How Katrina Will Change LA Politics

wafb.com ^ | 09/30/05 | Marie Centanni

[Ellesu]

The sting of Katrina's blow to southeast Louisiana will be felt for years to come. The culture, the economy, the community will be changed forever. But what about the politics? Campaigns could soon head out of state to catch up with evacuees.

For decades in Louisiana, democrats have counted on the same tightly-knit block of voters to seal their victories -- the Ninth Ward.

"The Ninth Ward elected Kathleen Blanco, the Ninth Ward elected Mary Landrieu, the Ninth Ward has elected a lot of statewide elected officials who are democrats," says political consultant Roy Fletcher.

Fletcher says with residents of the Ninth Ward and similar communities dispersed throughout the country, Katrina has transformed Louisiana politics, uprooting the standard party strategies for statewide elections. The first dilemma facing state parties -- what to do with out of state voters?

"Democrats will take the position that folks who used to live in Louisiana and that have been temporarily displaced can vote. Republicans will probably take the position of 'no, that's not right, they're not in the state, and many are permanently gone, so therefore we can't do that.' "

One of those democrats, although he hasn't declared candidacy, is acting Secretary of State Al Ater, who's already had to postpone elections in areas hit by Katrina and Rita. He says he'll ask FEMA to help reach out of state voters with this message:

"They don't have to register over there, they don't have to not be registered here, and that doesn't mean they can't participate in elections here," says Ater.

That means out-of-state campaigning for candidates, fundraising like never before for political parties, and for the evacuees, possibly electing with mostly absentee ballots the very leaders who will help them return home.

Secretary of State Al Ater has postponed elections in southeast and southwest Louisiana, but the New Orleans city-wide elections are just a few months away. He tells 9 News every election will be evaluated case by case to make sure everyone who is eligible to vote has the opportunity to do so.

[adgirl]

You hit the nail on the head. The key words here are "intent" and "disenfranchised."
Since we already know how they intend to vote we should probably just take the democratic results from the last election and apply it to the new election--minus the death toll.
Wait a minute did that darn hurricane wipe out every Republican in the New Orleans? I think it did.
So that said we just automatically add up the dem votes from last time--plus 20% because I think more people would have voted this time to show their appreciation for the party. And we should also let the victims vote where they're currently residing as well after all, we don't want them to feel disenfranchised.

[sweetliberty]

"The Democrats always win these little legal scuffles, because they are terminally motivated, while the Republicans are nice and polite and deferential to the judges, who no doubt are all Democrats."

Not to metion that most Repubkicans, and others, have lives.

[CajunConservative]

Isn't this where Motor voter is a good thing? As soon as they get their new driver's license they should also be registered to vote in their new locations. I thought people were supposed to do that within 30 days.

[sweetliberty]

"The minute the evacuees sign up for any kind of welfare/government assistance, change the mailing address of their checks, or enroll their kids in school, they're legal residents of the new location so are no longer residents of the 9th Ward."

The minute the evacuees sign up for any kind of welfare/government assistance, change the mailing address of their checks, or enroll their kids in school, they're legal residents of the the Democrat super-radar mechanism will immediately hunt them down track them at their new location so are no longer residents of the 9th Ward and assure that their votes are counted in the next election.

When did the legal status of a "voter" start mattering to democrats? Laws are for OTHER people.

[sweetliberty]

"Yep, and for those who do/can move back, they don't have as many buses to haul them to the polls, either"

On the other hand, they probably have a little money left over from the salaries of the nonexistent cops who "fled" the area, and from the money which was allocated to improve the levees. They can use that to replace the buses.

[sweetliberty]

"No southern state should be such an embarrassment to the rest of us"

We all have our crosses to bear. Keeps us humble, ya know. Louisiana will be suffering the embarassment of Katrina for a very long time. Not sure in our country's history when such malignant corruption has been unveiled for all to see, in spite of the MSM's best efforts to keep it under wraps.

[CajunConservative]

Mary Landrieu would never have been elected without voter fraud and Woody Jenkins had the proof in 96 but the Senate did not want to make the women senators mad and decided against investigating the fraud. So we have been stuck with Ms. Mary.

[Howlin]

Mary Landrieu promised on national TV that she would support Miguel Estrada.

And she got elected.

And she did not support him.

[Yellow Rose of Texas]

BUMP!

[CajunConservative]

She's a manipulative liar. There's too many gullible folks here.

[LikeLight]

There is already a significant and documented problem in this country with double-registered voters - living in one state and voting there, and still maintaining absentee status in another state and voting there. Real "campaign reform" would set up some type of unified cross-check system to stop such abuses. But I'm not holding my breath.

[Howlin]

With any luck, they all *moved* out of state.

[goldstategop]

Its not that just that - its Cajuns around Lafayette and elsewhere. Every major Louisiana politician seems to have a Cajun name - Blanco, Landrieux, Vitter and before that - Breaux. Its not just the Ninth Ward that makes LA politics tick. Far from it.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[CajunConservative]

Um, no. There are decent folks of French decent, one being me. Dems are dems regardless of their last name. It's the voter fraud in all urban and dem states. Remember Washington state?

Blanko did not win her hometown or parish. Jindal nearly won the election except for voter fraud in NO and the rednecks in North Louisiana not voting for him because of his East Indian heritage. He did win his congressional district as did Vitter, the first pubbie senator since Reconstruction.

[goldstategop]

You're right about who the Dems are but one can't help noticing the ethnic card has worked for them so far. The same Cajuns who vote Republican in presidential elections turn around and vote Democrat on the state and local level and until David Vitter was elected last year, LA was one of those Southern States that balked at electing a Republican Senator. Perhaps Katrina has shaken up things, perhaps not. We'll see in '06 whether LA becomes even more of a Red State.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[jslade]

It's obvious now Blanco et al only used these people for their votes.

I'll bet the school buses (with drivers) will be running on election day.

[CajunConservative]

The reason the dems kept winning the senate races was voter fraud in NO. Mary Landrieu technically did not win in 96 because Woody Jenkins had more than enough proof that there was vote fraud however, the Women Senators made a huge fuss and the rest of the Senate did not want to rock the boat. Think about that for a bit.

Perhaps things would have been different in the senate had the Senators supported the law when faced with proof of fraud. Look at all of the games the dems have been playing especially when Daschle was in charge of things. Jenkins would have been a good conservative senator. Instead we get a hillary wannabe.

The Republicans have been winning more races on a local and state level. Some of the small towns are stuck on stupid but quite a few aren't. New Orleans has been the problem for years with the fraud.

[TX Bluebonnet]

I'll bet the school buses (with drivers) will be running on election day.

I'm sure, rain or shine, they'll be able to find drivers. Wonder if they'll send them all over the country. LOL.

[STARWISE]

We can rebuild it

Mitchell Landrieu, Louisiana’s lieutenant governor, spoke Sept. 16 at Milano The New School on the challenge of rebuilding New Orleans. Despite Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, Landrieu said it’s the hope of his and others that the city in “the deepest of the Deep South” can become “a beacon of the New South.”

His family members personally lost five houses and a summer camp of theirs was underwater, he said. Of the state’s 8,500 National Guardsmen, 5,000 were deployed to the disaster immediately, while 3,500 are in Iraq, he noted. The major breakdown during the hurricane and flood was in communications, he added. He stressed the city must diversify beyond tourism, oil and film.

“No place can duplicate the taste, the smell, the sounds of this great city,” said Landrieu. “Nothing can duplicate the feeling of walking through the French Quarter on a misty morning after having a beignet at Dumond’s and a café au lait — with chickory….

There’s no doubt that we will rebuild,” he said, “and we can.” As for Reverend Jesse Jackson’s criticism of their sending refugees to far-off Utah, Landrieu noted that he told him, “I was wet, in the water, in my boots, and I was handed a phone and the governor of Utah said he could take people and put them in a dry, comfortable place. And I said, O.K.” ==================================

“No place can duplicate the taste, the smell, the sounds of this great city,” said Landrieu.

NOR, the stench of corruption, croneyism, kickbacks, keeping the poor folks down and dependent, and voting irregularities ...

Say Mitch and Mary ... how much of the potential mega billion rebuilding treasure have you earmarked for your personal slush funds???

=====================

The new mantra of LA politicians: Come back!!! Puhleeze, come back !! LOL And, last time I looked, Key West is the deepest of the deep South .. isn't it?? Nice try of a marketing catch phrase tho.

[STARWISE]

PING!