The LA Dems are having another go of it, as well:
In light of the resignation of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Chris Whittington, Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party called for the immediate resignation of Louisiana Senator David Vitter.
"The people of New York have been shown today that their leaders will be held accountable," Whittington said. "And yet, the people of Louisiana have waited seven months for the same kind of demonstration and all they have gotten is arrogant silence from Mr. Vitter and Governor Jindal, who despite all his big talk of reform, maintains his allegiance to the disgraced Senator whose sins mirror those of former Governor Spitzer.
"David Vitter is a stain on our state's attempt to demonstrate that we have changed our ways," Whittington said. "He is a disgrace and a disappointment. And now he is a walking example that Louisiana continues to lag behind other states when it comes to holding its leaders accountable.
Bayou Buzz's Steven Sabludowsky also has called for Vitter's resignation. In today's column, he writes: "There are distinct differences between the Spitzer and Vitter affairs. Spitzer was man enough to resign."
The Gambit Weekly writes:
For his part, Vitter tries to distinguish his sin from Spitzer's. Last week, when questioned about Spitzer's resignation and [Ouachita Citizen Sam] Hanna's call for Vitter's resignation, the senator told the Lafayette Independent, "Anybody who looks at the two cases will see that there is an enormous difference between the two of them. The people that are trying to draw comparisons to the two cases are people who've never agreed with me on important issues like immigration and other things."
That "response" underscores why Vitter is of no use to Louisiana in the U.S. Senate. He completely ignored the question, and then he raised the unrelated issue of immigration in a lame attempt to dodge the real issue. If this is the best he can do, he can do Louisiana no good whatsoever in the Senate. Since the scandal broke, he has made almost no public appearances in Louisiana — depriving his constituents of important opportunities to meet with their senator — and he has gone to great lengths to hide from the press. Meanwhile, he pretends to be hard at work for Louisiana, but most of his "work" involves sending out news releases taking credit for successes that many had a hand in achieving.
To be fair, Vitter has been a credit-monger longer than he's been a whoremonger. His penchant for taking credit for things-- there's no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in "Vitter"-- is not a new tactic or defense mechanism. That's just Vitty being Vitty.
The national blogs have picked up the Independent Weekly story, via the T-P, (which was first blogged about at YRHT-- 5 days ago-- thanks again for the tip, Ricky). From memeorandum we find the following links:
Sadly, No!, Wonkette, Political Machine, Daily Kos, Matthew Yglesias
And Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington reminds everyone about the ethics Complaint that they filed with the Senate back in July.
Labels: GOP, Vitty-cent, Wendy Cortez
