Vitter's victory called an aberration

[funkybutt]

La. Demo chairman shrugs off GOP gain

http://nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1099987308279450.xml

By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau

BATON ROUGE -- U.S. Rep. David Vitter's election last week to the U.S. Senate was "an aberration" and does not signal a long-term problem for Democrats running statewide, the chairman of the state Democratic Party said Monday.

Lafayette lawyer Mike Skinner commended Vitter for running an aggressive campaign with good advertising to notch an impressive victory in the primary, but told the Press Club of Baton Rouge, "These things go back and forth and will continue to shift back and forth. I think that was an aberration, frankly.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. I think we can't afford to run 2 candidates against one

That's plain idiocy. It's no wonder we lost that.

[funkybutt]

3. the LA system is different than most states

The two parties take their respective top candidates into a run off AS LONG AS one does not get >50% of the popular vote.

Vitter squeeked through in this case. No thanks to any of the state's democratic leaders. Vitter ran a TON of television ads about

a) buying cheaper drugs from Canada
b) protecting the Social Security "Lock Box"
c) affordable healthcare for children

I suspect that John or Kennedy could have owned those issues if they had gotten their message out on TV first.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. No, I understand the run-off system

However, I'm not sure how you can avoid the Vitter scenario when you're splitting what message your party is sending.

[juajen]

8. Don't think they had enough money

Of course, running three dem candidates does split the democratic attention and money. I believe the state dem party was in favor of John, but Kennedy was the better dem, as far as I'm concerned. My whole family voted for Kennedy.

It would have been easy to skim this also, giving the pugs one more senator.

We have voting machines put in by the former Comm. of Elections, Suzie Terrill, of Landrieu vs. Terrill fame. Remember the pugs have been in office for 8 years prior to Kathleen Blanco being elected; and, she, of necessity, is dem lite, as Mary and John have been.

It's strictly a mixed bag here, but, I for one, think there is a good possibility that a few votes were skimmed to make the lying Vitter the new senator from LA. For instance, in Lafayette, the "newly elected" (actually three or four years ago) Clerk of Court, who controls the election here, is a pug of the first water. The position had formerly been held for about a hundred years of Guillot, who, I believe, was a dem. Not sure about the latter.

Vitter had this great ad showing him in freezing Canada to allow that he would vote for seniors and other being allowed to purchase drugs from Canada, when he voted against that in the House.

[bullimiami]

2. funky. what is the voting machinery in LA?

Im very wary of so called "abberations".

[funkybutt]

4. lol ...yeah..i think that's mispelled

[Florida_Geek]

9. Well in Monroe (northeast La) they use

[funkybutt]

10. haha! great shot

and that's true.

Here in New Orleans we use the ones that have the names under a plastic and when you push the selection, the light lights up and then when your voting is complete there is a "cast your ballot" button that makes a high pitched sound to make you feel like your vote has been counted.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Treat no elected repuke...

As an abberation. That is incredibly unwise and dismissive of the realities with which we are presented.

[OHdem10]

7. Given the choice

betwwn a fake republican and the Real thing, the people will choose
the real thing---Harry S Truman

[yardwork]

11. Vitter is part of a large family of oil-wealthy Catholic socialites

outside New Orleans. His brothers and sisters are well-connected, and his father was an executive with an oil company. Vitter runs on "family values" but his family values money and power above all else.

[Laelth]

12. Sounds like a good Republican to me.

Funny how I might even prefer that kind to the Talibornagains.

what dark times ...

-Laelth

[Carl Brennan]

13. Title should have been: WTF: "Skinner lauds Repug victory"

You woulda got more hits. }(

[funkybutt]

14. We're headed that way in the Meloncen campaign too

GOP is HEAVILY running this ad that talks about how Meloncen has voted to increase taxes on pretty much everything that crosses his desk including pets.

It goes something like, "if you can think of something he hasn't voted to raise taxes on, it's just because he hasn't gotten to it....YET"

Dems need to be running attack ads early on since it was obviously so effective for Vitter. Catch UP DEMS!