LA-06: On 'Blue Dogs' and Other Fabulous Beasts
By Vladimir Posted in 2008 | LA Special Election | Spotlight Blogs — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
promoted by Adam C because we should be paying attention to more Congressional races...
[That's "fabulous" in the mythical sense, not the "Project Runway" sense. -- ed.]
Next Saturday, May 3, is the date of the special general elections to fill the empty seats in LA-1 (vacated by Governor Bobby Jindal) and LA-6 (departed Rep. Richard Baker (R)). In LA-1, State Sen. Steve Scalise (R) should win in a cakewalk. That's not the case in LA-6, where Woody Jenkins (R) squares off against State Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads.
Rep. Cazayoux is learning that it's not easy for a Dem to run for Congress in a mostly red state. Do you shoot for the middle and run as a center-right 'Blue Dog', or do you embrace the hard left policies of your national party's Golden Boy in an attempt to appeal to his constituency?
Rep. Cazayoux has answered boldly and loudly: Yes, I Can!
To the Blue Dog constituency, he says this:
Cazayoux said he feels most solutions to big problems are going to be found in the middle. He has been endorsed by the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate and conservative Democrats in Congress who claim to promote positions “which bridge the gap between ideological extremes.”“If I can’t be a moderate or conservative Democrat, I think I would not be serving my district well or the country well. The claims that you cannot talk to both sides to solve a problem to me is mind-boggling. If that is the case now, we’ve got to find a way to change it,” Cazayoux said.
Hmmm. "Candidate of Change". That has a nice ring to it.
To the Obama constituency (African-Americans, Katrina refugees, and Baton Rouge's large college population):
Cazayoux’s health-care plan [is] similar [to]presidential candidate Barack Obama’s.... Cazayoux said he would like the public to have access to the Congressional health-care plan and to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan, which now covers about 111,000 children in Louisiana working families.
Here is the Money Quote from Democratic Congressional candidate Don Cazayoux's campaign manager, in a recent conference call with reporters:
"I don't know 'bout y'all but, I don't think Obama's healthcare agenda is all that radical"
Of course, hugging Obama outright might cost Cazayoux some votes in a district which sent Rep. Baker to Congress 11 times. From the Los Angeles Times:
In Louisiana, a TV ad attacking Obama's healthcare agenda as "radical" proved so threatening that the House candidate it targeted, Democrat Don Cazayoux, distanced himself from Obama on Thursday, issuing a stern statement saying that he "has not endorsed any national politician."
Being a Blue Dog in a Pelosi/Hoyer/Rangel dominated House is a joke. As Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) has discovered, failing to toe the party line, even on procedural votes, has its consequences.
I hope you are right.
I think the NRCC and Freedoms Watch have been especially helpful here too.
But if Jenkins has money, why hasn't he used it? That is the last thing we need - a reluctant millionare.
Yes the NRCC spent money here but only about 125,000 compared to 350,000 for the Dems so far. The NRCC actually spent more money on MS special primary and look how that turned out though
But how much did Freedoms Watch spend? And there was also a Louisiana millionaire who spent money attacking the Dem. Who knows who else. All combined, I bet they spent about equal to the DCCC's spending.
The Club for Growth did a $100,000 ad buy recently.
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2008/04/new_club_pac_ad_in_la06.php
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
I hope Jenkins wins, we need all the help we can get in congressional races.
Except for a few exceptions, it seems to me that Blue Dog Democrats are generally just liberal Democrats who are moderate or conservative on a few social issues, but vote to raise our taxes, increase spending, oppose school choice, and oppose Social Security retirement accounts.
Party leadership throw them a bone from time to time, allowing them to cast a (purely symbolic) vote against the party leadership, if and only if the vote doesn't matter.
If they make the mistake of defying Pelosi's will on an issue of substance, where their vote might actually make a difference, there is heck to pay. We're talking loss of preferred parking spaces, and worse.
There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. - Frank Zappa
Ask me a week ago and I thought we would lose this seat but I sense some shift towards Woody Jenkins. He secured NRA nod and it appears Jindal is doing some major work for him
It should still be close but Jenkins has ability to self finance too.