Replies

Thibodeaux has good reason to justify his being in this race, as he lost a slot at the run-off against Chris John by 8 (!) votes to a Democrat back in '96 (it might also be cited that he could've made the run-off had 2 other Republicans who racked up over 20,000 votes decided to drop out and endorse him). I can understand his frustration of being denied that slot (and quite possibly, a victory), but unlike before, he's not the leading candidate, and he stands zero chance of making the runoff now being in a distant 4th place. He should be the big man and do for Dr. Boustany what those other 2 Republicans should've done for Thibodeaux in '96 and drop out.

BTW, if it ends up in a likely Boustany-Mount contest, it is worth pointing out that the advantage will still be with Boustany. No candidate from the west end of the district has won a general since 1940.

"I can understand his frustration of being denied that slot (and quite possibly, a victory)"

DJ, you and I both know that, unfortunately, David Thibodeaux would not have defeated Chris John in 1996. They had September primaries and November run-offs back then, and not only did Clinton carry the 7th CD quite comfortably, Landrieu probably did so as well in her first Senate run.

Thibodeaux ran for the House in 1996 and lost. I believe he ran again in either 1998 or 2000 and lost again. Currently, he appears to be well behind in the polls, and might play the spoiler for Dr. Boustany's chance to become the first Republican since Reconstruction (correct me if I'm wrong) to be elected to the House from the district (although Congressman Jimmy Hayes switched to the GOP in 1995). I think Thibodeaux has no choice but to be gracious and drop out of the race.