Posted on 11/22/2015 10:43:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Democrat John Bel Edwards took a victory lap last night after winning Louisiana’s gubernatorial race by a wide margin. While things had looked pretty good for Republican Senator David Vitter a couple of months ago, in the end it really wasn’t even close. (New York Times)
With a victory that defied political geography and near universal predictions from just months earlier, a previously little-known Democrat, State Representative John Bel Edwards, soundly defeated United States Senator David Vitter in a runoff election on Saturday to become the next governor of Louisiana.
Mr. Edwards won 56 percent of the vote with virtually all of the ballots counted.
During his concession speech, Vitter shocked some of his supporters by saying that not only would he not be taking over as governor, he would also not be seeking another term in the Senate and would instead retire. So what went so wrong for the GOP down there?
The answer may not be what you think. One part of the equation is that the Democrats found the right guy to run. Edwards’ biography lays it all out. A West Point graduate and Airborne Ranger, Edwards is pro-gun, hawkish and touts his family’s deep religious faith and ties to the church. If you dropped this guy anywhere else in the country he’d be a Republican. Heck.. .he’d be toward the right wing of the party. In short, they found somebody palatable to any Republicans who were dissatisfied with the current leadership and looking for a change.
Vitter on the other hand may have been a flawed candidate to a certain extent, but was probably more a victim of circumstances in this case. It’s true that he had that whole prostitution thing hanging around in his closet which would have made him untenable in any sort of national race. (There’s no quicker way to lose the women’s vote than having a bunch of headlines with the word “hooker” in them following you around.) But back home in Louisiana the people seemed to have largely forgiven him his transgressions. The prostitute scandal broke in 2007 and 2008, but in the 2010 race he won reelection to his Senate seat by a daunting 57-38 margin over Charlie Melancon. He may have been wounded, but he was still a solid contender in his home state.
This time however, while Edwards brought up the hooker problem constantly, it was probably Bobby Jindal who sank Vitter. Jindal is term limited, but it’s doubtful that he could have won another term under current conditions anyway. The Governor’s current approval ratings are rarely as high as the mid-30s and have fallen as low as 27% earlier this year. Voters have been dissatisfied with the results of Jindal’s policies and that’s washing over onto the rest of the party. If Vitter were selling a winning message I’m willing to bet the public would have overlooked any past scandals on his resume, but times have been hard down there and people were just looking for a change.
Is this a long term change? Somehow I doubt it. Until national conditions shift a bit there probably won’t be a major shift in public opinion even with a Democrat in the governor’s mansion. Given one term of that, traditional Republicans will likely come back around next time, assuming the GOP can come up with a qualified candidate who has a good back story for the next run. In the meantime, best of luck to Governor-elect Edwards. You’ve got a pretty big challenge in front of you.
I’m okay with this guy.
Vitter was one stewpet fkr and more middle of the road.
I’ll take a supposed democrat, who is much more correct on issues important to us and hope he doesn’t have to kiss the ring finger of the party that backed him.
He may very well turn out okay.
Now now. No making sense allowed.
“Edwards ran calm, reassuring schmooze ads, and more of them.”
About the only ad Edwards ran was the prostitution ad. The other ads were merely accusing Vitter of lying.
Very much so. Edwards, 'Patriots or prostitutes,' ad was strong, but Vitter only reinforced the message with his apology ads. For every ad Edwards ran reminding voters of Vitter's dalliances, Vitter ran a response ad reinforcing the message!
Vitter has a lifetime ACU (American Conservative Union) rating of 92 (out of 100). This is very high.
Yes, he made mistakes in his personal life, but owned up to them. The only reason he lost is that the same people who worship the Clintons and Obama, and say that such issues don’t matter, fell for the Edwards ads which did nothing but point fingers at Vitter!
John Barack Edwards will be a disaster for our state. His ACU rating is 30, indicative of his liberal record.
He’ll no doubt be a rubber stamp for everything and anything the regime in Washington DC tries cramming down our throats.
But those days are over now, 'dome.
Dems vote in lockstep on every crucial issue. That or the national party will run them off.
Republicans often turn out okay in Democrat eyes.
Never happens the other way 'round, not anymore.
Not saying I was dying to see Vitter win. Just that his replacement will be worse.
Vitter should have had the deciency to just bow out of politics when he got caught with his pants down! When it comes to immorality, the GOP is as bad as the RATs. Republicans have to clean up their acts. We cannot have people with no morals for our leaders any longer.
I thought Vitter would win or at least be able to call for a recount.
I totally agree with you. That one is SC is another. I’m sorry, people who cheat on their wives, are derelict in their duty and patronize prostitutes shouldn’t really be counted as “conservative”.
I’m glad Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner votes R (despite his many other problems I guess he’s not totally stupid), but I wouldn’t for for him/her for elected office.
I heard a great ad narrated by Edwards’ wife run every hour at a minimum for days. I only heard the audio and just now looked this up on youtube, but this is the one. With graphics it is even more powerful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE-340ZRJhE
There is no denying that that is a positive and effective ad.
Here are some examples of Vitter’s efforts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaZbfTRCGdw
https://youtu.be/uRi4oBJvjHs
I can’t find Vitter’s attack ads, but they were corny and antiquated in presentation, even though the information was valid.
Any grown man who still likes to wear diapers deserves to loose.
I heard that one also, if it is true. But Edwards is a democrat who bragged about supporting Obama, who supports, abortion, gay marriage, and Planned Parenthood, among other evils.
Can you explain how a pro-life person supports Obama?
RE: Bobby Jindal dropped out of the presidential race to sink Vitter.
What exactly did Jindal do to sink Vitter?
Bobby Jindal not ready to endorse David Vitter for governor
Louisiana November 21 Gubernatorial Runoff: Republican Dardenne to Endorse Democrat Edwards
Encouraged Scott Angelle to get into the race.
Isn’t it a little too late to have done that?
“Can you explain how a pro-life person supports Obama?”
Nope, but Obama wasn’t on the ballot. My point was and is that Edwards deflected that liability with ease. To ignore the fact and the means is to beg for repetition down the road.
Edwards is an ENEMY.
If he claims to be a Democrat then he buys all of their nauseating attitudes: Abortion, Queer “marriage”, mass illegal immigration, Open Borders, punitive taxes, Statism, the massive federal government, indifference to Muslim terrorism, contempt for Congress, it goes on and on.
The fact that he tries to portray himself on the other side of these issues means he’s lying. If he isn’t, then why is he in their party?
This guy wants to HURT the United States for his own gratification. He’s only interested in ONE thing: his own privilege.
That’s why he ran.
Just as the national GOPe cannot have Trump or Cruz as President and would prefer Hillary, the Louisiana GOPe (Jindal, Darden, Angelle, et al) could not countenance a true conservative like Vitter as Governor.
And that’s why Darden and Angelle ran, to cut up Vitter.
The Country Club GOP here in Louisiana is vicious. I’ve done battle with them for 30 years, and I know who they are. They hate our guts.
When you pay for "hookers" ,
They best be guides on a fishing boat !
Especially in Lousisanna - ya'll pay for guide service.
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