That is good news, but this has been a day of good news:
1. The unemployment rate dropped. [Don't let the Dims worry you, what matters is the number of people employed. People know they are employed IF THEY ARE, they do not know that from BLS seasonally adjusted data.]
2. The Boston Globe gave the Swift Boat Vets story legs by lying. And nothing has changed about what the Swift Boat Vets have said.
3. Now the GOP margin in the House rises by one. [I guess the bad side of this is Dems for Bush drops by one?]
Boom boom boom, another bits the dust.
AWESOME! Alexander is as conservative as they come, and a great addition to the GOP House caucus.
Are you sure it's not just a clerical error. I looked at the state's web page and it isn't clear or was there an announcement as well?
where can we write and thank him??
Huzzaaahhhh!!
And the official announcement of this is where ?
There's a 50/50 chance that incumbent Congressman Rodney Alexander, a Democrat, will have not one but two Republican opponents in this fall's election.
Qualifying is this week, from Wednesday through Friday, for the Nov 2 election. If necessary, the run-off will be Dec 4.
Clyde Holloway, a former congressman who ran third two years ago, may make the race, but when he answered the telephone Sunday afternoon at his home he was not sure.
"It's a 50/50 chance," he said.
Republican Jock Scott of Alexandria is already running and has been for several weeks. Scott served three terms in the Louisiana House. Back then he was a Democrat.
Scott is an attorney but also a history professor at LSU-A. He has expressed strong support for President Bush on the controversial war in Iraq.
Holloway, now 60-years-old, served three terms in Congress from 1987-93, but reapportionment placed him in a district where he couldn't win. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge defeated him.
Reapportionment, however, gave him a new chance, putting Alexandria in the same district with Monroe.
Holloway owns and operates a nursery at Forest Hill south of Alexandra.
When the Legislature carved out the new 5th Congressional District with both Monroe and Alexandria in it, the seat was open because member Jim McCrery was from Shreveport.
That's when Dr. John Cooksey of Monroe was elected in a run-off with Rep. Francis Thompson of Monroe. Holloway ran third.
The seat became vacant again when Cooksey ran for the U.S. Senate, and again, Holloway ran third. Republican Lee Fletcher lost the election by less than 1,000 votes in the run-off with Alexander.
Now nearing the end his first two-year term, Alexander has done just about everything right except for one mistake. He flirted with the idea of switching parties and went public with it.
That created a mild storm in Democratic circles. Alexander was backed into a corner by influential Democrats who helped elect him. As a result, he declined to switch despite promises from Republicans to improve his lot in Congress.
Other than that, Alexander has performed more like a Republican than a Democrat in a district that leans strongly to the Republican side although Democratic voters outnumber Republican voters.
The district is considered a Republican stronghold.
Alexander, meantime, has been very visible in his role as a congressman, meeting with voters throughout the district, answering their questions and attempting to solve their problems.
He skipped the Democratic Convention.
Holloway expressed it well, "Alexander will be hard to beat. If I run, it will be an interesting race."
A conservative for a number of years, Holloway was first elected in a district that also elected the late Gillis Long who was far more liberal than he was conservative.
In addition to his races for Congress, Holloway ran for governor and also for lieutenant governor. He enjoys campaigning, getting out there with the people.
"The last one was ugly," he said, referring to his third place finish behind Alexander and Fletcher. He blamed the Fletcher campaign for doing him under.
Fletcher's not running this time. He is building an advertising-public relations firm in Monroe. But he still has his hand in politics. He's supporting Scott.
So is Dr. Cooksey who announced his support for Scott long before Holloway expressed an interest in running.
Will Holloway do it? If his wife approves, he will answer the bell. There's still fire in his belly.
I love you Rodney. You have seen the light. I will be proud to pull your lever in the Fifth District.
He wasn't going to win if he stayed a Dem.
I question the timing of this announcement. ;-)
He sounds like a good man.
He must be the last Blue Dog to switch over.
Welcome to the GOP Congressman.
Here is his voting record:
http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=S0421103
There are hundreds of reasons there.
*GOP HOUSE PICK-UP PING!*
Congressman Rodney Alexander won an upset victory in a December run-off in the heavily conservative 5th district by (i) running to the right of the GOP nominee (Fletcher) on the abortion issue (Alexander only supports one exception for abortion---when the life of the mother is in danger), (ii) benefitting from the sour grapes of the Republican House candidates who didn't make the run-off, most of whom criticized Fletcher, (iii) benefitting from the sour grapes of incumbent Congressman John Cooksey, who was upset at having been beaten for the Senate run-off by Suzie Terrell and did not urge his supporters to vote in the run-off, and (iv) benefitting from the false rumors, published in a Mexican newspaper, that Bush would allow greater sugar imports from Mexico, but would wait until after the Louisiana run-offs to announce it. All of those things allowed Alexander to win by a 51%-49% margin, but because of a lack of strong Republican candidates he likely would have won reelection even with a D next to his name. As a Republican, though, he will win easily, since he's a perfect ideological fit for the conservative district.
Alexander's switch, combined with Ralph Hall's switch in Texas and the 6 Texas seats we will pick up this November due to redistricting, will cement GOP control of the House for many years to come.
FYI
"Congressman Rodney Alexander (R-LA) Has Switched Parties"
This is not only an embarrassment to the 'Rats in the House. It's further proof that George W. Bush is expanding his lead in Louisiana. The only southern states that Kerry has a real chance of winning are Arkansas and Virginia.
Maybe he'll get some respect now.
Excellent news! Alexander was elected almost by accident 2 years ago in a heavy GOP district, and he toyed with switching parties earlier this year, only to be talked(threatened) out of it by Gov. Blanco and John Breaux. His internal poll numbers must have convinced him otherwise. He's a Zell Miller type of conservative RAT, so I welcome him to the party.
I hope he does the right thing and resigns his seat until he is elected as a Republican.