Posted on 05/27/2007 4:38:38 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
I've been hearing rumors for a couple of weeks now that New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin is considering running for Governor. I finally found a news outlet that confirms this rumor, thanks to freelance journalist Jason Berry, who appeared on Informed Sources last night to predict that Nagin will run for Governor. Hat tip to Library Chronicles. As an aside, is this Jason Berry the author of Amazing Grace, an account of Charles Evers' run for Governor in Mississippi back in 1972?
But back to the issue at hand - Ray Nagin running for Governor of Louisiana. This makes sense, as it highlights one of the few things that Nagin is good at - holding grudges.
For more analysis, follow me after the jump.
ryan :: New Orleans Mayor Nagin to Run for Governor? Back during the 2003 Governor's race, Nagin backed Jindal, even against a fellow Democrat - Governor Kathleen Blanco - in the runoff. Apparently, there was a deal regarding the endorsement ... Jindal was to back Nagin in his re-election bid in '06. But Jindal stayed silent, not having the guts to take a public stand, fearing that a public endorsement of Nagin would come back to haunt him with his conservative base in this year's Governor's race.
And that's why Nagin WANTS to get in this race. He wants to get back at "Bobby" Jindal by beating him in the Governor's race. Let's game plan this scenario the way Nagin's supporters are probably doing at this time ...
Jindal gets a majority of the vote as the only serious Republican in the race. Boasso and Foster Campbell split the white Democratic vote, leaving Nagin with the overwhelming majority of the African-American vote, putting him in the runoff against Jindal, as it did for Senator Cleo Fields and Rep. William Jefferson against former Governor Mike Foster.
Such a scenario ... Jindal v. Nagin ... as scary as that seems, may actually produce a "Democratic" victory according to Nagin's supporters, if the following happens:
A large portion of white voters upstate stay home, as they don't want to vote for either candidate. Nagin will get the entirety of the black vote, Jindal will get the conservative Christian white vote. The question here is where do the rest of white voters throughout the rest of the state go?
Nagin, by getting in the race, would be betting that a majority of the white vote that's not part of the Christian Coalition block comes out and votes for him, thereby giving him the Governorship.
I don't believe for a minute that Nagin can beat Jindal, mainly because I believe that the upstate white voters will come out and vote for Jindal in a Jindal-Nagin match-up, as I have no doubt that the Republican Party will cater to the fears of upstate voters.
What say you?
Having proven that he can’t run a city, he now wants to try running a state? I would suggest that the Peter Principle kicked in when he left his VP position at Cox Communications.
Got to admit, the man has a sense of humor.
Nagin entering would only help Jindal.
Nagin endorsed both Jindal and Bush as the sitting Democratic Mayor of NOLA.
Furthermore, in 2006 Nagin was reelected mayor by winning not only that black vote but also that of white conservatives.
He’d be better than Blanco was, for sure.
I wouldn’t think anyone would be so stupid — but then again, the entire city is being rebuilt below sea level...
Just think, Louisiana— He could do for all of you what he did for New Orleans.
That is not true.
There, fixed it.
LOL
Actually, people with even the lowest IQ’s understand that not all of New Orleans in below sea level.
We had a saying in the Army: F*”k up, you move up! Didn’t know it applied to politics, as well.
“Actually, people with even the lowest IQ’s understand that not all of New Orleans in below sea level.”
Yep, it’s about 50/50.
“A recent study by Tulane University notes that 51% of New Orleans is at or above sea level, with the more densely populated areas generally on higher ground. The mean (average) elevation of the city is currently between 1 and 2 feet below sea level, with some portions of the city as high as +16 feet and others as low as -10 feet.
While New Orleans has always had to consider the risk of hurricanes, they did not pose the existential risk that they do today due to coastal erosion. In fact, when the capital of French Louisiana was moved from Mobile to New Orleans, the French Colonial government cited New Orleans’ location inland as one of the reasons for the move as it would be less vulnerable to hurricanes. In the 20th century however, oil exploration, the construction of massive levees on the Mississippi and the creation of canals in the wetlands led to a large-scale erosion of Louisiana’s coast. Since the beginning of the 20th century it has been estimated that Louisiana has lost 2,000 square miles of coast (including many of its barrier islands) which once protected New Orleans against storm surge.
This process seems reversible; following Hurricane Katrina, government officials hope to institute a massive effort to restore Louisiana’s coast. If accomplished, it would constitute the country’s largest engineering effort to date.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans
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