And don't you EVER come back you old fish eyed fool!
Posted on 12/07/2008 5:15:59 AM PST by Joiseydude
NEW ORLEANS -- Voters in Louisiana ousted indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson on Saturday, instead electing a Republican attorney who will be the first Vietnamese-American in Congress.
Unofficial results showed Anh "Joseph" Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to take the seat from the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office.
Cao, 41, won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Wonder what his ‘well deserved’ pension will amount to?
Wow....second time the black community has stepped up to the plate and did the absolute right thing.....they didn’t riot on election night and now getting rid of Jefferson....WAY TO GO!
The GOP should savor this, because it won’t last. In 2010 this seat will go back to the Dems. Still, this is a nice win, and it is nice for the good guys to knock off an entrenched Dem for a change.
John Fleming, on the other hand, had a great win. He seems like a staunch conservative, and he should be able to hold on to that seat indefinitely.
Don’t forget Proposition 8.
I hear they pay a dollar a day in the Big House
Now there is some good news, except for the congressional pension of the accused? He stands to make more money as a crook, if convicted, than I receive as a retired soldier of 22 years. Mind you, I’m not envious, just curious and semi outraged.
I am sure Obama has a place for Jefferson in his administration. Maybe director of National Guard since Jefferson is good at commanding them as he showed during Katrina.
Why won’t Cao keep his seat in two years?
This could indeed be a Brett Schundler moment. Maybe they will reelect him for good constituent service.
This is one of the bright spots in this election cycle. I would have never thought Dem voters would turn out Jefferson.
The voters did what house Democrats would not do. Good job in NOLA.
And don't you EVER come back you old fish eyed fool!
Because it is a D +26 district that is 64% African American. In a normal election, with a Dem candidate who is not a criminal, with normal turnout, the Dems will win easily.
Still, the victory is sweet, if only for a short while.
I really must congratulate the voters in this district. I thought less well of them than I should have and I regret that. And I’m really glad I had it wrong.
In all candor, I am shocked by this result. Jefferson represents a district that is 70% black, and this is the first time in my memory that a black was voted out of office by blacks in favor of a non-black candidate. I lived in New Orleans for many years, and that this happened in that area (blacks voting out a black in favor of a non-black) is a first. A very encouraging first, too.
Please don't be so pessimistic.
In my district (which has a Dem voter edge), we ousted a Democrat incumbent with LOTS of hard work, door knocking, and lots of enthusiasm.
It largely depends on the enthusiasm and attractibility of the candidate, him or herself (not always but usually).
Republicans in 2006 and 2008 were demoralized ... because the FACE of our party was that of old geezer Washington insiders who cared more about making deals with Democrats than it did with encouraging and helping constituents start businesses or improve their lives.
Yes, this sounds trite.. but it's true.
McCain at 72 was the exact WRONG candidate for the GOP because it said to the nation "Republicans are nothing but old-as-dirt feeble Washington insiders who doesn't even KNOW HOW TO EMAIL!!!
Once we were out from under the McCain (and to some extent GWB) ... good things can and will happen again.
“louisiana voters oust indicted rep....”
yaaahoooooooooo!
I suspected they voted the fool out for his stupidity.....hiding money in the freezer?
Jefferson is not guilty of a crime. if he were, he would have been tried and convited
I’m not entirely pessimistic, however this is D +26 district where Democrats get 75%-80% of the vote in normal years. The GOP won’t hold this one, sorry.
The 91 thousand in the freezer should help if he can stay out of jail.
Who among us is willing to drive to Rep. Cao’s district when he comes up for election again and help knock on doors and talk to people?
I’m in North Georgia where the Republican will get the votes and my help isn’t required, so I could pack up my tent and drive to NOLA to help. Would need a place to camp out, but other than that, I could give them a week of canvassing. Or I could make phone calls from here at home.
This is good, too, because Louisiana also overwhelmingly elected Jindal in the wake of Katrina.
Locally, it seems to be that Louisiana’s voters know the ‘rats are the ones who screwed up their state...nationally that message hasn’t gotten out. Yet.
Sounds to me like Louisiana voters have their eyes wide open are mad and I surely don’t blame them. Great news!
Good for Louisiana! They’re getting tired of the crooks too!
The District is 28 points more Democratic than the nation as a whole. There's no seat anywhere in the country as Republican as this New Orleans based district is Democratic. It's possible that we hold it, but extremely unlikely. This is analogous to a Republican getting elected to Congress from Harlem.
Moreover, I don't think anybody -- Cao included -- thinks his stance on the issues had anything to do with his getting elected. Rather, the public rightfully had enough of William Jefferson. If the Dems nominate a Democrat named anything other than William Jefferson, he or she should win.
I don’t like to portray this as a racial thing...it shows there are good people everywhere who know what is the right thing to do.
Vince
Please don’t be so pessimistic
Reality is what it is, nothing more. That district did the correct thing in ousting a crook but will return to the democrat fold come 2010...... Some districts are set asides to meet federal guidelines...
Wait. How do we know that blacks had anything to do with voting him out? The district is half black and half white. It includes white Metairie.
Maybe Cao will get lucky in '10 and Jefferson will run again. After all, it isn't likely he'll have to answer in a court of law for any of those frozen bribes. I know...even that is a silly thought since on regular election day in '10, the Democrats will be rounded up and hauled to the polls to vote a straight Democrat ticket, so whoever the Democrat running, even Jefferson, will easily re-take the seat.
This kind of defeatist attitude is why we're in the minority. When the Dems win an ultra-GOP district due to a fluke, they don't shrug their shoulders and go "oh well, we have no shot at ever winning it again, it will be back to Republican rule in two years", they fight like hell to keep their RATs in office.
Here in Illinois, Melissa Bean won in the most of Republican districts in the state -- Illinois' 8th district -- which has gone Republican in every Presidential election since 1968 and has had a staunchly conservative Republican Congressman for at least the last 60 years (Phil Crane since 1969, and Donald Rumsfeld before him, etc.). It is one of the wealthiest Congressional districts in the nation, home to an army of white collar professions with six figure incomes -- doctors, stock brokers, etc., featuring the state's biggest upper-class suburbs that had million dollar homes. The ONLY reason Bean won that district was not because of any "mandate" she had for liberalism, but as a fluke because voters were sick of Phil Crane and wanted him to retire years ago, thinking he had a reputation as a bumbler and getting senile. And he STILL won re-election over and over and over again until several prominent Republicans turned on him in 2004 and openly backed the Dem.
Do you think the Dems said "oh well, Republicans outnumber us by 20+ in this district, we have no chance of winning it again". Hell no! Melissa Bean the abortion queen spent zillions to portray herself as a "moderate", pro-buisness, caring suburban mom (even though she voted like a socialist), and the Dems also pumped zillions in the district to keep her butt in that seat. And it didn't help that the GOP shot themselves in the foot in 2006 and nominated a boring, unlikeable zillionaire who had never held office before. Result? She held on by the skin of her teeth, and survived with help from the surge of Dem turnout in 2006 And then she won again in 2008. Now she'll probably hold this solid Republican seat for a long time, and grows stronger ever year with the power of incumbency.
The RATs then won solidly Republican Hastert's district in a fluke, fought like hell to keep it in RAT hands, and even nearly toppled the GOP in Henry Hyde's district. The Chicago RAT machine will not be satisfied until EVERY Illinois Congressional district is RAT just like Massachusetts.
The Dems protect THEIR own when they get upset victories in staunch Republican regions like Wyoming, Oklaholma, Kansas, Idaho, and Mississippi due to special circumstances. The GOP gives up when they get a surprise victory in ultra-RAT infested regions like Chicago, Jersey City, Baltimore, Boston, etc.
And thus we're stuck with more RATs that Republicans.
They said no conservative would ever be elected statewide in ultra ultra Democrat Rhode Island either, but Governor Caceri not only won in a fluke, but FOUGHT to keep the job and was re-elected. New Orleans is in GOP hands now, and I will fight like hell to keep it that way. We're one seat short of holding EVERY Congressional district in Lousiana now, the lone remaining district with a RAT incumbent(LA-3rd) is a swing district entirely winnable by the GOP. We could theoretically win every Congressional seat in formerly strong Democrat Louisiana just as the Dems nearly took over North Dakota and South Dakota's entire Congressional delegation.
I plan to play hardball. They sure do.
This kind of defeatist attitude is why we’re in the minority.......... Here in Illinois,
You all have done well in IL......... Keep up the good work.
As I said reality is what it is, nothing more nor nothing less.
If the Dems had your defeatist attitude, they would have "written off" Governor Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) as hopelessly "doomed" in 2006 because he won a fluke election in 2002 in a state that was otherwise entirely GOP controlled and normally votes Republican by lopsided 2/3rds margins.
But guess what? Freudenthal WON re-election in ultra-Republican Wyoming. I am not prepared to surrender New Orleans to the RATs in 2010 because it has a 28+ margin of Democrats.
Saying the district will return to the RAT fold in 2010 is simply your opinion — nothing more, nothing less.
Bingo you are a winner..... Just like you have opinions which are nothing more, nothing less.
But reality is what it is.... This district will go back Dem in 2010. Much like when Steve Stockman defeated Jack Brooks in the old TX 9th and lost to Nick Lampson the next election. Much like Nick Lampson won the Delay District, TX 22, two years ago when Delay withdrew and lost this time around when the GOP got their act together. Some district have an anomaly once in a while but will return to their basic roots. La 2nd will do likewise in 2010, in my opinion of course...
Oh wait, that's right Freudenthal is STILL governor when he ran for re-election. Guess the demographics didn't AUTOMATICALLY result in a GOP pickup, eh? Of course if the Dems used your "logic" they should have just given up and conceded in December 2002, to accept the inevitable GOP victory that would occur in four years.
Folks like you are the reason the GOP is in the minority. Being outnumbered does not mean you should surrender, unless you're French.
LA 2 is what it is nothing more, nothing less. It’s not some WY district nor some TX district. Granted the district has changed in makeup somewhat after Katrina but it’s still a dem district. Anyway you have a nice afternoon and keep up the excellent work you are doing up there in IL.....
HOLY S**T!!!!!
This is one of the most Democrat-voting districts in the entire nation!!!
How about a Senate run then for Cao? Any openings in two years?
This assumes he does a good job as a representative.
Right you are; if corrupt Democrats can finally be defeated where you are, it can be done elsewhere.
Gubernatorial elections tend to be more competitive than federal elections. That’s why you can see R Guvs in Hawaii and RI and rats in Wyoming and Oklahoma.
The , rats hold many house seats in GOP territory. They picked up! house seats in a couple districts McCain took over 60% in, in Idaho and Alabama. They CAN win ANYWHERE. RURAL UTAH!
Heavily rat areas almost never vote R for anything, most of them because of minority voters who won’t consider the GOP even when the rat in under indictment, but also mostly white rat areas like moonbat sections of Massachustts. Liberals aren’t so open minded. But the GOP doesn’t even try to change them.
SO we have a W in a heavily rat area. Of course it took a perfect fluke situation to win it narrowly.
Is is probably gone in 2010? Yes. Very probably? Sure.
But that’s no reason not to try, nothing to lose in that. If we don’t take the game to heavily rat ares (that uniformly are doing poorly under rat control) we will never ever win them, always be the weaker party and huge portions of America will continue to decay and their citizens will continue to flee to Republican areas and bring their democrat voting habits with them.
GOP weakness in big cities is one of the primary reasons democrats have been largely kicking GOP butt since the 30’s.
Cao should get full support for his reelection effort in 23 months. We should use this opportunity, not ignore Cao and write him off.
Agreed. I would add further that we need to "showcase" Cao to the nation and to the world, making him a top face of the "new" Republican Party in the next two years. How did the RATs turn a first-term Senator with no accomplishments into a viable President candidate? Simple. They turned Obama into a "celebrity" overnight, starting with his keynote convention speech in 2004. Bill Foster and Melissa Bean were also SUPPOSED to be "one term" flukes who held the job solely because of a perfect storm of Republican screwups in a certain election. Just a month ago, we were told Foster should "not get too comfortable in that seat because he's in a solid GOP district and Republican turnout will be 10 times higher than it was in the special election" But he survived, didn't he? One of the reasons being that Obama and Rahm Emanuel pulled out all stops to promote the guy's "talented background" and impressive resume as a nuclear physicist to constituents.
I would also argue that's one of the reasons Michael Patrick Flannigan and Nick Lampson DIDN'T survive -- Flannigan was forgotten by the GOP in huge Republican freshman class of 1994... the NRCC spent some money trying to defend the seat but Flannigan was off on his own to try and make the case he could bring "clout" to Chicago as long Congressmen from the city representing the party in power. Lampson's victory was very much a personal "revenge" project he engineered, the Texas Dems had other concerns in 2008 and didn't send many Dem heavyweights to work on keeping the seat in Dem hands.
We need to play this one for all it's worth. Cao has a fasinating life story and this is the first time since 1935 that a Republican has represented a black majority district. He should be frequently used as a guest speaker, given a high priority role by the GOP in the next Congress, and be a hot ticket celebrity politician as the first Vietnamese American in Congress ("we don't want to lose this historic chance to make a difference for Vietnamese Americans!", etc.) Everywhere he goes the GOP should work to get him coverage and attention and especially make the case for the next two years that he is a Republican working to empower minorities. We need to give him the chance to show his constituents that he is LEADER in Washington and can do far more for them than Jefferson ever did.
And who knows? Maybe the Dems will get suicidal and run Jefferson again, or maybe they'll beat each other to a pulp in a 8-way race to take on "vulnerable" Cao and be out of money with huge negative approval rating due to surviving a mudslinging primary campaign. Wouldn't that be fun?
I’ll just add something in brief... Although this is a wonderful win for us and an enormous gain for NOLA after 118 years of non-stop and shamefully ever-worsening Dem representation, let’s not put a mountain of demands on our new Congressman-elect’s shoulders and idolize and pour all our hopes and dreams into him. Let’s just let him do his job and keep in mind that Cao art mortal.
(And may I be the first to say, “Gustav, you magnificent bastard !”)
Personally I think freepers were too demanding on Bobby Jindal, expecting him to move mountains the moment he got elected, and then some lunatics here were calling for impeachment the moment he went wobbly on state legislative pay increases. Others wanted to run him for Vice President immediately after he took office. Give the man some breathing room and let him govern for a while!
Likewise, it's probably premature to talk about a Senate race for Cao in 2010, even though Vitter is damaged goods. Cao is a political noive and until he gets some clout, it's unlikely he'd deliver (or even make competitive) his Congressional district in a statewide campaign. Ideally he'd be a top choice to take out Mary Laudrieu six years from now, but that would depend on him getting re-elected, which will be a huge uphill battle.
I do believe we could have taken out Laudrieu this year, but RINO John Kennedy was not the guy and didn't really have any "clear convictions" on the issues besides the desire to hold office. On paper Kennedy looked good as a folksy and likable statewide official with a perfect "name" on the ballot, but he lacked substance. IF (and that's a huge if) Cao manages to survive in this district, he'd almost certainly beat Laudireu down the road.
One of the things that I think is entirely in play now is the possibility of a GOP sweep of the entire Louisiana Congressional delegation. That would require a near perfect slate and campaign skills from the LAGOP, but it now's entirely possible since the only remaining district with a Dem incumbent is Louisiana's 3rd (which is a swing district whose last two Congressmen were Republican), and of course, little Mary's senate seat. That would be oh so sweet and a great morale booster for the GOP, taking over what was once one of a one-party RAT state in the south just a few decades ago.
Actually, Kennedy would’ve won, but the real LA RINOs didn’t want Landrieu to lose.
Many many local RINOS endorsed! the witch it’s true.
NRSC should have paid at lot more attention here also. Missed opportunity.
She stole her first election. And a better challenger would have probably beaten her in 2002.
“In a normal election, with a Dem candidate who is not a criminal, with normal turnout, the Dems will win easily.”
But, the normal election IS a criminal Dem, and they usually keep winning.
I hope it’s not the last, either, especially in cases such as this.
Well, the prostitute-frequenting RINO David Vitter is up for reelection. We might be in the market for a stronger candidate.
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