Posted on 12/07/2008 2:51:46 AM PST by flattorney
In a shocker, there will be a GOP Rep. in New Orleans. In a surprising twist, GOPers won a sweep in LA tonight in two general elections, picking up embattled Rep. Bill Jefferson's (D-LA 02) seat in New Orleans, and holding retiring Rep. Jim McCrery's (R) seat in the Shreveport-based Fourth District. But the surprise of the night, and possibly the cycle, was in the Big Easy. Atty Ahn “Joseph” Cao (R) defeated Jefferson 50-47%. Dems outnumber GOPers here 6-1, and African Americans make up 61% of the vote. But the NRCC must've had an inkling that something was up here, as they dumped about $60K into the CD earlier this week. They attacked Jefferson in automated phone calls for the bribery and corruption charges he faces in an upcoming trial. Dems cried foul, but apparently the message hit home.
While Cao was earning the support of GOPers nationally and in LA -- he was backed by popular Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) -- Jefferson saw no such support from Dems. Indeed, unlike in the GA SEN runoff and in LA-04, Pres-elect Obama stayed out of the contest altogether. The DCCC didn't contribute any funds here, either. This race was all about Jefferson's ethics problems, and Cao ran a very effective campaign to take advantage of the Dem's weaknesses. While the odds are stacked against Cao holding this seat past the '10 cycle, this win has got to be a shot in the arm for GOPers looking for a morale boost after two disastrous cycles.
In the other LA race that was supposed to be the marquee matchup tonight, physician/Subway restaurant owner John Fleming(R) leads Caddo Parish DA Paul Carmouche(D) by 356 votes, will all the precincts reporting. The AP has yet to call the race, and may wait until provisional ballots are counted to declare a winner. Dems had hoped that Carmouche's social conservatism, along with the law-and-order credentials gained as DA, would carry him to victory here. But while Carmouche performed better than most Dems -- he carried six of the CD's counties, while Obama carried just one -- it still was not enough to overcome the huge GOP leanings of this CD. On 11/4, John McCain carried it by over 60%.
The race featured two very high-profile surrogates that potentially could match up in '12 WH race. Obama recorded a radio ad for Carmouche, and claimed that, "To change America and to get Louisiana's economy back on track - I need leaders like Paul Carmouche working with me in Washington." Obama's camp also sent out a call for volunteers and a fundraising e-mail to their LA list. Meanwhile, popular LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) endorsed Fleming, which Fleming touted in a TV ad during the campaign's final days. In spending nearly $1.2 million, the DCCC drubbed Fleming on a familiar topic -- his support for a 23% nat'l sales tax, or the "Fair" tax. Dems have been successful in ID, PA and VA in using the issue to turn the tables on the GOP, who usually own the tax issue. The NRCC, which dumped over $970K into the CD, hit Carmouche for his tenure as Caddo Parish DA. In one TV ad, the committee hit Carmouche for not prosecuting a criminal, who was arrested 53 times, under the state's repeat offender law. After his release, the criminal committed 20 more crimes in the span of the next three weeks.
But despite the efforts of Carmouche and Dems to portray Fleming as out-of-step with even GOPers, he was still apparently able to hold on, albeit by the slightest of margins. With these results, Dems have gained a net of 19 seats this cycle. They could potentially pick up two more in VA-05 and OH-15, although votes are still being tallied in both contests. Tonight's GOP wins are big for a party that has been demoralized by two difficult cycles. We'll see in the coming months if tonight's results represent a true shift towards the GOP heading into the '10 midterms, or whether they were just a blip on the road to another successful cycle for Dems.
The silent majority has had enough here.
Voters Put William "Cold Cash" Jefferson on Ice
Islander7 wrote -
“We have a large Vietnamese community here. They don’t feel sorry for themselves, they don’t whine, they don’t demand the world bow down to them, they excel at all they do.
I respect them. They are good, solid conservative folks. About half the community is Buddhist and the rest are Catholic.
With the history of this segment of our population so fresh, it is a lesson to other longtime minorities to get with the program; assimilate, work within the system to succeed.”
..... I won’t name any names or places, but my cousin was at one time pretty highly placed in Democratic state government in the NE [1980’s]. He related a story to me of a private lunch conversation he had with a local NAACP leader. This fellow articulated some real embarrassment and concern about the fact that refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam - many of whom had [like the Hmong] came from primitive jungle societies and spoke no English at all, had managed as a social group in a single generation to reach economic and professional levels that his people had been unable to achieve over several decades despite every possible assistance and preference being accorded to them by government.
Thre’s a lesson in there.
Congratulations to Mr. Cao. What an achievement! Woohoo!!!!
>>>picking up embattled Rep. Bill Jefferson’s (D-LA 02) seat in New Orleans,<<<
+++++
Gee, that certainly has not been a big news headline or “talking point”, has it!!!
I whisper this to friends and am always careful about to whom I say it, but Katrina was the best thing to happen to New Orleans.
Have you said thank you to Houston lately?
I am interested to know about that. What does ‘anh’ indicate, or mean? And why is it attached to Joseph and separate from Cao?
This man took the RIGHT AND CORRECT path when he came here. I had a South Korean guy that worked in my office when I lived in Seattle. When he came to the USA, he did not speak English, and did not have a high school education. The FIRST thing he did was learn the language. Then he went to night school and got his high school diploma. Then he enrolled in college, got his degree, then went to law school and got his law degree. The guy worked his butt off and did it the right way. He didn't whine, moan about it, or look for hand outs. He worked burger joint jobs, janitor jobs, etc., to get his money.
Refugees from Southeast Asia don’t have a sense of entitlement. Because of its obvious PC ramifications, I won’t mention the Bell Curve.
IIRC Ahn was the Viet word for light, also a name.
I enjoyed reading of your pilgrimage on the home page.
Thanks.
“...This fellow articulated some real embarrassment and concern about the fact that refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam - many of whom had [like the Hmong] came from primitive jungle societies and spoke no English at all, had managed as a social group in a single generation to reach economic and professional levels that his people had been unable to achieve over several decades despite every possible assistance and preference being accorded to them by government...”
You articulated my point far better than me. Any time there are scholastic achievement awards from any of a dozen local high schools, you can bet there will be a Vietnamese kid among those named.
They have come to dominate the shrimping industry. They are an industrious bunch. This is not to imply their transition was without conflict or struggle. There were many cultural issues that both the locals and the Viets had to adjust to.
They have managed to do what few other groups have: They maintain much of their culture while learning and adopting much of ours.
See my #34.
Congrats! I have visited the Quarter several times since Katrina. It is better now than ever. If LA, particularly NOLA, will continue electing conservatives, perhaps there will be continued improvements.
Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Yep, I noticed that. Not laughing about it either.
Finally they will get a smart person who will represent them rather than a than a dumb crook who only represents himself.
Don’t forget they like to build on every square inch of their property, deal with their own problems their own way, and love backyard gardens. I worked the area for years and probably went to dang near every house in Michoud.
Not relevant, but Mrs. Cao is very beautiful.
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