That's too bad. I was looking forward to hearing what you had to say.
Attack strategy turned the tide
Jim Beam
REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL hopeful Bobby Jindal is a victim of his own success. Praised in 1998 as the wonderboy who saved Louisiana's Medicaid program for the poor, Jindal's successful health care record was turned against him by the state Democratic Party.
Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat who defeated Jindal to become the state's first female governor, had never run advertising criticizing an opponent. However, two weeks ago Blanco's advisers, many of them among the Democratic Party faithful, told her she had to go on the attack to win.
DR. EVAN P. Howell of Amite, a retired physician in a wheelchair, volunteered to lead the attack, and it was a masterful stroke. He portrayed health care patients as Jindal's victims.
Blanco said Howell was adamant about telling his story. "I called him after I saw his spot and told him I thought it was very powerful," Blanco said.
Political analysts said Blanco's comeback victory was dramatic. She had trailed Jindal by as much as 10 to 14 percentage points in election week polls.
"She pulled it off by going after him as a numbers person, not a people person," said Wayne Parent, an LSU political scientist. "She emphasized her humanity and experience and contrasted it with his youth and inexperience."
Parent added, "She changed the campaign in the last week to human versus robot. That was her trump card."
Elliot Stonecipher, a Shreveport political analyst, said, "We're talking about a 14 point net change from either Monday or Tuesday night, so that makes it the biggest meltdown by a major campaign in such a short period of time, certainly in my career.
"The health care issue hurt him badly, and older people, probably anybody 60 or over, had to have broken disproportionately to Kathleen in the end."
Jindal said he has no regrets about his failure to respond to attacks on his health care record.
Political experts think it was a major failure on Jindal's part.
Jim Nickel, a former executive director of the state Democratic Party, said negative ads allowed Blanco to control the message.
Gov. Mike Foster, who got Jindal into the governor's race and backed him without reservation, was also critical of the failure to respond.
"I think they missed a cardinal rule of politics: They didn't respond quickly to attacks," Foster said. "They could have prevented that and had a response up in 12 hours, but they didn't do it."
The results speak volumes about the success of the new Blanco strategy. She carried 52 of the state's 64 parishes and was a big winner among women and black voters. Her margin of victory was 54,567 votes out of 1.4 million cast.
Evidence of Jindal's success as secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals was reported in January of 1998 when Jindal resigned as head of DHH to head a congressional commission on Medicare.
The Medicaid program was costing over $4 billion when Foster became governor in 1996. Most of it was federal money and abuse was rampant. The feds insisted that Louisiana was going to have to pay more to attract federal dollars and trim its program. Jindal helped stabilize the program and reduced costs to $3.2 billion. Most of the reductions were achieved by cutting frills, insisting that clients go to primary care physicians rather than to emergency rooms and curbing abuses by health care providers.
A key element was necessary to make those changes. Jindal had to have the full cooperation of the Legislature to overhaul the Medicaid program. That is where the budget is trimmed. Without the changes, thousands more would have lost health coverage.
All of that is of no consequence now. However, it shows how Democrats were able to twist Jindal's record of achievement to their advantage and how Republicans missed a golden opportunity to fight back.
In the final analysis, it was a political stroke of genius. Blanco would not have won without the change in campaign strategy.
None of that should dampen enthusiasm for Blanco's election. Political analyst Parent said her victory is a definitely a plus for the state.
"Louisiana has shown the nation that we are a changed state," Parent said. "She's a woman, she's clean and there is not an inkling of corruption about her."
Blanco will take office Jan. 12, and the economy and health care are the top two items on her agenda.
THE SELECTION of legislative leaders may be Blanco's first major obstacle. Senators who want to be president of their chamber and representatives who want to become speaker of the House are already jockeying for position.
Blanco indicated she will have a role in those selections, and it will be our first indication of how aggressive she will be as governor. Some of the leading candidates for those posts are old-school politicians who can only hamper Blanco's effectiveness.
State Sen. Willie Mount, D-Lake Charles, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Senate president, and she would be an excellent choice. House Speaker Charlie DeWitt, D-Lecompte, wants to hold on to his job, but it's time for a change there.
Voters put Blanco and Jindal in the runoff because they wanted a departure from the politics of the past. Legislators need to keep that in mind when they vote for new leaders.
What Blanco needs from the Legislature is cooperation and a commitment to making Louisiana a better place to live. We wish her well.