Althouse: Frozen out.

December 7, 2008

Frozen out.

Congressman Jefferson.

13 comments:

Beth said...: Now, if the feds will only get him to trial!

I didn't vote yesterday as I'm not in that district, but I would have had to go with Cao. It would mean voting for an anti-reproduction rights candidate, but I am happy with his brand of social justice Catholicism (and he'll be a first-term Republican in a Democratic Congress). I'm also glad to finally see a community-wide political leader come out of the Vietnamese population. This is a good day for New Orleans.

By the wa, Cao is a lawyer and a community organizer - let the rightwing scoffing begin!; 12/7/08, 9:51 AM
TosaGuy said...: Wow Beth.....miss any other special interest diversity groups in your reasoning? Isn't the fact that the candidate appears to be an intelligent and decent human who is running against a corrupt trainwreck simply enough of a reason?; 12/7/08, 10:24 AM
Palladian said...: "By the wa, Cao is a lawyer and a community organizer..."

Nobody's perfect.; 12/7/08, 10:30 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: OT - Poetry coming in from the cold

I just heard Obama saying there will poetry readings in the WH.

Didn't Laura Bush tried that?

The conference, "Poetry and the American Voice," was abruptly "postponed" after Sam Hamill, editor of Copper Canyon Press and author of thirteen books of verse, responded to his invitation by putting out an e-mail urging invitees and others to send him poems and statements opposing the invasion of Iraq. When I spoke to him on the phone, Hamill described himself as a lifelong radical ("What on earth were they thinking?" he wondered out loud)

The Nation.

Let's see how "poetic" they will be this time.; 12/7/08, 10:31 AM
Unknown said...: Jefferson's defeat is a victory for scandal plagued New Orleans and so ironic. The 2nd Congressional District was created to facilitate the election of a Black candidate--2 out of 3 registered voters are Black Democrats. The election date was pushed back post-Gustav--normally the Congressional election would have taken place on Election Day when Black voter turnout was much larger. And, finally, the candidate who won is the first Vietnamese-American elected to the U.S. Congress. He is a breath of fresh air--a former Jesuit seminarian, a physics major in college, a graduate degree in philosphy and a law degree. Louisiana seems to have elected an ethical, bright, committed public servant. Hooray!; 12/7/08, 10:35 AM
bearbee said...: The real winner was the system in which corruption was voted out. A pity the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct was not up to the job.

Next up for corruption, incompetence or just plain stupidity: Dodd, Frank, Rangel ... others?; 12/7/08, 10:43 AM
Freder Frederson said...: At any rate, dismissing another's argument as old or simplistic rhetoric without addressing a single point on the merits is the oldest and most simplistic cheap debating tactic on the planet.

Hopefully, Louisiana will maintain the momentum and get rid of the whore mongering David Vitter.; 12/7/08, 10:49 AM
Beth said...: TosaGuy,

It's gratifying to watch as an immigrant group becomes part of the larger community and takes a role in the political process outside of their somewhat insulated geographical territory. You seem to be under the impression that politics are about vague abstracts, but I'm looking at Cao as a complex person - he represents some values I share and some I don't. Your kneejerk "diversity" whine is shallow and reveals your unfamiliarity with analytical thinking.; 12/7/08, 11:46 AM
Beth said...: martha, the primary for the Democratic candidacy was postponed from Sept. 6 to early October. That primary resulted in a run-off, which happened on Nov. 4. If any candidate in the October primary had won outright, then this seat would have been decided on Nov. 4.; 12/7/08, 11:54 AM
Unknown said...: thank you, Beth, for that clarification. I do not live in New Orleans and was not following the election closely and had not even heard of Cao until election night.
I thought Jefferson would win re-election again, even as an indicted candidate. Thank God for Gustav and the fact the enough Democratic voters were concerned about Jefferson's ethics to necessitate the run-off on election day. Voter turnout yesterday among Jefferson's usual constituency was low enough to allow Cao's victory.; 12/7/08, 12:13 PM
David said...: The first great Obama era moment--black voters vote out a corrupt black politician. This is change I can believe in.; 12/7/08, 1:27 PM
Freder Frederson said...: If any candidate in the October primary had won outright, then this seat would have been decided on Nov. 4.

No, the October primary was the Democratic primary. It was then followed by a run-off on election day for the Democratic candidate who would ran against the Republican candidate (Cao) and a couple independents yesterday.

What was supposed to have happened was there was a scheduled primary in early September, with a run-off in necessary in October and the general election on election day in November. However the primary got postponed because of Gustav, pushing the run-off to election day (no run-off was necessary for the Republicans) and the general to yesterday.

Jefferson made it to the run-off because the black political establishment self-destructed. There were three viable (two with the last name of Carter that made it even more confusing) black candidates running as Democrats in the primary along with Jefferson along with a former TV anchorwoman who was hispanic. The black candidates, any of which would have easily beat Jefferson in the run-off and Cao in the general, so diluted the vote with their almost identical message and inability to get the political establishment behind anyone of them, that they couldn't make it to the run-off against Jefferson, setting up this rather odd race.

BTW, Jefferson won in 2006 in another run off against a highly qualified black woman (Karen Carter) because the very conservative sheriff of Jefferson Parish had a personal grudge against Ms. Carter because she had said some mean things about him and his actions during the Katrina response. Although he didn't explicitly endorse Jefferson, he actively campaigned against Carter and did everything he could to smear her.; 12/7/08, 2:29 PM
Beth said...: Here's a nice followup in the local paper, with more on Cao.

I admire Father Vien quite a bit. We've attended some events at Mary Queen of Vietnam, and there's no overstating the role Vien has played in leading the post-Katrina restoration efforts in his community, from setting up a FEMA trailer lot to helping the old women living in the trailors set up their vegetable gardens (they used the parking places assigned to the cars they didn't own). He, and Cao, were leading forces in closing an industrial landfill that was leaking toxins into the water system and yards of the neighborhood.; 12/7/08, 6:14 PM