I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Una paloma blanca(o)...
I'm just a bird in the sky...
Socially conservative Southern Democrat. Her victory will immediately be seen as a sign that Democrats need to move away from criticism of President Bush...from the left, at least. Or else, a sign that Democrats hate Indians.
Do Democrats really need the Republicans to run minority candidates to win in the South? That's so sad . . .
It means that Louisiana is in play in 2004 for the Dems. This plus Landrieu's win means the Dems are still strong in LA and getting stronger.
...sigh of relief, for now.
...Louisiana will be hit with some sort of interstate commerce market manipulation that the feds will not intercede. The popularly elected governor will then be recalled with 8-12 months.
I'm pretty sure somebody's pouring through the Louisiana constitution at this time trying to find a rule allowing it happen.
There's gotta be a special place in hell for people who play dirty tricks; and just to make it worse, they have to sweep the streets of heaven during the graveyard shift.
--ventura county, ca
Poor Bobby... He defeated Satan and got nothing in return.
Blanco is yawner (closet Bush lover )I voted party lines (for Blanco)
Jindal is bright smart young guy.
He was smart enough to keep Bush out of his campaign.
rumour has it he will run for Senators John Breaux's Sentate spot.
Poor Bobby... He defeated Satan and got nothing in return.
hilarious.
Bobby's soul was worth Mayor of New Orleans -- maybe. That's what he gets for being greedy.
No refunds, either.
.
Darryl Pearce:
...Louisiana will be hit with some sort of interstate commerce market manipulation that the feds will not intercede. The popularly elected governor will then be recalled with 8-12 months.
You, my friend, have your fucking finger on the pulse of their strategy. Mad kudos.
The popularly elected governor will then be recalled with 8-12 months.
Nah, LA ain't worth pullin out the big guns. They got the bubba vote wrapped up. Jindal who? Ya gotta be pullin mah leg.
Just read this little tidbit at Kos:
Weeks ago, a Louisiana poll has Bush's unfavorable ratings at around 54%, and he won La. in 2000. That poll was one of the reasons Jindal asked Bush to do no campaigning for him.
Oh come on, the choice was between a white woman and some kind of sand nigger. It's fucking Louisiana. A lot of people walked into the voting booth and saw the choice between a white person and a not-white person.
How anyone could be surprised by this is beyond me. It's Louisiana. Jindal was not-white. The Gantt factor strikes again.
Sure white folks say they'll vote for the colored boy, but when it comes time to vote, that white person always wins.
żLa necesidad carece de ley?
This quote says it all ...
" 'I'm really undecided,' said Tommy Schwebel, a fireman in Amite, 80 miles north of New Orleans. 'The ones I talk to out in the street, they don't want to vote for either one of them.'
This is the same state where, just over a decade ago, a majority of white men voted for former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke."
At the end of the day, a white woman was more easily tolerated than an Indian American (albeit Repub) man.
These two were pretty ideologically close, and unless Blanco moves her position leftward into line with the likely winner for the Democratic primary (ie, a LEFTY Democrat; ie, NOT Lieberman), I wouldn't count on Louisiana in 2004 any more than in 2000.
Clinton won LA in '92 and '96.
LA is up for grabs. Blanco's victory isn't a negative for the dems.
I hate to say this, but was this really a dem vs. reb thang? Or a vote for the Blanco vs. the Kwicki-Mart guy?
I count this as a Homer Simpson victory.
But what do I know, I'm not from Springfield...
steve_gilliard, aka, french creole dude...
How dare you think that pick-up-gun-rack-dixie-flag-decal-bead-throwing-
nascar-swamp-folks
might not vote for a person whose name doesn't sound "White?"
... singing ...
who needs the kwicki-mart?
their floors are sticky-mart?
goodbye to kwicki-mart!!
so long to kwicki-mart!!
who needs the kwicki-mart?
..... Not me!!
... end song ... and scene ...
kwicki-mart Guy,
Sure, sure, We're talking about Gov. Blanco, right? Seems a lot of folks said they'd vote for Jindal, he was even leading in the polls, right? Then when election day comes....
Oh, my family comes from Charleston, not Louisiana.
Basically, all this election does is to prove the old rule that a non-white candidate in a white-majority constituency--especially in the South--is likely to do a little worse in the election than he does in the opinion polls.
The only reason to be happy about the result is that as in 2002 Louisiana has slightly spoiled the GOP/conservative triumphalist mood. Not that it's spoiled it very much. The right will be making excuses for why Jindal didn't win (some may even be valid) and point out how socialy conservative Blanco is (though not quite as absolutist on abortion as Jinfdal). But just think how rampantly triumphalist they would have been if Jindal had won...
I think there were some votes based on race (Blanco carried a lot of parishes up north), but the big factor was--also race. African American voters won the race for Kathleen. Here's hoping she remembers this.
Otherwise, Blanco vs. Jindal was a lesser of two evils. The lesser evil won.
Don't expect much from Blanco, but I think the left should be glad Jindal lost--his politics are of the truly scary wingnut variety, but his heritage and background make him an appealing candidate. He is now positioned solidly for a run at the Senate--faux Democrat Breaux is likely to retire, and Jindal will be a strong candidate.
I'm pessimistic regarding the presidential election, though. Too many idiots like Dubya in these parts, and I don't think any Democratic candidate can change that. Shit, even during the 80's, when there was a DEPRESSION down here (not merely a recession), LA went Reagan/Reagan/Bush. Clinton won in 92 and 96, sure, but unless Clark is on the ticket, this State will go blue.
And I don't think Landrieu would do well as a running mate...too many questions remain about her own election to the Senate back in 96.
Blanco's victory means that the Pubbies won't try to take out Landrieu, because Blanco will just appoint a Dem in her place.
So it IS a victory for us.
it's still our quebec.
steve_gilliard,
Poking fun on your name is just like your comment,Oh come on, the choice was between a white woman and some kind of sand nigger.
For the benefit of the doubt, I'm guessnig you meant:
"A white-women canididate named Blanco in Louisiana..."
Be nice to the Kwiki-Mart dudes, everyone... Might spit in your slurpees...
Thus spake Scaramouche, aka, kwiki-mart dude...cuz "savoire faire is every where"
steve_gilliard,
Poking fun on your name is just like your comment,Oh come on, the choice was between a white woman and some kind of sand nigger.
For the benefit of the doubt, I'm guessnig you meant:
"A white-women canididate named Blanco in Louisiana..."
Be nice to the Kwiki-Mart dudes, everyone... Might spit in your slurpees...
Thus spake Scaramouche, aka, kwiki-mart dude...cuz "savoire faire is every where"
steve_gilliard,
Poking fun on your name is just like your comment,Oh come on, the choice was between a white woman and some kind of sand nigger.
For the benefit of the doubt, I'm guessnig you meant:
"A white-women canididate named Blanco in Louisiana..."
Be nice to the Kwiki-Mart dudes, everyone... Might spit in your slurpees...
Thus spake Scaramouche, aka, kwiki-mart dude...cuz "savoire faire is every where"
Must..Stop..Hitting the reload button...
Savoir faire is nowhere... right now...
Apologies..
Anybody hear anything on what actual voter turnout was?
I was reading somewhere last week...maybe a news item, maybe on a blog, that the Indian guy was favored...and the person writing was saying, "look how much the democrats are hated...Louisiana would rather vote in a non-white than a democrat."
All I can say now is, "ha-fucking-ha."
steve_gillird, why do you keep calling people "niggers"?
She is an anti-choice, Catholic -- very conservative. A Republican in sheep's clothing.
You are right, Annon. This is a victory for the Dems in name only. She's way farther to the right than even Arnold.
I lived in N.O. for a while. Don't hold your breath on it being a blue state in '04. Possibly if Clark heads the ticket--but again I seriously doubt it.
Jindal not being a white boy lost him a few votes from some GOP voters--they stayed home. But they'll show up at the polls for Bush--you can bet money on that. Especially if Dean is the opponent.
Not trying to put judgments on Louisiana--I loved it there and may move back one day. But the South (and LA especially) ain't like the rest of the U.S., for better and for worse.
Jindal tried to portray himself as a "new" candidate...his TV ads blasted Blanco for "negative campaigning". The catch was, Jindal and the state rethugs sent out at least four direct-mail pieces in the last 2 weeks of the campaign attacking Blanco. Blanco won because 1) Blacks don't take Ray Nagin (New Orleans Mayor) all that seriously, 2) The Dukkke vote upstate would never vote for any kind of dark-skinned mud-people type, even if their party said to, and 3) Because Jindal is simply yet another Republican lying sack of shit.
If they put him up against Breaux next year, count LA for the Dems.
"These days that's almost enough."
Keyword: almost
She is a fomer school teacher and she won. Thats good enough for me. Louisiana, along with Florida, Tenn and GA are winnable Democratic states. (as is Arkansas). All we need is to turn one state to win it.
A Democrat won. Period.
Do we need to have the "not a dime's difference between Bush and Gore" fight all over again? Does anyone think that Bobby Jindal was going to appoint all those progressive Louisiana Republicans when he got into office? Hahahaha. Jindal was going to define the left endpoint of his administration, everybody else was going to come from further right.
The bottom line is a Democrat won. Rejoice!
Of course WP is casting this as a victory for women- whatever that means. Long past are the days when gender was an indicator of a activist social conscience.
steve_gilliard: one recent poll had Jindal up narrowly (+5 with sampling error +/- 4) but most others had it about even. One tracking poll (Marketing Research Institute) supposedly had Jindal +10 at the beginning of last week but Blanco pulling even by the end, possibly due to TV attack ads against Jindal.
You may well be right that some whites told pollsters they'd vote for a non-white when they wouldn't; I'm just pointing out that Jindal wasn't leading in most pre-election polls. (None of them had Blanco ahead though.)
Laura: AP reporting "more than half" of RVs voted, higher turnout than expected, but nothing more specific than that.
Michael said "Otherwise, Blanco vs. Jindal was a lesser of two evils. The lesser evil won."
Thats exactly it.
except that Jindal is also an exorcist.
Now, LA is known for its "alternative" religons, and nobody wants a Catholic stooge in office. Might ruin the voodoo business.
And what would we do during Mardi Gras without our birth control?
Cleveland Daze
I loved living in La. too and may move back. I'm in Santorum country now. . A positive about David Duke is that they did put him in jail, Edwards too.
In the election, Blanco carried 53 parishes to Jindal's 11 in the unofficial voting results. She took most of her native Cajun area and swamped Jindal in New Orleans, where Democratic Mayor Ray Nagin had endorsed him instead.
"I think there was immense disappointment of the endorsement of Bobby. I think it had the effect of energizing our campaign," Blanco said.
She also gave credit for her victory to her attacks on Jindal's record as a former state health and education official and her final debate appearance, in which she tearfully recounted the death of her son when asked about the defining moment in her life.
"I've always felt or found in a big campaign, people eventually look for humanity," she said.
...
Blanco's victory echoed the election a year ago when Louisiana dented another Republican upswing with Democrat Mary Landrieu winning re-election to the U.S. Senate after the GOP had won control of that chamber.
"This sends a very strong signal out to the nation that the Louisiana Democratic Party basically has it together," Landrieu said at Blanco's victory party.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp...-
2003Nov16.html
Now, LA is known for its "alternative" religons, and nobody wants a Catholic stooge in office.
Well, they got one in Blanco. She's just as Catholic as Jindal.
Do we need to have the "not a dime's difference between Bush and Gore" fight all over again?
No, but in Blanco vs Jindal she really is just as conservative as he. Seriously. Hhomegirl is way out there to the right.
Give me a break you pussified democrats.
Claim the victory!
Do you think that if the Rethugs won they would be saying, "this is a victory in name only?" (reference Arnold in CA)
Hell no. Why? Because they are tough and know how to spin a consistant message. Not like you self-defeating wimps.
You need to get tough and quit bad-mouthing yourselves.
Yes, I mean you Laura.
Hey Tom: get bent, big daddy.
We disagree. Live with it.
I gotta agree with those who don't particularly want to celebrate this one (but then again, I'm a recovering Democrat).
Conservatives in the Republican Party long since stopped celebrating the victories of GOP moderates...which is why there are virtually no GOP moderates left. From 1964 through the 1980s, conservatives were willing do to virtually anything to rid the world of moderate Republicans. Bill Buckley's PAC provided major assistance for Joe Lieberman's campaign against then-Republican Senator Lowell Weicker in 1988. NCPAC provided money to Paul Simon when he defeated Republican Sen. Charles Percy in Illinois in 1980 (I think I have that date right...). And so forth.
The point is, until and unless progressive Democrats start being progresssives first, and Democrats second, expect more and more "victories" like this one in Louisiana. Think how great it will be to have increasing defense budgets, privatized Social Security and medicare, growing limits on abortion rights, more folks in prison, more media consolidation...but with the Democrats in charge of everything!
Laura: I am already bent. Bent out of shape by all you in-house traitors who are the base of self-defeatism in the democratic party.
Get with the program!
I suppose you didn't like President Clinton either?
Wimps.
Tom P.
Actually, I did hate Bill Clinton. He was the last straw, as far as the Democratic Party and I were concerned.
What I don't get is why that makes me wimpy.
It's one thing if you agree with Clinton's policies. Then it makes sense to support his vision of the Democratic Party. But if you feel the way I do...that welfare "reform" was a disaster, that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 consolidated corporate control over what Americans see and hear, that most of what is wrong with the USA PATRIOT Act was proposed by Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing, that "regime change" was just as nutty an Iraq policy under Clinton as under Bush, that his willingness to consider privatization of Social Security has made that possibility much greater, etc....tell me why it would be less "wimpy" to support such a man or such a party?
Yes, George W. Bush is much worse. But you don't need to believe that two things are equivalent to see them both as disastrous.
Jindal is a Roman Catholic convert and a Bush Republican. Hmmm. . . Converting was the only way he could join Opus Dei, I guess. Louisiana dodged a big bullet.
Say, Tom P: Where did I say I was a Democrat?
But oh, Kathleen Blanco has a D after her name, so let's ignore that she's anti-choice
Kathleen Blanco has a D after her name, so let's pretend she's not anti-affirmative action
Kathleen Blanco has a D after her name, so let's pretend she didn't pander to the gun lobby
Sounds like it's Kathleen that needs to get with the program.
Shame on me.
Totally off topic, but crying out loud, look at this Jeff Danziger cartoon!
52-48 was the same margin Landrieu won by. I'm not saying LA is entirely without racists, but this result has more to do with Democratic strength than Bubbas somehow pulling the lever for some cunt over Apu.
New slogan:
"Vote Democratic: We're stronger than Satan!"
And much nicer.
As a lefty liberal democrat and native Louisianian/New Orleanian, Blanco's victory IS energizing. Progressives here may not be fully happy with Blanco, but at least we're not licking wounds. The Louisiana GOP has tried all kinds of things to break the Dems - they ran a white woman against Landrieu, and lost. They ran an Indian-American against a white woman, and lost. Jindal even had popular New Orleans reformist black Mayor Ray Nagin (a closet Repub, in my book) in his corner and the GOP still lost. Dems of all stripes should be happy at this one; not necessarily for Blanco's sake, but for the dejection the state GOP and rank and file Repubs are feeling these days. Believe me, with a family full of Conservative Repubs, I can tell you that this GOP loss, coupled by Landrieu's win last November, is a heavy blow to them and a nail in the Repub morale coffin - so to speak. I wouldn't doubt if Louisiana GOPers don't show up at the polls next November. Celebrate this victory.
Laura -- a progressive simply isn't electable in the south. What you should be happy about is that the person who was elected is more likely to support more progressive candidates for other offices -- no one as left as you (or I) would prefer, but anyone with my politics would just be laughed off a ballot, anyhow. You have a choice between a governor who will campaign for Bush and a governor who won't -- regardless of their other characteristics, that should be enough to claim a victory.
Racist steve_gilliard wrote:
> Oh come on, the choice was between a
> white woman and some kind of sand
> nigger.
Except there is little or no sand in India
-- it's a tropical country.
Also, Indians by definition are Aryan (since
the definition and the term 'aryan' is contained _only_ in the Vedas (hinduism).
The 'swastika' (also the 'shubhtika', 'laltika' etc) are sansktrit/hindi words -- the native
german word for 'swastika' is 'hakenkrauz'
(hooked cross). The symbol, of course, is
the holiest symbol in Hinduism and all
religious textbooks, ceremonies, temples,
paintings, weddings, food items --everything is adorned with the 'swastika'.
I mean everything.
'laltika' (bindi) is the red forehead dot
worn by married indian women.
India is the "indo" in the term "indo-european'.
Only a avowed racist like steve_gilliard would use the term 'sand-nigger' at all.
What's pathetic is that even if you _are_
a racist, the term in incorrect when applied
to Indians.
The meme has been "the Dems lost Lousiana (and Kentucky)", this is a trend". She proved that it wasn't.
BenA: "Conservatives in the Republican Party long since stopped celebrating the victories of GOP moderates..."
Uh, seems to me that conservatives have been very busy lately celebrating the victory of a Republican governor in California who declared himself pro-choice, pro-stem cell research, pro-gay adoption, pro-"reasonable" gun control, against cutting spending on education, etc?
In spite of these positions, conservatives, with a very few exceptions like Alan Keyes, backed Schwarzenegger simply because they knew that a victory for *any* Republican helped strengthen the party and thereby helped move America rightward. It seems to me the election of Democorats (even if, in conservative states, the Democrat is almost as conservative as the Republican) has the reverse effect.
First, I should point out that the proper spelling of the name of Apu's convenience store on "The Simpsons" is the "Kwik-E-Mart." Those of you who misspelled it are the worst Simpsons fans ever! 
Second, Democrats of all stripes should rejoice in Blanco's victory. Even if she governs as a conservative, she is still a Democrat. I would have thought that after the shenanigans in Florida and Texas, all Democrats would understand the necessity of electing as many Democratic governors as possible. Because the governor of Louisiana will have a D after her name, she will not authorize a deliberately overinclusive felon purge that would improperly remove thousands of African Americans from the voter rolls for the 2004 presidential election. She will not appoint Republican election officials who will ignore counties' recount results simply because they were submitted several hours after deadline. If Republicans take control of both houses of the state legislature and try to enact a mid-decade reapportionment, she will not approve it. In addition, she will be able to appoint Democrats more progressive than herself to state offices, who could then use their positions as springboards to higher office. If Breaux or Landrieu leaves office early, she will be able to appoint the successor. If one of them retires, she could succeed him or her -- governors and ex-governors are the most successful candidates for the U.S. Senate, because voters know them from having already held statewide office. Additionally, her victory denies Jindal all of these advantages. It also prevents the Republicans from using Jindal as the next J.C. Watts, a nonwhite elected official they can show off to pretend that they represent the interests of racial minorities.
BenA...sorry you have had to live under presidents you hated for so many years.
Sounds like there isn't much hope of you ever being happy with whoever is in the White House.
Thank God I am easier to please, otherwise I would have given up hope by now.
I agree that Clinton signed many things that I did not like (such as "defense of marriage act", and I'm gay) but overall, I loved him as a President.
Laura - I didn't say you were a democrat. I have to assume by your posts that you do have democrat leanings though.
I'd bet you are probaby a Green and voted for Nadar, as contrary as you seem to be. 
Racist stevegilliard says on daily kos:
-- begin quote --
Money, ads, didn't matter. This was a racial election and the good folks of Louisiana didn't want to elect some A-rab to run their state
-- end quote --
Only closet racists use terms like 'A-rab'
and 'sand-nigger' (like stevegilliard does)
I grew up in the New Orleans area (Kenner, if you want to get picky) and it's important to remember that the Democratic party in Lousisiana - specifically, figures like Edwin Edwards - are beloved in parts of the state. It's a different attitude than a lot of "lesser evil" Democrats have - one that the party is truly in their corner. There is probably something the party could learn there. While the state's elected quite a few Republicans over the years, there isn't the hostility towards the Democrats that I've seen in some of the other places I'vel lived (NW Arkansas, for example, or Jacksonville FL).
Steve's black.
bullcrap. i use words like that all the time anon. i use them as a very cruel sort of satire. putting words in the mouth of those who i seek to villify.
it may not be terribly politic, but it doesn't make me a racist.
i'd like to point out that dems won 75% of the state offices up for election. and they won all of the important statewide races except for secretary of state.
woo! that makes me happy, even if a fairly boring person won the race.
davids just owned anonymous.
oooh, shit, that man just called you a biiiiitch.
/mysogynist
I feel like Rodney King reading this commentary. Can't we all just get along? Get with the program DEMS. Do you really think the Gop is going to lose its Karl Rove inspired "take no prisoners" attitude? This presidential campaign is going to be worse than the last one. We DEMS are going to have to play hardball. I know if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas - but at least you get up.
Black voters in my hometown of Shreveport were out in force to support Blanco.
Jindal spent his money (and mine, you sumbitch) calling my cellphone 4 times to remind me that contrary to his appearance, he is a God-fearing Christian, not a scary Hindu.
What I remember about him is his ability to cut the hell out of hospital and school funding in La., the repercussions of which are still being felt among the poor here.
Blanco is just the lesser of two weevils, but with the absence of white candidates at least we didn't have to refer to THIS as the Goobernatorial election, and I'm glad of that.
Actually, I meant given the absence of white MALE candidates.
The funny thing is that all the major news stories about Blanco state that this election was the first in LA that a white male would not win. That's just a little bit true. If Bill Clinton could be referred to as the first black president then Piyush is just about as much of a white guy as you can get.
I don't really care if Steve's black - so am I, so join the club. I still want to know why he's running around calling people "niggers".
Only a avowed racist like steve_gilliard would use the term 'sand-nigger' at all....
I don't really care if Steve's black - so am I, so join the club. I still want to know why he's running around calling people "niggers".
Great, wingnut Anonymous hamfistedly plays the race card and holier than thou Laura plays the PC card. Pathetic.
Egg on both of your faces and a pox on both of your houses. Steve's the bomb and a Democrat won... WON, I tell you. In fucking 2003.
But here you go playing the same old shit games again. Good Lord people, just buck up and join a fucking TEAM for once in your lives and let's get something done.
And Anonymous do some homework before you throw around your own feces, you friggin' ditto monkey.
Black people are allowed to use terms like that. The rest of us aren't. It's just one of those things.
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