.

The only explanation that can be offered by my Black friends when confronted with such stark contaditions is for them to tell me "well, you would have to be Black to understand."

Years ago I finally came to accept this explanation and no longer resist it. Folks it is what it is and we must realize change is nearly futile when the victims themselves have become corrupt. Change will occur only from within the Black community and only from "their" leaders. From what I can tell, that day is a long way off.

[No Dems 2004]

I wanted Bobby Jindal to win - I really did. I was rooting for him right to the end. But, deep down inside, we all knew that his ethnicity was a potential drag on his electability in the Deep South. I think this should serve as a caution to the Republican Party when it ponders running unconventional (i.e., not a white man) candidates in the future, especially in the South. It's okay under certain circumstances, but, as a rule, white men do tend to fair the best for the GOP.

Consider all the great victories lately: California, Mississippi, Kentucky, the GOP's Senate sweep in 2002, etc, etc. The GOP needs to remember where its bread is buttered. Like I said, there are some exceptions, but let's be careful before we get too excited about the prospects of unconventional candidates in the future.

[deport]

The Times Picayune article that was referenced by Barnes...... Adding for archival purposes

Support among white voters helped Blanco turn tide

Jindal polled better than normal among state's black voters

Sunday November 16, 2003

By Laura Maggi and Jeffrey Meitrodt
Staff writers

Kathleen Blanco's remarkable victory Saturday was propelled by her ability to capture more white voters than Democrats typically can count on in statewide races against Republicans.

Republican Bobby Jindal's bold push to win over African-American voters with high-profile endorsements succeeded to a point: He got 9 percent of the black vote, almost twice what most Republicans typically get in the state.

But as much attention as that garnered, a key to Blanco's victory was the white vote, of which she won 40 percent, according to an analysis of returns in Louisiana's 4,143 precincts by GCR & Associates Inc., a political consulting firm in New Orleans.

In the weeks leading up to Saturday's vote, Jindal was considered the front-runner because he led in some polls, even as others showed the race close.

After the primary, during which she captured 18 percent of the vote to Jindal's 33 percent, Blanco had a tough time pulling together the disparate Democratic factions.

Blanco's best hope seemed to be energizing the Democratic base of African-Americans to go to the polls. Historically, African-Americans vote less regularly than white voters, and Democrats were concerned that turnout would decline in the runoff since Blanco ran third among African-American voters in the Oct. 4 primary.

In the primary, only 45 percent of the state's black voters turned out, according to Greg Rigamer of GCR. Saturday, that rate climbed to 46 percent.

White vote was unchanged at 54 percent, Rigamer said.

In an unusual twist for most Democratic statewide candidates, Blanco could not take for granted that she would receive the overwhelming number of those votes. Early in the runoff, Jindal made an effort to woo black voters from their traditional role as stalwart members of the Democratic camp, winning endorsements from a handful of black leaders, including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

In the end, Blanco won 91 percent support among black voters.

Significantly, her support among black voters in the New Orleans area was slightly smaller at 89 percent, perhaps because of the Nagin endorsement.

But Jindal's bigger problem, it turned out, was among white voters. Republicans typically need about two-thirds of the white vote in order to succeed in a statewide race, said Elliot Stonecipher, a political analyst based in Shreveport.

Jindal achieved that in the New Orleans area, winning 70 percent of white voters, Rigamer said. But in the rest of the state, he trailed Blanco among white voters, getting only 48 percent.

The Times-Picayune paid Rigamer for his analysis. A portion of the firm's work is conducted for politicians, and in this race Rigamer worked for Blanco.

[Lael]

I guess we have to draw the "OUTSOURCING" line somewhere!!

[lormand]

Every election result from Lousyana makes me more and more proud that I fled that state in 1997, the state in which I was born. Texas is my home now. My wife and I have made two native Texans who will be proud of their state and country.

I learned a huge lesson in this election, which is, no matter what, Louisiana will alway be a stinking hell-hole. I actually had hope for my native state on election day. Ordinarilly, I am pestimistic towards Lousisiana. I read the polls, got hopeful, only to be slapped into reality. If not for my friends and family, I would never return there.

[Maximum Leader]

Really too bad about Jindal, by all accounts he is as honest as he is smart. Though in the end, this may be the best thing for him.

If John Breaux retires from the Senate next year, he'd be the front runner. He'd be the smartest senator since Pat Moynihan.

[Looking for Diogenes]

Why Bobby Jindal lost in Louisiana, despite being ahead in the polls.

Maybe it was simply because polls are always wrong?

[petercooper]

dumb white bigots

[CoolPapaBoze]

Why do people think Jindal as governor would have changed anything one whit in Louisiana? Does anybody remember Buddy Roemer? He was a highly intelligent governor with fresh ideas 15 years or so ago and he got jack done because of the Legislature. Everything he tried to do was shut down.

Hell, Abraham Lincoln could be elected governor of Louisiana and still nothing would change. The corrupt legislature and the old boy network run the state and I doubt very seriously that will ever change until all of the money and oil and intelligent residents have left the state. If/when Jindal is governor, I doubt very seriously he's going to ever be able to make any meaningful reforms.