Cheney to stump for Tauzin, oustany in 3rd, 7th District races

Nola.com ^ | 11/29/2004 | AP

[JustaCowgirl]

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Vice President Dick Cheney will stump for Louisiana's two Republican congressional candidates Wednesday, making a morning appearance for Billy Tauzin III in Houma and an afternoon showing for Charles Boustany in Lake Charles. In the final week of campaigning before Saturday's runoff, the races in both the 3rd and 7th Districts are heating up, with a slew of tough ads hitting the airwaves on both sides. The Lake Charles event takes Boustany's fight for the 7th Congressional District seat to the heart of his opponent's home turf — Democrat Willie Mount is the town's former mayor. It will be Cheney's second appearance for the retired heart surgeon; he spoke in Lafayette for him in late September. Republicans and Democrats both hope to sweep the races in the 7th and 3rd Districts, which cover nearly all of south Louisiana. The parties are slugging it out on the airwaves, with Republicans repeating familiar attack lines — the Democrats are said to be too "liberal" or too keen on taxes — and the Democrats charging political neophytes Tauzin and Boustany with a lack of experience. The Tauzin campaign said Cheney will attend a rally for Tauzin at Houma's civic center in the morning. The vice president is scheduled to speak at a rally for Boustany in the Lake Charles Civic Center Wednesday afternoon. ...

[JustaCowgirl]

Maybe some of our friends in Louisiana could fill us in on these Congressional races. It would be nice to pick up a couple of extra seats in the House. Looks like the RNC thinks so, too. They're sending in Big Time.

[JustaCowgirl]

Should say Boustany in the title. My keyboard has developed a B impediment.

[deport]

fyi.......

[bayourod]

Thank you Dick Cheney.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Personally, I think it would be better if the national GOP took a low-key approach to these races and let the local folks do most of the grunt work, in terms of electioneering.

While trotting out some stars may work in certain situations, e.g. the race for Susan Molinari's open seat in the 13th District several years ago, or the campaign to defeat that obstructionist, Tom Daschle, I don't think it's necessarily a wise strategy to pursue under every single circumstance.

[deport]

National interest being shown in the LA races..... good luck

[gop_gene]

While trotting out some stars may work in certain situations, e.g. the race for Susan Molinari's open seat in the 13th District several years ago, or the campaign to defeat that obstructionist, Tom Daschle, I don't think it's necessarily a wise strategy to pursue under every single circumstance.

I don't think so, either. Has the RNC forgotten so quickly what happened 2 years ago in LA's senate race. They sent down Bush, Cheney, other heavy-hitters to unseat Landrieu, and needless to say, it didn't work. It may have had the opposite effect. It made Landrieu seem browbeaten underdog. Maybe people felt sorry for the fair Mary and liked her taking a humble, local approach toward her re-election. It allowed her to use the "I will vote with the president when I think he's right, but I will not be a rubber stamp" approach. She came across as independent as opposed to the seemingly beholden Terrell.

Of course, the popular Breaux was behind her all the way, so maybe that's what did it. If that was the case, then my point is moot.

[gop_gene]

Or was it the sugar issue that was her trump card?

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

The Republicans were also handicapped by their nomination of an extremely weak candidate (Suzy Terrell?), who didn't quite match up on paper with her opponent.

That being said, I think that Mary Landrieu-whose name is synonymous with royalty in LA political circles-is a very weak politician.

I wouldn't be surprised if she decides not to run for reelection four years from now.

[gop_gene]

The Republicans were also handicapped by their nomination of an extremely weak candidate (Suzy Terrell?), who didn't quite match up on paper with her opponent.

Yeah, plus her debate performance didn't help. She came across as a scold. Plus, some here felt her appearance might have worked against her in comparison with the blonde, big-blue eyed, fair Mary.

That being said, I think that Mary Landrieu-whose name is synonymous with royalty in LA political circles-is a very weak politician.

I wouldn't be surprised if she decides not to run for reelection four years from now.

Maybe so; I'm sure she's taken note of what happened in this recent election, where a runoff didn't occur because it was a presidential year and Vitter was helped across the finish line by a president of his own party that was very popular in the state. Landrieu, if she runs, will be doing so in a presidential year, but our chances of getting rid of her depends on who's on the top of the ticket.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

If it's Hillary, you could run a dozen ads morphing Landrieu's image into Hillary's and she'd be finished. You wouldn't need much else.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

That will undoubtedly be a consideration in the next race.

Her appearance may have been an issue in the last election, though I'm not sure to what extent it was a decisive factor in the minds of prospective voters.

I mean, Helena Bonham Carter is probably one of the most gorgeous women in the world, but I'm not sure how effective she'd be as a sitting U.S. senator.

[Lady In Blue]

ping

[snugs]

Think outside the box. I would suggest this is more the Adminstration showing Cheney is still a player than anything else.

Bush plays chess not checkers. We had the so called media hyped health scare a couple of weeks ago. Cheney showed the following week by being photographed at his wife's book launch in Virgina that he was OK and then IMHO by Bush having him at Turkey Pardoning not only showed that Cheney health was not a concern but also sent a message that Cheney is and will continue figure prominently in this and the second administration.

By doing this "campaigning" this is also IMHO showing despite a grueling 3 months of campaigning Cheney is not only fit enough to do more but is also up both in enthusiasm and commitment to the cause.

[snugs]

Thanks for the ping

[JustaCowgirl]

You make a good point, snugs. The White House could be partly making sure that he's out front and visible right now.