ABC News just called it.

372 of 442 Precincts 84%

Ray Nagin (I) 50,252 51%
Mitch Landrieu 48,303 49%

good.

good.


I agree.

The Landrieu family (all democrats) are to Louisiana what the Kennedy family is to Massachusetts.  Anytime they can lose it's a good thing.

glad we could see eye to eye on somethin'! :)

I just ripped open a Cadbury chocolate bar. Most apropos!
;D

Actually my opinion of Nagin has turned around in recent weeks.  Hes not as bad as the media was making him out.  I'm glad he won. :)

But I'm also glad because I didn't want that swamp thing Landrieu to win.

In either event the people of Louisiana got what they elected... and deserved.

[quote author=

the right tried to scapegoat him for the lame federal response to katrina, that's why he got called all kinds of bad names. get the attention of the republican smear machine and you're in for a rough ride.


I agree Tia.  It was the Bush Administration who told Nagin to go on the Oprah show and tell her that there were 200 dead bodies, most due to murder, in the Superdome.  It was also the Bush administration who told 25% of Nagin's police force to cut and run.

I agree Tia.  It was the Bush Administration who told Nagin to go on the Oprah show and tell her that there were 200 dead bodies, most due to murder, in the Superdome.  It was also the Bush administration who told 25% of Nagin's police force to cut and run.
well, of course the bush adminstration didn't do those things. didnt do anything else either. which is why the right wing has to go on and on about nagin goiing on oprah.

I agree Tia.  It was the Bush Administration who told Nagin to go on the Oprah show and tell her that there were 200 dead bodies, most due to murder, in the Superdome.  It was also the Bush administration who told 25% of Nagin's police force to cut and run.

Well if they did, we'll never know. The Bush Administration tells us nothing!  At least, nothing true!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/10/uhoh3.gif

I honestly have to blame Bush the Second and FEMA for most of the ineptitude before, during, and after Katrina... http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/05/frown2.gifIf they knew the levees were going to be breached when a hurricane like Katrina hit, why weren't those levees strengthened?I don't think anyone ever thought New Orleans would take a direct hit from a major hurricane...
But look at what Hurricane Camille did to the Gulf Coast in 1969...no one in that area is safe from a major storm. Better to be safe than sorry, I say!
And why the h*ll did FEMA take those temporary trailers and motor homes away from people who still could NOT get decent housing?

the right tried to scapegoat him for the lame federal response to katrina, that's why he got called all kinds of bad names.


I think we can see who people in Louisiana made the scapegoat, the democratic governor, and she will most certainly not be reelected should she try again.  Looks like a republican pick-up in the future.

These are the latest poll numbers on Blanco from USA Poll
SURVEY USA NEWS MEDIA POLL (MAY 19, 2006)

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Kathleen Blanco is doing as Governor?

OVERALL:

Approve 35%
Disapprove 61%
Not Sure 4%

BY RACE

White:

Approve 26%

Disapprove 72%

Not Sure 3%

Black:

Approve 57%

Disapprove 36%

Not Sure 7%

BY PARTY

Republican:

Approve 20%

Disapprove 77%

Not Sure 2%

Democrat:

Approve 49%

Disapprove 47%

Not Sure 3%

Independent:

Approve 23%

Disapprove 68%

Not Sure 9%

I think we can see who people in Louisiana made the scapegoat

interesting use of the word "scapegoat."

interesting use of the word "scapegoat."


Just using your word.

i think the poor man's gone nuts. i hope he gets the help he needs

At the end of the day, it will be chocolate help.

i think the poor man's gone nuts. i hope he gets the help he needs


At the end of the day, it will be chocolate help.

http://www.sacredcowburgers.com/parodies/thats_a_mouthful.jpg

http://www.sacredcowburgers.com/parodies/thats_a_mouthful.jpg
lol.

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE WORKED TO DEFEAT NAGIN

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN MAY 21, 2006 20:00:02 ET XXXXX

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE WORKED TO DEFEAT NAGIN

**Exclusive**

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) secretly placed political operatives in the city of New Orleans to work against the reelection efforts of incumbent Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean made the decision himself to back mayoral candidate and sitting Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D-LA), sources reveal.

Dean came to the decision to back the white challenger, over the African-American incumbent Nagin, despite concerns amongst senior black officials in the Party that the DNC should stay neutral.

The DNC teams actively worked to defeat Nagin under the auspice of the committee's voting rights program.

The party's field efforts also coincided with a national effort by Democrat contributors to support Landrieu.

Landrieu had outraised Nagin by a wide margin - $3.3 million to $541,980.

Preliminary campaign finance reports indicate many of Landrieu’s contributions came from out of state white Democrat leaders and financiers, including a $1,000 contribution from Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) PAC.

The defeat of Mitch Landrieu is the latest setback for Dean's often criticized field operation.

In his victory speech late Saturday night, Nagin praised President Bush.

"You and I have probably been the most vilified politicians in the country. But I want to thank you for moving that promise that you made in Jackson Square forward," Nagin said.

Developing...

http://drudgereport.com/flash5no.htm

interesting. course it's drudge so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

i don't know nagin's history but i'd heard he was a republican at one point. one of those things my eyes passed over but i don't remember where.

i wouldn't make too much about his praising bush, that's sorta niceties a lot of times. ted kennedy and lindsay graham'll say nice things to each other if they're doing some photo op together, yes?

interesting. course it's drudge so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.



Drudge is going to be the next Bush White House press secretary, after Tony Snow feels too embarrassed to do it anymore!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/multijump.gif

Drudge is going to be the next Bush White House press secretary, after Tony Snow feels too embarrassed to do it anymore!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/multijump.gif


http://www.coolhand.co.za/images/gallery/annarbor/baloney.jpg

Drudge is going to be the next Bush White House press secretary, after Tony Snow feels too embarrassed to do it anymore!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/multijump.gif


please... Tony Snow is way more fun.  who else would use the phrase "tar baby" in their first day on the job.  Granted, it wasn't meant as a racial slur, but c'mon, there's much better phrases he could use that all mean the same thing. 

as for Nagin winning re-election, think of how many neocons jumped up and down and pinned the blame on New Orleans on Nagin, the parking lot full of busses, etc. Now they act like it's a triumph for them that he won re-election.  The spin on that one is just mind boggling.

^ Yeah, but Drudge is ugly and his mother dresses him funny!

I wouldn't hold "tar baby" against Snow (Snow White). The "tar baby" character from the "Brer Rabbit" stories is now just a symbol for an intractable sticky situation. Maybe Snow would not have used the analogy if he recalled the racist roots of the "Brer Rabbit" stories. Joel Chandler Harris first published them in 1881 and used heavy slave culture dialect in a fashion that made Blacks seem like, uh, less-than-serious folk. "Uncle Remus" comes from the same canon of yarns. A couple of people took issue with me on an earlier thread concerning "Uncle Remus" and the "Song of the South" Disney movie. I say the post-bellum South was one of the most racially antagonistic periods in American history. Whatever the intentions of Robert Roosevelt (TR's uncle) and Harris, both of whom were compiling Black folklore at the same time, I cannot be entirely dismissive of a racist element in these stories. The Br'er Rabbit (Brother Rabbit) tales I remember reading were full of wiley characters and moral cautions, but above all they were non-threatening and child-like, and that's the nostalgia the post-bellum South had for the times before the War of Northern Aggression when the negro knew his place.

Anyway....

The image of the school buses submerged in floodwater after Katrina always p*ssed me off. In itself the photo was used as a blaming and shaming editorial. All Sean Hannity had to do was say point to the photo and say, "Look at this!," and the Bushies were absolved of wrongdoing. Why didn't anybody discuss the reasons those buses didn't get used? Why didn't anybody question the logistics of coordination of transportation via a hundred schoolbuses amidst the worst natural disaster in living memory?
Snopes explains with some concision:
http://snopes.com/katrina/photos/buses.asp
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/04/farmerjohn.gif

Now they act like it's a triumph for them that he won re-election.  The spin on that one is just mind boggling.


I said from the beginning that I wanted Nagin to win.  Don't care one way or another for him, just don't like the Landrieu family.

You'll see a real conservative triumph when democratic Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco is thrown out of office (or whatever democrat they run in Louisiana for the governor's mansion for that matter.)

I said from the beginning that I wanted Nagin to win.  Don't care one way or another for him, just don't like the Landrieu family.

You'll see a real conservative triumph when democratic Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco is thrown out of office (or whatever democrat they run in Louisiana for the governor's mansion for that matter.)

Landrieu family has never given me a reason to like 'em either, but they're waaaay out of my neck o' the woods!

Well, people tend to elect the government that they deserve.

Of course, Alabama continually elected George Wallace.  They even elected his wife to act as a proxy for him.

And of course DC brought back Crackhead Berry after his time in jail.

So the corruption in NO will continue, what a surprise.

Well, people tend to elect the government that they deserve.i'd hate to think that was true in the case of the current federal administration...

I said from the beginning that I wanted Nagin to win.  Don't care one way or another for him, just don't like the Landrieu family.

You'll see a real conservative triumph when democratic Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco is thrown out of office (or whatever democrat they run in Louisiana for the governor's mansion for that matter.)


so when you were crying that it wasn't the fault of the federal government, that it was local and state, you still thought Nagin should be re-elected?  yeah, somehow I don't think so

I'm sure Mr 22% approval rating will certainly be a huge help to whoever the republicans pick to run against Blanco.

so when you were crying that it wasn't the fault of the federal government, that it was local and state, you still thought Nagin should be re-elected?  yeah, somehow I don't think so

I'm sure Mr 22% approval rating will certainly be a huge help to whoever the republicans pick to run against Blanco.
what was the issue with blanco again? was it because she wanted to go over mike "in-office-cuz-i-was-college-roomates-with-the-last-guy" brown and deal with james lee witt? cuz to me that made sense, witt actually had some credentials.

i'd hate to think that was true in the case of the current federal administration...


This is much more prevelent in smaller, local elections.  For the most part, you have enough people who can look outside local issues to prevent that from happening on a nation-wide level.

George Wallace largely ran on Racist ideas.  That worked fine in Alabama in the 1960's, but obviously it did not work in nation-wide elections, since he got trounced every time he tried.  The same thing happened to David Duke a decade or so later.

In national elections, issues are much more important then personality.  However, local elections are rarely anything more then a popularity contest.

In national elections, issues are much more important then personality.  you've posted some good arguments and some bad arguments, but this is definitely the most mistaken thing i've ever seen you say. :)

you've posted some good arguments and some bad arguments, but this is definitely the most mistaken thing i've ever seen you say. :)

Are you saying personality is more important than issues in national elections, or are you being facetions?
???

Are you saying personality is more important than issues in national elections, or are you being facetions?
???
"you threw your medals over the fence!"
"you went AWOL from the national guard!"
"you're a flip-flopper!"
"you don't know how to pronounce 'nuclear'!"
"oh yeah? well you're a communist!"
"oh yeah? well you're hitler!"

not only did the last election get nowhere near cannon distance of an issue of any kind, i'm not even sure it's about personality anymore. it's a junior-high-school putdown contest.

"you threw your medals over the fence!"
"you went AWOL from the national guard!"
"you're a flip-flopper!"
"you don't know how to pronounce 'nuclear'!"
"oh yeah? well you're a communist!"
"oh yeah? well you're hitler!"

not only did the last election get nowhere near cannon distance of an issue of any kind, i'm not even sure it's about personality anymore. it's a junior-high-school putdown contest.

That's true...but the rightwing started it, man!