Posted on 08/21/2014 8:52:43 PM PDT by Din Maker
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, who is vying for a fourth term, is facing a stiff Republican challenge from Rep. Bill Cassidy in the fall. But unlike most other close races this year, this one threatens to leave majority control of the Senate in limbo until the first week of December.
Louisiana has what's known as a "jungle primary" system -- candidates of all parties will appear on the same ballot on Nov. 4. If nobody clears 50 percent on Election Day, the top two vote-getters will proceed to a Dec. 6 runoff. The course of the race so far suggests that's a possibility. President Obama's popularity is hurting Landrieu in the polls, keeping her in a close race.
The three-term senator backs ObamaCare, but emphasizes her differences with the president when it comes to this red state's energy industries, which includes the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Cassidy has voted for Democrats in the past, including former presidential candidates Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Paul Tsongas in 1992. He also donated to Landrieu in one of her previous campaigns.
The biggest threat to Cassidy in this "jungle primary" system comes from fellow Republican and self-styled Tea Party conservative, retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness who says Cassidy is part of the problem in gridlock-stricken Washington.
"He goes with the leadership all the time," Maness said. "Voters can't trust him."
Cassidy, a two-term member of Congress, turns the insider charge on its head. "It is Republican so-called conservative groups out of Washington, D.C., who support [Maness]," he said. "If there's an establishment candidate, it is he, if there is a grassroots candidate, it is me," Cassidy said.
Maness has been slowly gaining in the polls on Cassidy, while Landrieu's overall lead has diminished.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The sad thing is, only Jeff Sessions, Vitter and Tim Scott are definitely more conservative than Cassidy amongst the southerners.
Cassidy is getting to vote on more conservative amendments than just throwing out a bunch of no votes on Harry Reid’s agenda.
I hope Maness wins but Cassidy would actually be a small net improvement.
Hey IDIOT REPUBLICANS.....THANKS for another Democrat Senate!!!<>ANY RINO is WAY better than ANY DEMOCRAT...ANY!
Agree. Let the ‘more Conservative than thou’ Freepers throw their insults.
ANY RINO is WAY better than ANY DEMOCRAT...ANY!
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I used to feel the same way but I could NEVER vote for Mitch McConnell who has told Conservatives and Tea Partiers he will “crush” them. He is a despicable hypocrite. Let’s see how well he does against Grimes on Nov. 4 when about 100,000 Kentucky Conservatives stay home or skip the Senate race on the ballot because they can’t vote for a man who is their vowed enemy. McConnell is like a thug husband who beats his wife on a regular basis but tells her that he is sorry when he wants sex.
Manness doesn’t have an inexperience problem so much as a carpetbagger problem. He’s a lifelong Pentagon insider who only moved to Louisiana about three years ago when he got a cushy executive position with Entergy, the big power company that most people hate. And he still owns a big (subsidized) farm up in Indiana somewhere. The “clueless” perception comes from some things he’s said that seem to put “teapartyism” above local concerns, which doesn’t really help with the carpetbagger image.
There was another potential candidate, Paul Hollis, a state senator and lifelong Louisianan that had been running television ads earlier this year, but he “pulled out of the race” earlier this summer before qualifying even started. So that leaves Manness as the only “outsider” alternative, except for maybe a Libertarian candidate who’s kind of an idiot.
“Jungle primary” — sounds raciss!
1. There’s no “need to label” anything. It is what it is. A Senate term is six years. Do the math. Voters do.
2. Not an accusation, just an explanation offered to those reading this who might be ignorant as to what is actually happening on the ground.
3. E.g., flood insurance comes immediately to mind.
Count to three.
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