Louisianians to Vote on Last 2 House Seats

NY Times ^ | December 4, 2004 | DAVID STOUT

[neverdem]

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 3 - This year's political campaign, which began in the cold and snow of Iowa and New Hampshire, will come to an end at long last on Saturday in the bayous and Cajun country of South Louisiana.

Two Congressional elections in adjoining Gulf Coast districts will determine whether Republicans add to the majority they secured on Nov. 2, when races for national office were decided in the rest of the country. One of the elections will determine whether a familiar name remains in the House.

Vice President Dick Cheney has campaigned on behalf of the Republicans ("I haven't had so much fun since we beat John Kerry," he said in Lake Charles the other day), while the state's governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, has been stumping for the Democrats.

The elections, necessitated because none of the numerous candidates in the Third and Seventh Districts won a majority on Nov. 2, have been marked by accusations of nepotism, reminders of youthful indiscretions and even serious discussion of the issues, some national and others with a peculiarly Louisiana flavor.

"We're looking forward to Saturday's elections so we can expand our majority in the House," Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said this week.

Republicans are already assured of 231 seats in the new House, to 201 for the Democrats. (There is one independent, Bernard Sanders of Vermont.)

Mr. Forti's counterpart at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Greg Speed, also voiced optimism, especially over the prospect of ridding the House of a familiar Republican name.

In the Third District, Billy Tauzin III is trying to slide into the seat being vacated by his father, Representative Billy Tauzin, who amassed great influence in his 12 terms, especially as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

"Whose phone call is President Bush going to return?" asks a Tauzin television advertisement, going on to answer the question by showing the candidate shaking hands with the president who, the advertisement suggests, would treat Mr. Tauzin with respect because of his father.

Democrats have derided the younger Mr. Tauzin as Little Billy, and Mr. Speed insisted that the Third District "is very much in play."

Mr. Tauzin's Democratic opponent, Charles Melancon, a businessman and former state legislator, has called himself "a friend to workers, seniors, fishermen and shrimpers" and has boasted of his family's deep roots in the sugar industry and his decade-long tenure as president of the American Sugar Cane League.

"My opponent is untried and untested, and I have every confidence that the voters of the Third District will take that into account," Mr. Melancon said after the Nov. 2 results signaled a runoff.

Democrats have said that Mr. Tauzin's credentials as a manager for BellSouth and his youth (he turned 31 on Wednesday) do not qualify him for politics. They have run television advertisements showing a little boy trying to climb into his father's suit. They have also brought up Mr. Tauzin's suspension from his college fraternity for throwing beer parties and his drunken-driving conviction of a few years ago.

A spokesman for Mr. Tauzin, Matt Gresham, said this week that in mixing drinking and driving Mr. Tauzin "made a mistake and he faced it." The Melancon forces, Mr. Gresham said, "want to muddy the record" rather than talk about the issues. Furthermore, he said, any mention of Mr. Tauzin's age is hypocritical, since Mr. Melancon, who is 57, was in his late 20's when he first ran (unsuccessfully) for state representative.

"And Charlie's nickname in his hometown is Charlie Boy, " Mr. Gresham added.

In the Seventh District, Charles Boustany Jr., a Republican and retired heart surgeon, is running against State Senator Willie Landry Mount for the seat vacated by Representative Chris John, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate. Mrs. Mount is a former mayor of Lake Charles.

"Who does Charles Boustany think he's fooling?" asks a television advertisement for Mrs. Mount. The advertisement, rather like an echo from the presidential campaign, accuses Dr. Boustany of favoring tax cuts for the rich, and never mind the pain for the poor in Louisiana. Mrs. Mount has also accused Dr. Boustany, who is 48, of not caring enough about health care and has vowed to make that one of her priorities.

"Outright lies and false attacks," Dr. Boustany has called her accusations. He says that his "prescription for prosperity" includes reaching out to Democrats and independents, and that it will lead South Louisiana to a brighter future.

But the campaign in the Third District appears to have been harsher, as State Senator Craig F. Romero, a Republican, would attest.

A Tauzin advertisement declared just before Nov. 2, "Craig Romero has a dirty little secret." The word "sodomy" then flashed on the screen, apparently a reference to Mr. Romero's absence during a legislative vote on legalizing sodomy. Mr. Romero was squeezed out of the runoff by less than a percentage point.

[Dan from Michigan]

They have also brought up Mr. Tauzin's suspension from his college fraternity for throwing beer parties

Big deal.

[gop_gene]

Vice President Dick Cheney has campaigned on behalf of the Republicans ("I haven't had so much fun since we beat John Kerry," he said in Lake Charles the other day)

Love it.

Anybody know which way these races will turn out?

[TheEaglehasLanded]

FREEPERS IN LA, TX, and MISSISSIPPI should help out tommorrow. Call your friends and make sure they vote, if you live in the area you should work to get people to the polls.

[fire_eye]

FWIW do the Republicans have a "72-hour" project underway to support these elections?

[chemicalman]

One TV commercial from Melancon mentioned "Little Billy used to sell cell phones in the mall..."

I thought..."So what?"

[Havoc]

Anybody know which way these races will turn out?

Obvious guess - the way the Corporate interests want them to..

[neverdem]

Anybody know which way these races will turn out?

My first thought was that there's probably gerrymandered districts, but Tauzin's youth, DUI and legacy from his dad could hurt.

[kms61]

I live in Louisiana, though not in either of those districts, although I know quite a few people who do. The races are very close from what I understand. Tauzin's advertising has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and while they may vote for him out of principle, it's hard to find anybody who actually likes him. In fact I heard one Republican from that district say "little Billy" needs his ass kicked.

[snugs]

**Vice President Dick Cheney has campaigned on behalf of the Republicans ("I haven't had so much fun since we beat John Kerry," he said in Lake Charles the other day)**

Great humour from a great Vice President

[Coldwater Creek]

What about Harold Ford Jr.?

When he was elected, he had never held a job of any kind. The only reason that he won his seat was that he was running in an almost all black district, and that his father had been the Congressman in the 9th for a very long time, and this position was to be inherited.

[Ellesu]

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1102143871202530.xml

[Flux Capacitor]

----Anybody know which way these races will turn out?----

Chances are that this will be a wash. Boustany is a good bet to pick up the 7th CD for the GOP; he's the overwhelming favorite in Lafayette, the biggest city; in the primary he performed strongly in Lake Charles, his opponent's base; and he will benefit from the fallout from Democrat Don Cravins' defeat in the primary -- a defeat crudely engineered by the state Democratic Party, for which one black congressman was enough. (Rickey Hardy, a Lafayette school board member, leader in the community, Democrat, and friend of mine, has been actively working on Boustany's behalf among his black constituents -- he's not blind to what the Dems did to Cravins, and are doing to blacks in general in this state.)

But it's hard to say what's going to happen in the 3rd CD -- Tauzin's odds are probably even at best. It's usually a pretty-reliably Republican area, but the split between Tauzin and the GOP runner-up, Romero, has been extremely bitter, opening up an avenue for the Democrat, Charlie Melancon, who's been running a cheap-shot campaign (surprise) that centers upon Tauzin's relative youth. I'm not even willing to make a prediction on this one.

At any rate, I'm off to go do my part for Boustany right now. Be back tonight for the victory party. :)

-Dan

[Republican Wildcat]

Democrats have said that Mr. Tauzin's credentials as a manager for BellSouth and his youth (he turned 31 on Wednesday) do not qualify him for politics. They have run television advertisements showing a little boy trying to climb into his father's suit.

Of course these are not considered "Personal" attacks since they are being made by Democrats.

[Republican Wildcat]

Are you kidding? He's being attacked for working?

[dogbyte12]

I almost didn't vote today. The mudslinging is so bad, and the stakes are generally so small, that I almost didn't do my civic duty.

Billy Tauzin's people have called the house about 20 times in the last week. Seriesly. It was beginning to piss me off. The pre-recorded calls all hours of the day. My wife is trying to get naps whenever she can with the baby in the house, but all week long, Billy has been calling her reminding her for the umpteenth time to vote.

I miss living in a non swing state. I am tired of the dueling ads on every show on every network. Thank God almighty that this election is over today.

[dogbyte12]

Please don't call. see my previous vote. We have all been called, many many many many times. Did I mention many?

[chemicalman]

Not kidding.
The voice over made it sound like it was a bad thing, also.

Stupid liberals.