Posted on 12/03/2002 1:16:08 AM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON - Not content with merely savoring his party's new Senate majority, President Bush stumps in Louisiana today, hoping to deal Democrats another demoralizing electoral blow.Bush has thrown the full weight of his presidency into knocking off Sen. Mary Landrieu, who's in a Dec. 7 runoff with state Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell.
His day trip to the Bayou State, including a Shreveport rally and a fund-raising lunch in New Orleans, caps a GOP blitz that has featured visits by Vice President Cheney, former President George Bush, incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Sen.-elect Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.).
Democrats are equally determined to halt their electoral slide and take a bit of the edge off losing the Senate in the Nov. 5 midterm elections by holding onto Landrieu's seat. A top Democratic strategist reached last week was the only operative in his office. "Everybody else is in Louisiana," he said.
The political stakes go well beyond bragging rights. Congressional sources say that if the Republicans win, giving them a 52-to-48 Senate majority, Democrats could lose two seats on every committee instead of the one-seat reduction now envisioned.
"It may just look like one seat," one Bush adviser said, "but in terms of power shifts, it's a far bigger deal."
GOP 'wind is blowing'
Bush is enormously popular in Louisiana and carried the state handily in 2000. But Terrell is a relatively obscure and uncharismatic candidate who has been feuding with Republican Gov. Mike Foster.
Landrieu won 46% of the vote last month, while Terrell beat several other GOP candidates with 27%. But because Landrieu didn't get a majority, state law required this week's runoff.
Even though she came within four percentage points of winning her second term outright, one prominent national Democratic strategist is pessimistic about her chances.
"It's a lot harder for Mary to get those four points than for Terrell to get 23," he said. "A Republican wind is blowing."
A Southern Media and Opinion Research poll done last week showed Landrieu with a 16-point lead. Strategists for both sides, however, said Bush's visit will move the numbers significantly for Terrell and rate the race a tossup.
Turnout is a major wild card for both candidates, and Democrats are fighting a wave of apathy after losing the Senate.
"People are still so depressed from the election that they're going to let this slide," a senior Democratic National Committee official said, pointing to waning interest from women's organizations and even trade unions. Party operatives are especially worried about African-American voters, who aren't big Landrieu fans.
Maybe so .. but the fact is 54% voted against her ..
With this I still agree with your reasoning with the demographics.
I called Colorado by 8 points for Allard and I'm calling Lousiana by 4 for Suzie - BUT YOU LOUISIANA FOLKS NEED TO STAY MAD AND VOTE! In the words of our beloved Hugh Hewitt, "DON'T GET MAD - GET THE SENATE!!!"",
I may not have everything, but I know part of the answer. Pro-lifers are perceived not so much against abortion as against sex. Your only solution seems to be abstinence. That may energize some, but where you need a majority it is a guaranteed loser. Stop demonizing sex or face irrelevancy.
An unwanted pregnancy is one of life's most challenging circumstances. Putting the baby up for adoption sounds simple but goes against one of our most primitive urges. Work to reduce unwanted pregnancies and demand for abortion will fade. But don't do it by demonizing sex.
The pro-life position that is strongest is on late term abortions, but everyone knows that is just a "foot-in-the-door" interim position leading to a total ban. The question you want to ask is, "Do I want to ban abortion or eliminate it?" The two are not the same.
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