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Of the various efforts being undertaken to rebuild New Orleans, few are as vocal as activists opposing the demolition of public housing projects. Their passion is strong, and their cause just. I wrote about my problems with this movement yesterday. I'm a firm believer in the notion that you can't bring back people who live in poverty to New Orleans at this stage in the city's reconstruction. It's easy for folks who have homes, jobs, health insurance, and schools for their children to advocate a course of action that will almost certainly have no direct impact on their lives, even if that course of action worsens the quality of life for those directly impacted.

It makes more sense to restore the governmental services necessary to lift those living in poverty to a living-wage level.

Easier said than done, of course. City government is still a mess, two years post-storm. State government hasn't been much more help, with its focus on home owners (Road Home Program). The involvement of state government in New Orleans' return is going to be even worse with the election of an unsympathetic ultra-conservative as governor.

Somebody must take ownership of New Orleans, accept the situation we have here, and work with us to make it better. There are three people in a position to do something about New Orleans, assuming we can hang on until January 20, 2009. Those three people are the leading Democratic candidates for President.

Taking them in order of their current popularity, let's look at whether or not they will step up and take ownership of New Orleans.

Hillary Clinton - If you go to www.hillary.com, there's a button for "Issues" that drops down a number of choices:

• Strengthing the Middle Class


• Providing Affordable and Accessible Health Care


• Promoting Energy Independence and Fighting Global Warming


• Fulfilling Our Promises to Veterans


• Supporting Parents and Caring for Children


• Restoring America's Standing in the World


• A Champion for Women


• Comprehensive Government Reform


• Strengthening Our Democracy


• Reforming Our Immigration System


• An Innovation Agenda

Hmm...worthy topics all. Why no mention of New Orleans, or the Gulf Coast in general? Have the consultants advising Sen. Clinton told her to blow us off? After all, Mississippi and Alabama were too red for her to be bothered with pre-storm, and Louisiana is viewed as turning redder post-storm. Certainly one could argue that some of these meta-topics listed above can include support of New Orleans, but not seeing the re-building of a city destroyed by a federal flood and ignored by uncaring Republicans would be on the radar. No doubt Bill Clinton would be more concerned with the future of New Orleans. Perhaps some of you Hillary supporters can clarify this seeming lack of interest in New Orleans.

Barack Obama - Sen. Obama's got one of those neat "Issuse" buttons, too:

• Strengthening America Overseas


• Plan to End the Iraq War


• Creating a Healthcare System that Works


• Fighting Poverty


• Environment


• Energy


• Technology and Innovation for a New Generation


• Fulfilling Our Covenant with Seniors


• Improving Our Schools


• Immigration and the Border


• Protecting the Right to Vote


• Honoring Our Veterans


• Cleaning Up Washington's Culture of Corruption


• Strengthening Families and Communities


• Reconciling Faith and Politics

Nice list. Maybe if I didn't get a food of water in my house and things here were going smoothly, I'd look at this and see a candidate who could improve things. What I see from this is someone who is talking in generalities when a 300-year old city dies. Oh yeah, and those public housing residents who are about to have their apartments demolished? They're 99% African-American.

John Edwards - Sen. Edwards has an entire page of proposals to deal with New Orleans:

• Addressing the nursing shortage and supporting the proposed biomedical corridor


• Providing new resources to make the city's streets safe


• Fully funding the "Road Home"


• Putting someone in charge


• Appointing a Special Gulf Coast Inspector General


• Passing "Brownie's Law," so agencies like FEMA get the job done.

So, we've got two candidates who make no mention of New Orleans and a third who actually talks about fully funding Road Home.

At least Edwards and his consultants aren't suffering from "Katrina Fatigue."

I challenege every Clinton and Obama supporter to ask those in your campaign organizations, what is your candidate's position on New Orleans?

I know where my candidate stands.

I'm also confident that things would not be as screwed up right now here if "Vice President Edwards" was running right now rather than former-Senator Edwards.

Alan at Think New Orleans documents the latest smackdown on one of the "why bother rebuilding New Orleans" crowd. I suppose it's better to increase awareness and refute these assholes, so to that extent, I'm glad Kevin, Tim, Alan and company are willing to do that.

Personally, I don't have either the time or the desire to engage the Flat Earth Society.

It's not like there's any question about rebuilding New Orleans. Those who suggest any outcome other than the city returning to its pre-storm role in the economy and culture of the country are as far out on the fringe as the folks who think they can put up a fence and keep out our little brown brothers and sisters from Mexico, or those who thought that the Eebil Coloreds would stay in Houston after they were bused away during the storm.

Still, just like the ADL engages holocaust deniers, I suppose there's merit in engaging these people.

I just don't have the patience.

That, and I'm talking to a guy who wants to donate a 50+ year old NOPSI bus to NOSRA, so we can restore it and run it in this city that shouldn't be rebuilt.

Schroeder writes:

Despite his contemptuous statement not to rat on his corrupt associates, convicted former Councilman Oliver Thomas will never get away from being a rat to the citizens of New Orleans for his refusal to cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating government corruption. If Thomas didnt have information with which to negotiate, there never would have been a plea deal.

The accuracy of this statement all depends on how you define "the citizens of New Orleans." It's important to remember that Thomas was Councilcritter for District B prior to taking the at-large seat. He represented da hood, and now he's representing da hood by not cooperating with 5-0. I don't know the status of our felons-can't-vote laws in Louisiana, but given that he's going to Club Fed, it's not even a state conviction. He'll be out in the Fall of 2010, too late to run in that year's elections, but that gives him about three more years to rehabilitate his reputation. Watch him become a tireless jailhouse advocate for affordable housing and the "right of return." Once released, he goes to work for a nonprofit advocacy group, and rebuilds his voter base.

By the time he's out of jail, he'll once again a pillar of the community. The only people that will see his "redemption" as a cynical act will be the folks who would never have voted for him anyway.

OK, so rather than give up Marc, Pampy gave up Oliver, and now Oliver gets 37 months because he won't cooperate. Morial's boy threw Thomas under the bus, yet he's going to be a stand-up guy to the tune of three years in Club Fed?

All the while, Markey-Marc continues to live a very respectable life in NYC as the head of the Urban League.

There's a piece or two missing to this puzzle. I wonder how far Letten's managed to dig into this.

There needs to be an award along the lines of the "Darwin Awards" for those who feel the overwhelming desire to commit career suicide. Take that gal from down the bayou last week, who's running for state rep and called a black woman "Buckwheat," for example, she could be a charter inductee.

This week, we've got the rocket scientists of the Jeff Parish Public Works Department:

Terrence Lee, a black sewerage department worker, said last week that he felt racial hostility when he entered the work space occupied by his supervisors, superintendent Bill Hartline and foreman Michael Chauvin, and when he walked past the Confederate flag plate on a truck owned by general superintendent Glenn Miller.

In addition to the noose, Lee said there was a bullwhip and a dartboard with a photo of a black man as the bull's eye.

Parish investigators said the seven supervisors had a responsibility to uphold the rules but did not do so.

A lot of these folks in parish jobs operate with a sense of entitlement that gives them a feeling of career immortality. They forget that, even though Broussard just won re-election, he's not looking to go on CNN anytime soon for them. Politicians across the spectrum are quick to throw anyone under the bus if it can save their own skin. These guys should have realized that if Broussard was willing to sacrifice Maestri over the storm, he'd gladly give them up.

I'm willing to accept a lot as a Democrat, but abject stupidity in the list. Calling someone "Buckwheat" is just bloody stupid:

HOUMA, La. -- A state representative in a runoff election infuriated civil rights leaders after she ended a conversation with the mother of the NAACP's local president by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat." State Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, of Morgan City, acknowledged she made the remark during a Thursday night telephone conversation with Hazel Boykin to thank her for driving voters to the polls. ... Hazel Boykin's son, Jerome, is the NAACP's president in Terrebonne Parish. She is well-known as a 1960s civil rights activist, helping to desegregate restaurants and the parish school system.

Incredible. I wonder if Dartez even knows what Buckwheat looks like, or if she just grew up thinking it was all right to call black folks that name.

So, Cameron Henry, Representative-elect for LA State House District 82 wants to impeach Eddie Jordan. Here's what this genius has to say:

"What he has done to that office is downright embarrassing, and I think they have to get to another stage -- and he's not the person to get them there," Henry said.

The majority of district 82 is in Jefferson Parish. Henry represents a few blocks of Uptown, and now he wants to lead the charge to remove someone elected by the whole of Orleans Parish from office. When a white Republican pulls a stunt like this, the first thing that comes into my mind is, would he be doing this if Jordan was white?

The answer, of course, is a resounding no. As the WDSU article points out, this would be the second attempt at removing Jordan from office, the first coming back in July when Jordan's office refused to prosecute a suspect in a high profile murder case.

Henry says he'll enlist the help of State Senator-elect Steve Scalise, who is currently State Representative from District 82. Governor-elect Piyush Jindal says he'll call for a special session prior to the new legislature taking office. Henry wants Scalise to file the impeachment charges to get the ball rolling.

It's interesting that Mr. Scalise would feel that Jordan's conduct of late merits impeachment, but the conduct of Jordan's predecessor, Harry Connick, Sr., did not. After all, Connick allowed his prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence from the defense in at least two capital cases, those of Curtis Kyles and Shareef Cousin. Kyles spent 15 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. The costs of defending the Orleans Parish DA's office in the appeals process for these men went well beyond the paltry $3.7million judgement against Jordan for employment discrimination. Who does Curtis Kyles see about getting the years he lost in prison thanks to NOPD and Harry Connick's office back? Surely these incidents rise to Cameron Henry's "embarrassment" standard.

Cameron Henry is after Eddie Jordan for one simple reason. The Orleans Parish DA's office was the last great public office bastion of hope for white racists in Orleans Parish. When Connick retired in 2002, it was clear that the next DA would be black, but at least they could get someone loyal to Connick in the office, namely former prosecutor Dale Atkins. Jordan defeated Atkins at the polls, then proceeded to fire all of the support staff in the office, because they were loyal to Connick and worked for Atkins' election.

This is the sort of thing that happens all the time with jobs in a political office. You back the wrong horse, you clean out your desk on the last day of your boss' term. The problem was, this time, the incoming office holder was black, the staffers he fired were white, and the people he hired to replace them were all black. Connick's people sued Jordan and won, and now the white folks use this as a club, referring to Jordan as a "convicted racist." Jarvis DeBerry has a great column in Da Paper today, offering his theory on Jordan:

I know it's popular among some folks to describe Jordan as a "convicted racist," but that's wrong, if for no other reason than the implication that racism is a criminal offense for which one can stand trial. It's also wrong because if he'd had such irate opposition to the presence of white people, he'd have fired the white folks on his legal staff, but he didn't.

His real offense is weakness. He allowed himself to be controlled by his mentor U.S. Rep. William Jefferson and didn't put up a fuss when one of the congressman's staffers came into Jordan's office to clear enough room to place the people Jefferson wanted to bestow with jobs.

I'm not sure Jefferson is a racist in that scenario, but it really doesn't matter if he is or isn't. The only thing that matters is the discriminatory effect: 36 white employees were let go, and almost all of them were replaced by black employees.

No, I don't think Jordan and Jefferson are racists, not based on this incident alone, at least. I do think they're stupid, though. They knew they were firing white folks and replacing them with black folks, leaving themselves exposed to this litigation.

This is typical of the attitude of the white minority in New Orleans. When white politicians make political moves, it's "just politics." When black pols do it, it's "corruption."

Part of me would like to see Jordan get the boot, not only because he's not a very smart man, but also because I'd like to see a white Republican take over the DA's office. I seriously doubt any Republican can do any better at cleaning up the mess that is our judicial system, simply because they're white and "conservative." The problem is, we have a serious crime problem in the area, and we really don't have time for Republican experiments that will do no more than personally enrich them while making the situation in the city worse.

Have you ever decided to pass on ranting about something just because you don't want to start trouble with people you might have to work with later? I've been conflicted about talking about the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans for a couple of weeks now, in spite of some disturbing behavior I've observed. Tuesday was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, though.

There's a bit of a disagreement between residents of Lakeview and the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority of late, stemming from a proposal to extend the Canal Street streetcar line two blocks into the Lakeview neighborhood. I won't go into the details, but if you go to my streetcar website, you can get the backstory. As an advocate for public transit in general and street railways in particular, I don't view the neighborhood's objections as credible. They come off as NIMBY to me, but I've told leaders of the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association that I'm willing to keep an open mind. I feel that this is a generous position on my part, given the obnoxious behavior of Lakeview residents at a recent public meeting held to discuss this project.

Expressing their opposition to the streetcar line expansion, Lakeview residents in the audience made numerous rude and offensive comments, both socio-economic and racial in nature. The haves-versus-have-nots sort of comments come whenever a relatively wealthy neighborhood is involved in public improvements that help the working class, so those were to be expected. The open racial remarks, however, stunned me. One of the guests at the meeting was Mark Major, who is the General Manager of NORTA. Mr. Major is black, and given the political nature of NORTA, one woud assume he is politically connected to Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Nagin, being black and a Democrat, was not a very popular figure in white-bread, Republican, Lakeview before the storm, much less now. These folks got 10'-12' of water in their houses from the 17th Street Canal breach. They need someone to blame, so the black mayor, black Congresscritter with 90K in his freezer, and female Democratic governor make better targets than their Personal Lord and Savior, the disprespectful piece of crap who lives in the White House. Not many of these folks use or require public transportation, for themselves or their families. One woman actually stood up at this meeting and advocated placing a major transit terminal one block from an elementary school and a middle school in a different neighborhood (Mid City) to keep it out of her neighborhood. Let's forget rider safety, now, this one doesn't even care about the safety of children.

The shame of it is that I really like the Lakeview neighborhood. I was in Lakeview daily, riding the bus and going to friends' houses, from the time I was twelve until we moved into Gentilly when I was teaching high school. Lakeshore Drive was where we'd hang out after school, in both high school and when I went to the University of New Orleans. I could go on and on about Lakeview, and watching all that water pour into the area was very traumatic for me.

But as much as watching the neighborhood drown was traumatic, hearing the overt racism coming from the "pioneers" that have returned to rebuild the neighborhood after the storm was equally shocking. We used to say that overt racism was something for Jefferson Parish, and that at least New Orleanians were more civil. It appears that the storm has changed the rules.

Still, as I said, I wasn't going to write about this. The folks I've met and corresponded with from Lakeview don't fit the mold of the crackers in the crowd. They're working hard to make things happen in their neighborhood, and I was willing to give them a break, until Tuesday. I was having coffee and writing at the Starbucks on Harrison Avenue in Lakeview on Tuesday morning, when two men walk in and get in line. They were discussing rebuilding their houses when one mentioned that he had to send a package to someone and all they had for an address was a post office box. UPS and FedEx don't deliver to post office boxes, so that meant this person had to use the US Postal Service to ship his parcel. He went on a rant loud enough that I could hear him over NPR's Morning Edition in my headphones and the blender making frappucinos.

This person used a code-word phrase I'd never heard before. He said that he didn't like going to the post office because he had to deal with "Democrats." At first I chuckled, because the dad of one of the boys in my son's Scout troop works for USPS and is a staunch Republican. It didn't hit me until the woman behind this guy chimed into the conversation with the term "those people." It was the first time I'd ever heard someone use "Democrat" as a code word for "black." When it sunk in, it made sense. Since the storm, the closest post office to Lakeview is up on Jefferson Davis Pkwy., in Mid City. I go to that post office because it's usually not terribly crowded, and the ladies who work the counter at that post office have always been black. They're friendly, competent, and helpful when I go there, so only someone who just don't like black folks would have a problem with the place.

It's easy to dismiss one person in line at a coffee shop as a cracker asshole, but when others around the cracker join with him and concur with his racist perspective, it's a bit more of a concern.

The neighborhood leaders distance themselves from the racists amongst them, asking people like me to look at the good they do and not to judge their association by those at the meetings. Maybe I'm just old school, though, judging people by the company they keep. There comes a time when civic leaders have to stand up and be counted. Brushing racism under the rug doesn't make it go away. While the neighborhood's activists may not hold the same beliefs of their neighbors, their silence on the subject is almost as disturbing as the crackers themselves. It's nudge-nudge, wink-wink, politics. They want the city to work with them in spite of the fact that the best thing for the city as a whole might be to ignore the neighborhood altogether. Let municipal services fall off even more than they are now. Cut back even further on the NOPD and Military Police presence. Let the businesses that have re-opened fail and abandon them. Perhaps then the crackers will give up on the neighborhood and move someplace else.

OK, letting Lakeview just die isn't a viable option, but neither is continuing the nudge-nudge, wink-wink relationship. Just as Lakeview won't be allowed to die, black folks in New Orleans aren't going away, either. The racists in Lakeview need to realize this and, at the very least, stop offending those of us who don't think someone is inferior because they're black and work at the post office.

Well, the sun is out after a couple of days of nasty monsoon-style afternoon/evening thunderstorms here in New Orleans. It looks like the good weather will continue at least into tomorrow. On the up side, this means my mandatory attendance at tonight's performance of the Brother Martin High School Band at Tad Gormley Stadium will be dry. (Oh, there's a sporting event being held in conjunction with this band performance. Before and after the music, the Brother Martin football team plays the team from Jesuit High School). The downside to nice weather this weekend is that clear skies usually means higher voter turnout.

There are several major factors affecting voter turnout tomorrow:

Weather: It's going to be a gorgeous day in metro New Orleans, and that will bring the Republicans out to vote in East Jefferson.

Hunting Season: Tomorrow (20-Oct) is opening day of hunting season. Hey, they don't call Louisiana "Sportman's Paradise" for nothing. This is a very simple equation: a lot of hardcore gun guys aren't going to vote. They're packing up today to go to their camps tonight so they can get up early and do what they enjoy. Odds are, a lot of them won't be home by the time the polls close at 8pm.

LSU vs. Auburn: The reason we have elections on Saturdays in Louisiana is to allow working folks to have a better chance to get to the polls than on a workday. Sometimes, however, this creates interesting conflicts. LSU plays Auburn in football tomorrow. The game is at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. At a meeting I attended Tuesday night, one guy said, "yeah, there will be 92,000 people in that stadium." Another guy added, "and there will be another 100,000 tailgating in the parking lot!" OK, the 100K outside is a bit of an exaggaration, but there will be that many people in the stadium and a buttload of people outside. There will be people in bars and pubs across the state. A lot of people have all-day festivities at their houses for a big game.

The game and the hunters are a huge concern for Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (R-Kenner), the endorsed Republican candidate in the race. Since incumbent governor Kathy Blanco decided not to stand for re-election, the conventional wisdom has been that Jindal had a very good shot of winning tomorrow's open primary with 50.1% of the vote, bypassing a runoff next month. The hunters and LSU fans are thinking, "oh, Bobby's got it made, I don't have to go vote. He's gonna win outright, or for sure get in the runoff." The problem is that a runoff scares the bejeebus out of Piyush's people, to the point where the campaign put out a massive GOTV push two weeks ago, to get people to do "early voting." Jindal was supposed to have the runoff against Democrat Blanco in the bag four years ago, and Blanco pulled it out in the last week. The under-the-radar racial vote is a major concern for the Republicans. More on the racial factors in a moment.

"The Black Vote:" The racial factors in a Louisiana election used to be easy to sort out. Before the storm, there were two big concentrations of black voting strength, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The storm has wiped out the voting strength of blacks in Orleans Parish. Many thousands of New Orleanians are still living in the area, in Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Tammany parishes. The catch is that, while they live in the burbs, their "domiciles" are in Orleans Parish. They'll have to drive anywhere from 10-50 miles to get to a polling place. Tradtional neighborhood polling places in Da Ninth, Gentilly, and Lakeview have vanished, replaced by consolidated polling places for entire wards. The confusion and inconvenience will do more to supress black turnout than any stunt ever attempted by the LA Republican Party. Polls show Jindal actually making gains in black vote over his numbers from four years ago, but polls call people where they are now; they don't factor in whether or not they'll drive back into the city to vote.

The lack of a race on the ballot that will rouse the interest of New Orleanians also plays into what may be low black turnout. The biggest item on the ballot other than statewide races for Orleans Parish is the race to replace former At-Large City Councilman Olvier Thomas (D-Markey Marc). Thomas, you may remember, is the idiot who took bribes from Morial-connected businessmen, negotiatied a plea deal with the DoJ, and is now off to Club Fed. The candidates to replace this fool are the usual suspects, a couple of district councilmen and some other community leaders. There are no personalities in this race that will electrify any part of the community. The individual candidates will do what they can to get out their people, but there's nothing about this race that's excited the community as a whole.

The mess that is polling places in Orleans Parish will also contribute to lower white turnout as well as black. It's important to remember that homeowners in the Lakeview neighborhood of the city were overwhelmingly white Republicans. Lakeview homes got an average of 10' of water in the storm, and the majority of the neighborhood isn't back home.

The Under-The-Radar Vote: This is a very serious problem for Jindal. Many of the folks that vote Republican in Louisiana just don't like black people. Jindal is Indian-American. While he's not African-American, he is still Not White. The phenomenom of under-the-radar racism goes back to the 1991 race between Edwin Edwards (D-Club Fed) and David Duke (R-Sturm Abteilung). From a 1991 NYT article:

Public opinion polls, in which statisticians have tried to adjust for the reluctance of voters to state their preference for Mr. Duke, show Mr. Edwards in the lead. But almost no analysts are willing to make a prediction about the race because of the difficulty of gauging Mr. Duke's support and because of the mixed emotions expressed by many voters Mr. Edwards needs.

I submit that those same voters haven't left the state. This time, their reluctance to state their true feelings is not because they don't want to be associated with a Grand Wizard of the KKK, but because they don't want to admit they won't vote for a candidate who is Not White. This is why Jindal's campaign in the north focuses so much on religion--he can't change the color of his skin, but he spends a lot of time talking about his Christianity and faith, hoping to make a distinction between the godless Democrat (Campbell), the city slicker (Boasso, even though he's from Da Parish), and the Greek guy (Georges). Still, he may be Christian, but it's a tough sell for a guy who is Not White to convince people who were willing to vote for a Klansmen they should vote for him. Given this reverse race card, along with Vitty-cent's sexual indiscretions and hypocrisy, the upstate "values" crackers may just stay home and watch LSU-Auburn on the boobtoob.

The Candidates: There are four first-tier candidates in the LA-Gov race.

Walter Boasso (D-Chalmette) - A businessman and State Senator from storm-ravaged St. Bernard Parish, Boasso led the effort to reform the way Louisiana manages flood control. His work on reforming the political infrastructure of flood control in the state have produced mixed results, but he has molded himself as a reformer. Boasso was elected to the State Senate as a Republican, but switched to Democrat to run for governor. Some say Boasso wanted the GOP endorsement, and switched when it was clear that the powers-that-be on the dark side went with Jindal. Boasso has certainly embrased his "inner Democrat," however, running some very sweet attack ads, giving Jindal ownership of his Personal Lord and Savior, George W. Bush. The memory hook for the commercials is, "Bobby Jindal - Big Brain. No Heart." That wraps up commercials attacking Jindal for his atrocious record as head of the state's health and hospitals department, as well as his congressional voting record (97% with Bush-Delay). The Republicans decry the use of attack ads, but we all know how powerful they can be. Boasso's total lack of credibility in the progressive sphere is his downfall, though.

Foster Campbell (D-Elm Grove) - Campbell is the favorite of most progressive Democrats. He's from Boissier Parish, which is up in the northwest corner of the state, next to Shreveport. A lifelong Dem, Campbell is a good-ol-boy who is on the state's Public Service Commission. Campbell's visibility in the southern part of the state has improved, but not his credibility. His commercials, showing him hanging out with northern LA farmers, riding his horse, etc., do nothing to inspire city folks. The Louisiana Public Service Commission has a reputation as essentially a do-nothing body. They're best known for refusing almost every rate request put to them by a utility doing business in the state. This puts them in good stead with the voters, but it punts the true decision-making to the courts, when the utilities sue. The actual rate hikes are then worked out in back-room settlement conferences, avoiding sunshine laws. The net result is that most voters don't think of PSC commissioners as leaders.

Campbell's also been a big disappointment as a Democrat. He's letting Boasso do the heavy lifting against Jindal. One can make an argument that letting the guy who is polling lower be the pit bull, but Campbell is the candidate with the backing of the progressives in the party. Progressives on various dem blogs and mailing lists attack Boassao as a Dem-of-convenience, but he's acting more like a Dem than the good-ol-boy they're endorsing.

John Georges (I-Metairie) - I don't know exactly why Georges is in the race and spending the kind of money he is. Like Boasso, Georges was Republican before failing to get the party's endorsement. A businessman, his company, Imperial Trading, is one of the biggest cigarette distributors in the metro area. He is also one of the owners of a large distributor of video poker machines in the state. (In Louisiana, the distributor puts the machines in the restaurant or bar. Players pump $$$ into them, then the state takes 25% of the gross. The distributor and establishment split the rest, usually 50-50.) Jindal is spending a good bit of money (commercials during the evening news and prime time) to paint Georges as corrupt and sinful. Georges is the guy Jindal's trying to beat, because he's the biggest threat to Jindal not getting 50.1% of the vote tomorrow. The fear is that Georges will siphon off vote from East Jefferson. Georges is a Metairie homeboy--Imperial Trading has been around for generations, he's a community leader, and well-respected. Jindal is still viewed by many as a carpetbagger in Jefferson Parish. Sure, the suburbanites love him as a Congresscritter running against token Dem opposition, but now he's running against a guy they see in church, at the playground, etc. Georges is Greek Orthodox, and that community sticks together. He's more attractive to Catholics than Jindal, even though Jindal's ostensibly Roman Catholic, because Piyush has essentially forsaken mainstream Catholicism for the political expedient of evangelical Christianity. He runs a local business, as opposed to being a professional politician. Georges is the scariest candidate in the race as far as Jindal's folks are concerned. Jindal's responses to Boasso's attack ads are to decry the tactic. Piyush's people save the real venom for Georges.

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (R-Kenner) - The frontrunner. The "anointed one." Congresscritter from LA-01. When Blanco decided not to stand for re-election, the Dems had a helluva time trying to find someone to run against him. The weakness of Campbell and the opportunism of Boasso is testament to this. The Jindal campaign's drive to win this outright tomorrow is serious, and justified. The things that can go wrong for Jindal in a runoff are serious concerns for his backers. Republicans see Jindal as a chance to re-capture the Governor's mansion. The big business and medical establishment money is behind him. Jindal's not without baggage, though. His voting record is totally with Bush and the K Street Republican establishment. His stance on "values" issues is severely tainted by his support of brothel-boy David Vitter. This morning's headline in Da Paper is about Vitty-cent restructuring a $100K earmark destined for a pro-creationism education foundation tied to Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council. This creates a problem for Jindal, because it reminds the "values voters" that Republican politicians are really just scum that use them when convenient.

It's a pretty melodramatic statement, but Bobby Jindal currently represents everything that is wrong, immoral, and downright evil about the state of Louisiana. And it's damned likely he'll be our next governor.

My prediction: Jindal-Georges in the runoff. Outside chance Campbell beats out Georges. If Campbell gets in the runoff, he's our next governor. As much as he disappoints me, Campbell's got my vote.

The Louisiana State Legislature is pretty much getting turned upside down and shaken out this election cycle. Term limits are kicking in for the majority of incumbents, so the number of real races is much higher than usual. I live in LA house district 80. There are two candidates looking to represent the neighborhood in Baton Rouge next year, Glenn Lee and Joseph Lopinto.

They haven't even buried Harry Lee yet, but his legacy will continue on for at least a generation, and this race is a good example. Glenn Lee is Harry's nephew, and worked for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for 13 years. Lopinto was also one of Harry's deputies at JPSO, his last position being that of Narcotics Detective. So, I've got the choice between someone in Lee's family or someone in Lee's extended family.

Up until yesterday, I was leaning towards Lopinto, for two reasons: First, he went to the same high school I did, and second, I didn't really trust Harry Lee, and that distrust (right or wrong) extends to his family. But that changed when I went out to get the mail, and found this piece from Lopinto:

OK, it's a fairly harmless-looking piece at this point. He says the things most Republican candidates do, and flaunts his endorsements. Then I flipped it over and looked at the back:

Here's the list of groups that Lopinto's upset got money from the state this year:

Rho Omega and Friends, Inc. $ 50,000
Delta CD program development $ 150,000
Volunteers for Youth Justice in Shreveport $ 100,000
Martin Luther King, Jr. Assoc.
Neighborhood Development Foundation, Inc. $ 150,000
North St. Antoine Service, Inc. $ 300,000
Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Council $ 15,000
Community Awareness Revitalization and Enhancement Corporation $ 130,000
Just the Right Attitude in New Orleans $ 50,000
Newcorp $ 100,000
Community Coordinating Council, Inc. $ 100,000
Men of Vision and Enlightenment, Inc. $ 50,000
Progress 63, Inc. $ 300,000
Serving People District 40 $ 300,000
Society Advancement of African American Males $ 20,000
The Elisha Foundation $ 10,000
Epsilon Psi Lambda Chapter $ 100,000
Urban Restoration Enhancement Corporation $ 75,000
Rebuilding Our Community, Inc. $ 350,000
Just Willing Foundation $ 75,000
Louisiana Ballooning Foundation $ 50,000
Purple Circle Social Club $ 50,000
Israelite Baptist Church in Crowley $ 100,000

When I read this, I handed the flyer over immediately to my 13-year old son, who attends the same high school that Lopinto attended. I asked him what he thought these groups have in common, and it didn't take more than a minute for him to respond, "with names like 'Martin Luther King,' and 'Society Advancement of African American Males,' they must be mostly black community groups."

So obvious an eighth grader figured it out.

Now, railing against pork-barrel spending is almost required for non-incumbent candidates. Complaining about budget overruns and excess spending rarely turns off voters. But if you look at a full list of these "special projects" that got money in the capital outlay budget in 2006-2007, you can see there are more programs here than just for black folks. Yet Lopinto cherry-picked the list and printed up just programs that benefit the Eebil Coloreds. This is code-word racism at its best. Lopinto lists how blacks are sucking up the tax dollars of hard-working white folks in Jefferson Parish, and he's going to keep it from happening. Does he appear to be upset that the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Cooperative got $50K, or that the parks department in the City of Kenner got $200K, or that the Jefferson Parish Sports and Scholastic Foundation got $200K? Nope. Funny thing, though, that's $450,000 of the tax dollars of hard-working Jeffersonians that went to mostly white people. What a coincidence.

What I don't get here is why Lopinto felt it necessary to send out a piece like this. It all but screams, "vote for me, I like black people less than my opponent!" And that's saying a lot when your opponent is running on his uncle's name and Harry Lee's the guy who said he would make sure that "young black men in rinky-dink cars" would be stopped and not allowed into Jefferson Parish.

So, Lopinto's not going to get my vote on 20-October. It's difficult to tell if he's an outright racist or if he's just ill-served by some pretty dumb consultants. Either way, it doesn't look like a good idea to trust this guy with any sort of authority. Even though I didn't like the politics of Lee's uncle and he's trying to play off that relationship (his campaign signs all have a star motif, a clear allusion to his association with the Sheriff and the JPSO), I ran into Lee in a coffee shop last week. He jumped at the opportunity to take over the table from where I was getting up because it was near a power outlet. I figure any guy who works on his laptop in a coffee shop like I do most mornings can't be all that bad, even for a Republican. :-)