Tuesday, May 09, 2006
GOP has a useful idiot in C. Ray
A
coordinated Republican effort to promote and fund Ray Nagin's candidacy while attacking him statewide (via PACS) disgusts me. In the most important election in the history of New Orleans, many in the GOP could care less about the city itself-- their only goal is to weaken the Democratic party by defeating Landrieu; even if it means supporting a gun-seizing, bus flooding, pro-gambling, "chocolate city" Democrat whose reelection would be an epic public relations disaster for the city.
Mayor Nagin is
a joke. And the GOP wants to reelect him, because then the joke will be on New Orleans, and that helps their ambitions for the rest of the state. They don't care if taxpayers throughout the country will react with
incredulity, before dismissing the future of New Orleans as "hopeless". The Republicans merely want Nagin to defeat Landrieu, before turning around and using him as a statewide political whipping post for 2006, and then, finally, he'll be Jindal's New Orleans point-man in '07. Aren't stealth Republicans useful?
But the stakes are too high for these two-faced political games. So that's why I'm asking troublesome questions like the following: will Bobby Jindal join William Jefferson and Cleo Fields in supporting Nagin? According to the
Gambit Weekly's Scuttlebutt section, his office continues to avoid the endorsement issue... why? Either make one or say you won't make one. Jindal has constituents in New Orleans, why does he keep ducking this issue?
Conservatives will counter that Mitch Landrieu would somehow be worse than Nagin. These Bush voters (quite comically) charge that Landrieu comes from a "political family".
Oh. Yes. Careful. Better watch out for those
political families.
Instead of dwelling on Mitch's record in office, conservatives prefer to link him to his sister, Senator Mary Landrieu, and to his father, former N.O. mayor Moon Landrieu. This is supposed to show that Mitch is beholden to the old-style New Orleans "politics of the past". Columnist
Stephanie Grace beautifully challenges this assertion in today's Times Picayune:
It's become the single most recognizable buzzphrase of Mayor Ray Nagin's re-election campaign: Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, the mayor keeps saying, represents the "politics of the past."
So what, exactly, does he mean by that? Ask him directly and you don't exactly get a straight response.
...
[M]any associates of Morial are in the Landrieu camp -- as is the DA. And Jordan was indeed found by a jury to have fired white employees en masse and replaced them with African-American workers when he took office. Yes, the contracting excesses of the Morial years have spurred two major rounds of indictments (though Morial has not been accused of wrongdoing).
Now let's take a look at Nagin's supporters. As Landrieu pointed out, they include state Sen. Cleo Fields, famously caught on surveillance tapes stuffing his pocket with a wad of cash handed to him by convicted ex-Gov. Edwin Edwards, but not charged by the then-U.S. attorney, the self-same Eddie Jordan.
Then there's Jordan's longtime political sponsor, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, whose aide oversaw the illegal firings on Jordan's behalf -- and who also happens to be the target of a major federal bribery investigation. And don't forget state Rep. Ken Odinet, who fought tooth and nail against the biggest post-Katrina reform, consolidation of the region's many levee boards.
So it looks like there's lots of "politics of the past" to go around.
The question is, does it matter?
...
What it boils down to is this: Can a mayor draw on the energy and experience of the roguish political powerbrokers around here without sinking into the political slime under the weight of their baggage?
Ironically, Nagin's own example suggests that the answer is yes. Don't forget that he himself had close ties to some of Morial's associates -- Roy Rodney and the now-indicted Stan "Pampy" Barre were among his partners in the defunct New Orleans Brass hockey team.
There's nothing in Landrieu's record to indicate he's any more a Morialista than Nagin is a captive of Bill Jefferson or Cleo Fields. Which means the mayor's favorite anti-Landrieu canard is more than a bit of a stretch.
Heh, heh. I forgot C. Ray did bidness with "Pampy".
Indeedio.
---
Stay tuned for more unpacking of conservative support for Nagin along with various "Landrieu family" canards in the next post.
12 Comments:
There are times when the BS gets so thick the stench brings tears to my eyes. Why the f*ck can these idiots put down the politics and do their jobs!
As always I wish I had the remaining energy to pursue these matters with your fervor. Post K burnout is getting more severe for me the more I read the news...
Amen, Oyster.
"Instead of dwelling on Mitch's record in office, conservatives prefer to link him to his sister, Senator Mary Landrieu, and to his father, former N.O. mayor Moon Landrieu."
What record in office? 955K to renovate an office. Please tell me one accomplishment Mitch has had, just one.
from the Nola article...." In fact, rather than shun Morial, as Nagin has done, Landrieu said he'd invite the former mayor and current National Urban League president to join an advisory panel of mayors and ex-mayors."
Why would you want advice from Morial? Is this some sort of deal where an ex-criminal goes straight and tells the good guys how not to get robbed?
With Nagin or Landrieu New Orleans is screwed but you have to make a choice. Nagin who was on the right path until Katrina or Mitch "I've never done anything but talk a good game" Landrieu.
I really feel for you guys.
I agree that the choice between Mitch and Nagin may not be ideal, but that doesn't mean it's not clear. A much more extreme version of this situation was the Duke/Edwards and Duke/Johnston races. Perhaps the choice wasn't ideal-- especially with Edwin/Duke-- however, that doesn't mean it wasn't a CLEAR choice. Who votes for a fascist, anyways? (Except for 55-60% of white LA voters?).
Mitch Landrieu will tell you he led the effort to reform Louisiana's juvenile justice system, among other accomplishments.
Excellent post, Oyster. I need to re-enter the field myself.
I'd like to turn Roux's question on its head. What has Nagin actually accomplished? Nothing. All the movement on the government contracting front has come from Letten's office. C Ray is the classic do-nothing Lousiana reformer: all he can say is "I didn't steal."
Back to Mitch: He helped get rid of the entertainment tax here in NOLA which hurt the music business.
In support of your turnaround query, Adrastos, I present the following paragraph from this September Slate article on Nagin:
"During his first term, Nagin has pledged at various times to build a new City Hall, take over the city's failing public schools, streamline government by merging agencies, reduce the number of mayoral appointees, and sell the city's airport to private investors. None of these proposals has come to fruition. Meanwhile, the city's major structural problems—poverty, unemployment, crime—have only gotten worse."
Is tying Mitch Landrieu to his sister a wise GOP strategy? Sen. Mary Landrieu got 75% of the vote in Orleans Parish in 2002.
It's an effective strategy because the 25% that Mary didn't get in 2002 is what's in play this time. Namely: conservative white voters. Nagin gets most of the so called "black vote", and needs to make inroads among the conservative whites who dislike Mary Landrieu.
thats wild that republicans are funding him behind the scenes it plays into this post we came across a bit ago.
Stan "Pampy" Barre is going to trial on September 5, 2006. Let's hope that criminal get what he deserve. I heard his two sons are criminals too. New Orleans will be a better place without them.
Stan Pampy Barre's trial will begin on January 16, 2007. We hope he get what is coming to him.
His son's name is also Stan Pampy Barre. Wouldn't you know it. Like father, like son. His son, Stan Pampy Barre was arrested in Sumner, Washington on February 19, 2006. He is charged with first degree burglary, first degree theft, and theft of a firearm. see court proceedings http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/linx/calendar/GetCriminalCase.cfm?cause_num=06-1-03589-7
Stan Barre was arrested in Sumner, Washington, on February 19,2006. He is charged with first degree burglary, first degree theft, and theft of a firearm. The court docket is listed online. The website is as follows:
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/linx/calendar/GetCriminalCase.cfm?cause_num=06-1-03589-7
